4. Put the following events of Einstein's life into chronological order:

1. Einstein first advanced the Theory of relativity.

2. He was offered the presidency of the state Israel.

3. He studied mathematics and physics at the Swiss polytechnic institute.

4. Einstein became professor of theoretical physics at the University of Zurich.

5. He became a Swiss citizen.

6. Einstein received the Nobel Prize in Physics.

7. The general theory of relativity was published.

8. The Nazi deprived him of his positions and citizenship.

9. He was invited to the Institute in Princeton.

10. He accepted the professorship of physics at the University of Berlin.

5. Read the text more carefully again. Ask each other and answer questions about his life:

When...? Where...? What...?

How often..? Did he...? Why...?

Who...? At what age... ?

ADDITIONAL READING

Science in the 1900's

Revolutionary advances in physics marked the beginning of the 1900's as scientists continued to challenge existing ideas. Max Planck, a German physicist, advanced his quantum theory to explain the spectrum of light. In 1905, another German physicist, Albert Einstein, showed that light may be regarded as consisting of individual energy units, which he called photons. That same year he published his special Theory of Relativity. In 1911, the British physicist Ernest Rutherford theorized that the mass of an atom is concentrated in a tiny nucleus, which is surrounded by electrons travelling at tremendous speeds. Chemists used the new information about atoms to improve their ideas about chemical bonds. They produced many new compounds and developed the variety of plastics and synthetic fibers.

Great progress was also made by social scientists as they began to rely more heavily on statistical analyses and scientific research methods. In the biological sciences, a number of physician -scientists showed the importance of vitamins in the human diet. Their achievements helped conquer such diseases as beriberi and scurvy. In 1928, Alexander Fleming, a British bacteriologist, discovered penicillin, the first of many antibiotics.

In 1942 Italian-born physicist Enrico Fermi and his co-workers achieved the first controlled nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago. Intensive research during World War II led to the use of nuclear energy in weapons.

The space age began in 1957, when the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite to circle the Earth. Then came the turn of a man. The first man to see the Earth from space was Yuri Gagarin. In 1969, two U.S. astronauts became the first human beings to walk on the moon. Astronomers also greatly expanded their knowledge of the size, structure and history of the universe with the use of radio telescopes. Science also made important contributions to technology in the mid 1900's. Physicists invented the transistor, which revolutionized the electronics industry and enabled manufacturers to produce portable battery-powered radios and TV-sets, pocket-sized calculators and high-speed computers. Similarly, the invention of lasers (concentrated beams of light) promised great advances in communications, electronics, medicine and weapons.