Born in Ulm, Germany in 1879, Albert Einstein is the most influential physicist of the 20th century, and arguably the most famous scientist of all time.
After a childhood spent between southern Germany, Italy and Switzerland, he graduated from the Federal Polytechnic School (now known as the ETH) in Zurich and worked for several years at the Swiss Federal Patent Office in Bern: he was not attached to any academic institution until 1908, when he obtained a junior teaching role at the University of Bern.
In 1905, his annus mirabilis or ‘miracle year’, Einstein published four groundbreaking papers, on special relativity, the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion and mass-energy equivalence. His famous equation E = mc² emerged from his work on special relativity. In 1915, by now based in Berlin, he published his general theory of relativity, which fundamentally changed our understanding of gravity: it has been described as ‘the most beautiful theory in physics’. In 2021, Christie’s sold the Einstein-Besso manuscript, an early stage of his work on general relativity, for €11,656,560.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955).
Autograph manuscript signed (‘A. Einstein‘), ‘Altes und Neues zur Feld‐Theorie‘, [Berlin, before 3 February 1929], with two pages of scientific workings. In German. 14 pages, 290 x 229mm.
EINSTEIN, Albert (1879-1955).
Autograph letter signed (‘A. Einstein’) to [Rudi W.] Mandl, [Princeton], 2 June 1936.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Series of 43 autograph letters signed ('Albert Einstein' (4), 'Albert' (23), the later letters with variations on the pet-name 'Johannzel', two letters lacking signature) to his first wife, Mileva Marić, [Zurich, Milan, Mettmenstetten, Melchtal, Winterthur, Schaffhausen and Bern, 16 February 1898 - ?19 September 1903]
EINSTEIN, Albert (1879-1955)
Autograph letter signed ('A. Einstein') to [Wander and Geertruida] de Haas ('Meine lieben De-Haasen!'), n.p. [Berlin], n.d. [before 15 November 1915].
The completion of the general theory of relativity
Berlin, 21 December 1915
EINSTEIN, Albert (1879-1955)
Autograph manuscript, n.p., n.d. [early 1940s], draft of a scientific paper on Unified Field Theory.
EINSTEIN, Albert (1879-1955)
'Über die von der molekularkinetischen Theorie der Wärme geforderte Bewegung von in ruhenden Flüssigkeiten suspendierten Teilchen.' Offprint from: Annalen der Physik , 4th Series, vol. 17. Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1905.
God does not play dice
Princeton, 30 November 1949
'The great success of gravitation'
Berlin, 3 January 1916
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Autograph letter signed (with initials, 'A.E.') to Cornelius Lanczos, n.p., 21 March 1942
LORENTZ, Hendrik Antoon (1853-1928)
Large collection of scientific publications by the Dutch Nobel laureate, H.A. Lorentz, from his own private library.
EINSTEIN, Albert (1879-1955)
Autograph scientific manuscript incorporating a draft autograph statement signed (with initials, 'A.E'), 25 December 1925.
Closing in on general relativity
Zurich, March 1914
His 'boldest dreams' of general relativity
Berlin, 10 December 1915
'The universe only exists in one example'
Ahrenshoop (on the German Baltic coast), 20 August 1918
EINSTEIN, Albert (1879-1955)
‘Ist die Trägheit eines Körpers von seinem Energieinhalt abhängig?’ Offprint from: Annalen der Physik, 4th Series, vol. 18. Leipzig: Johann Ambrosius Barth, 1905
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Autograph manuscript signed (at conclusion, 'A. Einstein'), 'Einheitliche Feldtheorie von Gravitation und Elektrizität' [Unified Field Theory of Gravitation and Electricity], [Berlin, before 14 June 1928]
An attempt at a new unified theory
Geneva, 28 July 1925
Quantum equations
Zurich, 11 August 1926
Equations for a case in general relativity
Princeton, 14 May 1954
EINSTEIN, Albert (1879-1955)
Photograph signed ('A. Einstein') and inscribed to [A.C.] Robbins, 1951.
Quantum mechanics, field theory and relativity
Berlin, 30 October 1931
A 'dazzling demonstration' of the theory of general relativity
Berlin, 26 July 1920
EINSTEIN, Albert (1879-1955)
Autograph manuscript, section 3 of a paper on unified field theory, 'Spezialisierte Feldgleichungen für ein Feld, das einer Symmetriebedingung genügt' (Specialised field equations for a field satisfying a symmetry condition), n.p., n.d. [before 23 August 1943]
The 16-year-old prodigy
Aarau, 1895
On the nature of time, relativity and quantum theory
Princeton, 10 September 1952
A dense exposition of unified field theory
Princeton, August 1942
His solitary working methods and a new unified field theory
Gatow, near Berlin, 5 January 1929
Speculation on the age of the universe
Caputh, near Berlin, 1 March 1931
Deep thought as an approach to God
Princeton, 15 April 1950
'A contradiction in the principle of relativity'
Albert Einstein. 23 July 1907
Hans Albert Einstein’s copy of one of his father’s earliest papers
Albert Einstein. 1904
His favourite books: Don Quixote and the Bible
Berlin, 15 March 1926
On the subjective nature of time
Princeton, 13 July 1952
Einstein and the 'eternal riddle-maker'
Berlin, 9 March 1917
On America and the Jewish character
Princeton, 8 August 1938
'Great and noble things come from isolated figures'
Albert Einstein. 1934
EINSTEIN, Albert (1879-1955).
Typed letter signed ('A. Einstein') to [Morris Raphael] Cohen, Haberlandstrasse 5, Berlin, 10 May 1928.
The finalisation of the general theory of relativity
Albert Einstein. 18 March 1916
Schrödinger's 'wonderful papers'
Berlin, 1 May 1926
On Ernst Mach and the origins of theories
Princeton, 6 January 1948