Timeline Einstein and the century he outlived

Einstein and the century he outlived 7

• 1879 – 1955 Albert Einstein Relativity Pioneer The physicist who developed the theory of relativity, fundamentally changing our understanding of space and time.
• 1900 – 1927 Quantum mechanics Planck, Bohr, Heisenberg, Schrödinger — the physics of the very small Max Planck's discovery that energy is emitted in discrete quanta (1900) launched quantum theory. Bohr's atomic model (1913), Heisenberg's uncertainty principle (1927), and Schrödinger's wave equation (1926) completed a revolution that showed nature at the atomic scale is fundamentally probabilistic. Quantum mechanics underlies lasers, transistors, MRI scanners, and the entire electronics industry.
• 1905 – 1915 Einstein — special and general relativity E=mc², space-time, and gravity as curved geometry Einstein's special relativity (1905) introduced E=mc² — showing mass and energy are equivalent — and demonstrated that time and length change at high velocities. His general relativity (1915) recast gravity as the curvature of space-time caused by mass. The theories predicted black holes, gravitational waves, the expansion of the universe, and GPS satellite timing corrections. They are the most tested theories in physics.
• 1936 On Computable Numbers The universal machine Answering Hilbert's decision problem, Turing invents an imaginary device — an infinite tape, a read-write head, a table of rules — and shows that some questions cannot be decided by any mechanical procedure whatsoever. To prove it he has to define what a mechanical procedure is, and in doing so describes a single machine that can imitate any other machine given the right instructions. That is a computer. Nobody builds one for another decade.
• 1939 – 1945 Manhattan Project Atomic bomb developed The secret US-led Manhattan Project developed the world's first nuclear weapons, tested at Trinity in New Mexico in July 1945.
• 1947 Transistor invented Transistor invented Bell Labs scientists invented the transistor, the fundamental building block of all modern electronics.
• 1953 DNA structure Watson & Crick James Watson and Francis Crick described the double helix structure of DNA in 1953, unlocking the secret of heredity and transforming biology.