100 Years Relativity Theory- 1905-2005
By Gabi. Filed in Germany |
Now in our schooling, we all heard E=mc squared. Most of us actually also know that Einstein came up with this theory. And somewhere along the way, we could kind of figure out what he meant. All over Germany, Einstein is being celebrated this year for the breakthrough theories he postulated a hundred years ago. There is actually a boat, MS Einstein that is travelling throughout Germany with an exhibit on board about his life and his works. This week it was in Berlin and since we have been ignoring the scientific part of our brain for a while, it was time to venture into the exhibit. The part about his life was very interesting and comprehensible. Some facts:
- Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany, near where Sonja is teaching.
- Einstein didn’t talk till he was 3 and not perfectly until he was 9.
- He wasn’t good in school, esp. in math.
- His teacher said, he would never amount to anything.
- When he entered college, his teachers suggested that he should not study physics, but rather something easier, such as medicine, law, or theology
- Early years after college, didn’t bring much success.
- He wasn’t very successful in his personal life either.
- His great interest in science evolved at the age of 5 from a gift of a magnetic compass.
So obviously, he was a late bloomer!
Once he got started with his theories of physics, beginning with where light comes from, through the relativity theory, he was on a roll and received the Nobel Price for Physics. He was a peaceful man and warned the world about the power of nuclear enery.
The part of the exhibition about his theories was also very interesting but, I hate to admit, sometimes they were over my head. There were experiments there, that the we could engage in and try to expand our knowledge. Thank God, Lothar had a better background in Physics than I, and was able to explain some of the concepts to me.
By the time we neared the end of the exhibit, both our brains were smoking and I am sure I grew some new synapses.
We had to recuperate from all this work at the Ständige Vertretung , a restaurant along the Spree River, that has only been there since the two Germanys reunited in 1990. After WWII, the government of Germany was based in Bonn, and when it was time to relocate the capital back to its pre – war capital of Berlin, a Kölner ( a man from the larger city of Köln, close to Bonn) moved his restaurant to Berlin, too. He wanted the government people to feel right at home in their new environment without having to miss their old Kölsch beer (a specialty of Köln). The government officials, in turn, were very happy to have their “stammtisch” restaurant- Die Ständige Vertretung , they and their predecessors of the last 28 years had frequented, join them in this historic move. On the walls of the restaurant, one can follow German history since WWII, through the pictures of its politicians.