“Oh time, in my next life don’t make me a scientist. Had I known of the release of atom power, I should have become a watchmaker.”Having heard of the mass devastation caused by the USA through nuclear explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this is how he expressed his agony with tearful eyes. He is Albert Einstein, whom many like to term as ‘the greatest representative of human civilization.’
This great physicist, born in 1879 had an inquisitive mind since his childhood. Always being brought to book by the teachers for his never ending questions, Albert had a tough time in his childhood. Jacob, his uncle was his best teacher who inspired him to play the ‘games’ of physics and mathematics all his life.
Albert belonged to the Jewish community by birth. Being a Jew, child Albert could well see the picture of hatred and discrimination prevailing among people in the name of religion. This childhood experience had a great impact in his life.
After graduating in physics in 1901, Einstein started his career as a technical assistant in the Swiss Patent Office. During his stay at this office he quietly started a research in theoretical physics in his spare time. Thus working secretly, Einstein finally published five papers in the famous Swiss joumal Annalender Physik in 1905. Three of them turned to be the turning point in the history of physics. The first paper was on ‘Brownian Motion’ exhibited by gaseous and liquid molecules. The second was on ‘Photoelectric Effect’ for which he was conferred the most prestigious Nobel prize in 1921. Through this effect Einstein established that all the electromagnetic radiation consist of tiny bundles of energy called ‘quanta’ or ‘photons’.
The third and the much talked about paper was on the ‘Special Theory of Relativity’. This theory in fact had shaken the base of Newtonian mechanics and established Einstein as the new emperor of modern physics. The very thought of special relativity popped up in Einstein’s mind at the tender age of sixteen. The curious mind questioned, “If one rides on a beam of light in that speed, will the beam seem to be at rest ?’ This was the beginning of the special theory of relativity due to which ten years later mankind had the famous equation of matter-energy equivalence, E= MC2. In simple words, he postulated that matter and energy are two separate forms of the same entity and are inter convertible.
Einstein was not only an epoch-making physicist, but also a great thinker and philosopher. He presented a serious and objective analysis on the evolutionary changes that had occured to mankind in its cognizance and thinking with the elevation of civilization. With the advancement of science, many a time there had been a conflict between the new scientific findings and the prevalent religious beliefs. For instance, we can point to the humiliation faced by Darwin and Galileo from the religious bigots. Einstein put forward a transparent opinion on such conflicts between science and religion. He bravely said “Science without religion is lame and religion without science is blind.”
According to Einstein, in a scientist’s view, religious feeling is an ecstatic amazement at the harmony of natural laws. The symmetrical natural laws have revealed an intelligence of such superiority that all human intellectual achievements have become insignificant. This feeling is the guiding principle for the scientist in his life and work. Einstein believed that science is nothing but a continuous endeavour to bring together all the perceptible phenomena of the universe into an easy and complete form. He was of the view that a person who has liberated himself from all the selfish desires is the one who is consoled by the great religious feeling. He is able to connect himself to the thoughts, feelings and desires that are above the self interest.
Einstein reckoned that the religious feeling had originated as a consequence of various emotional feelings. He classified religion into three stages– religion of fear, moral religion and cosmic religious feeling. Religious feeling took birth in the primitive human society as a result of fear and apprehension. The cause of this fear was– hunger, wild animals, diseases and death. To get rid of such fear, human fantasy led to the creation of Gods in man’s own image. Considering them to be his fate, man started praying these human shaped Gods.
The second stage of religion is the moral stage. With the progress of civilization, the human desires for love, guidance and support had given birth to the social or moral conception of God. In Einstein’s own words– ‘this is the God of Providence.’ This spiritual wisdom protects man from trouble. He is rewarded or punished; the moral God preserves the soul after death. This God has the genuine love for every living creature, every human being. Man worships this God for comfort in sorrow and unsatisfied longing. At this present phase of human race, all religions are basically moral religions.
Religion of fear and moral religion– ‘the anthropomorphic character of the conception of God’ is prevalent in both of these. But Einstein found both of these to be a prejudice, of which we should always be alert. If we are captivated in the fear of punishment or in the hope of reward, the race will take a snail’s pace!
Einstein termed the third religion at the cosmic religious feeling. In this religion, one neither speaks of the physical existence of God nor of any hard and fast theory. Any one, inclined to this religion, “looks upon individual existence as a sort of prison and wants to experience the universe as a single significant whole.” Einstein, a follower of this belief said that the inclination of all great moral teachers of humanity in all ages was towards the cosmic religious feeling. In this religion the very concept of a human God is utterly irrelevant so is any religious bigotry. For him, the most important duty of art and science is to awake this feeling and keep it alive. Anyone who is convinced about the ‘universal operation of the law of causation’ can never for a moment think of a physical God, capable of rewarding or punishing. He wrote, “I maintain that cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest incitement to scientific research.” Only the cosmic religious feeling gives man the energy and inspiration to stick to his goal after repeated failures. Einstein opined that in this materialistic age of ours, the serious scientific workers are the only profoundly religious people.
Einstein was an ocean of humanity. Not only that, be it science, philosophy, sociology or politics– he has enriched every sphere of the society with his fundamental thinking. This genius, ever-eager for global peace, significantly kept two portraits in his study, one of Mahatma Gandhi and the other of Socrates. He said, “I am absolutely convinced that no wealth in the world can help humanity forward... the world needs permanent, peace and lasting good will.”
At dawn on 18 April, 1955, a wireless message had spread all over the world– “Einstein is no more. The sun of the century has finally set.” Really, Albert Einstein was the sun of the twentieth century, by whose splendour, the human race will always be illuminated.
(Published on the occasion of Einstein’s 54th death anniversary)
After graduating in physics in 1901, Einstein started his career as a technical assistant in the Swiss Patent Office. During his stay at this office he quietly started a research in theoretical physics in his spare time. Thus working secretly, Einstein finally published five papers in the famous Swiss joumal Annalender Physik in 1905. Three of them turned to be the turning point in the history of physics. The first paper was on ‘Brownian Motion’ exhibited by gaseous and liquid molecules. The second was on ‘Photoelectric Effect’ for which he was conferred the most prestigious Nobel prize in 1921. Through this effect Einstein established that all the electromagnetic radiation consist of tiny bundles of energy called ‘quanta’ or ‘photons’.
The third and the much talked about paper was on the ‘Special Theory of Relativity’. This theory in fact had shaken the base of Newtonian mechanics and established Einstein as the new emperor of modern physics. The very thought of special relativity popped up in Einstein’s mind at the tender age of sixteen. The curious mind questioned, “If one rides on a beam of light in that speed, will the beam seem to be at rest ?’ This was the beginning of the special theory of relativity due to which ten years later mankind had the famous equation of matter-energy equivalence, E= MC2. In simple words, he postulated that matter and energy are two separate forms of the same entity and are inter convertible.
Einstein was not only an epoch-making physicist, but also a great thinker and philosopher. He presented a serious and objective analysis on the evolutionary changes that had occured to mankind in its cognizance and thinking with the elevation of civilization. With the advancement of science, many a time there had been a conflict between the new scientific findings and the prevalent religious beliefs. For instance, we can point to the humiliation faced by Darwin and Galileo from the religious bigots. Einstein put forward a transparent opinion on such conflicts between science and religion. He bravely said “Science without religion is lame and religion without science is blind.”
According to Einstein, in a scientist’s view, religious feeling is an ecstatic amazement at the harmony of natural laws. The symmetrical natural laws have revealed an intelligence of such superiority that all human intellectual achievements have become insignificant. This feeling is the guiding principle for the scientist in his life and work. Einstein believed that science is nothing but a continuous endeavour to bring together all the perceptible phenomena of the universe into an easy and complete form. He was of the view that a person who has liberated himself from all the selfish desires is the one who is consoled by the great religious feeling. He is able to connect himself to the thoughts, feelings and desires that are above the self interest.
Einstein reckoned that the religious feeling had originated as a consequence of various emotional feelings. He classified religion into three stages– religion of fear, moral religion and cosmic religious feeling. Religious feeling took birth in the primitive human society as a result of fear and apprehension. The cause of this fear was– hunger, wild animals, diseases and death. To get rid of such fear, human fantasy led to the creation of Gods in man’s own image. Considering them to be his fate, man started praying these human shaped Gods.
The second stage of religion is the moral stage. With the progress of civilization, the human desires for love, guidance and support had given birth to the social or moral conception of God. In Einstein’s own words– ‘this is the God of Providence.’ This spiritual wisdom protects man from trouble. He is rewarded or punished; the moral God preserves the soul after death. This God has the genuine love for every living creature, every human being. Man worships this God for comfort in sorrow and unsatisfied longing. At this present phase of human race, all religions are basically moral religions.
Religion of fear and moral religion– ‘the anthropomorphic character of the conception of God’ is prevalent in both of these. But Einstein found both of these to be a prejudice, of which we should always be alert. If we are captivated in the fear of punishment or in the hope of reward, the race will take a snail’s pace!
Einstein termed the third religion at the cosmic religious feeling. In this religion, one neither speaks of the physical existence of God nor of any hard and fast theory. Any one, inclined to this religion, “looks upon individual existence as a sort of prison and wants to experience the universe as a single significant whole.” Einstein, a follower of this belief said that the inclination of all great moral teachers of humanity in all ages was towards the cosmic religious feeling. In this religion the very concept of a human God is utterly irrelevant so is any religious bigotry. For him, the most important duty of art and science is to awake this feeling and keep it alive. Anyone who is convinced about the ‘universal operation of the law of causation’ can never for a moment think of a physical God, capable of rewarding or punishing. He wrote, “I maintain that cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest incitement to scientific research.” Only the cosmic religious feeling gives man the energy and inspiration to stick to his goal after repeated failures. Einstein opined that in this materialistic age of ours, the serious scientific workers are the only profoundly religious people.
Einstein was an ocean of humanity. Not only that, be it science, philosophy, sociology or politics– he has enriched every sphere of the society with his fundamental thinking. This genius, ever-eager for global peace, significantly kept two portraits in his study, one of Mahatma Gandhi and the other of Socrates. He said, “I am absolutely convinced that no wealth in the world can help humanity forward... the world needs permanent, peace and lasting good will.”
At dawn on 18 April, 1955, a wireless message had spread all over the world– “Einstein is no more. The sun of the century has finally set.” Really, Albert Einstein was the sun of the twentieth century, by whose splendour, the human race will always be illuminated.
(Published on the occasion of Einstein’s 54th death anniversary)
