Albert Einstein

German-born theoretical physicist and one of the most influential intellectual figures of the twentieth century. Born in 1879 in Ulm, he developed the theory of relativity, contributed to the development of quantum mechanics, and received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 for his discovery of the photoelectric effect. Beyond his scientific work, he became a public figure of moral and spiritual reflection — on pacifism, civil rights, the nature of religious experience, and the intersection of science and spiritual wonder. His writings — especially Ideas and Opinions, The World as I See It, and Out of My Later Years — articulated a 'cosmic religion' grounded in awe at the rationality and beauty of the universe. He died in Princeton in 1955, and his quotations remain among the most-cited in English.