Albert Einstein was a physicist. He was born on March 14, 1879. He was born in the city of Ulm, in Germany. Albert grew up in Munich, a city in Germany. Albert had one sister, who was born after him. Albert was four or five years old. His father showed him a compass. Albert could not see what made the compass needle move. The compass deeply impressed Albert as a little boy. The compass gave Albert a sense of wonder. It lasted his whole life.

Albert started school in Munich. Einstein did very well in math and science at school. Albert finished his school studies at the Cantonal School in Aarau, Switzerland. Einstein became a Swiss citizen in 1901. After university, Einstein could not find a teaching job. He took a job at the patent office in Bern, Switzerland. He did much of his best work in his spare time. He did it while he worked there.

In 1905, Einstein published four groundbreaking science articles. He first proposed his special theory of relativity in 1905. He published his general theory of relativity in 1915. In 1919, astronomers photographed stars during a total solar eclipse. They wanted to test whether the Sun's gravity bends starlight. Einstein won the Nobel Prize in Physics. Einstein became famous around the world. Einstein became a United States citizen in 1940. In the 1920s, he traveled to give lectures in Europe, America and the Far East.

In 1933, he began work at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He lived and worked in Princeton in his later years. Einstein's house in Princeton was an old house with a garden at 112 Mercer Street. Albert Einstein grew to love music and the violin. The passion stayed with him into his later years. His ideas changed how scientists think about time, space and the universe.

Words to know

• compass: shown to Albert
• relativity: his theory
• eclipse: solar eclipse
• patent: where he worked