Einstein's Big Idea
1944 Nobel Prize
Awarded to Otto Hahn for the discovery of nuclear fission despite the fact that Meitner and Frisch had discovered it
Law of Conservation of Mass
A law which states that total mass is never lost when a substance experiences physical alteration
Nuclear fission
A nuclear reaction in which a large nucleus spontaneously splits into smaller nuclei while releasing energy
Mass of radioactive nuclei becoming energy
A possible example of E=mc^2 found within the atoms of certain elements
Manhattan Project
A secret project in the United States to build an atom bomb based on the knowledge of nuclear fission; Meitner was invited to join, but she declined
Theory of Relativity
Albert Einstein's idea which states the relationship between energy and mass; explains how energy can become mass and vice versa
E=mc^2
An equation proposed by Albert Einstein which shows the relationship between energy and mass
The Big Bang
Another example of E=mc^2 where, in an explosion, pure energy was converted matter, forming stars
Sir Humphry Davy
English chemist and inventor from Cornwall who experimented with nitrous oxide and was astonished at how it made him laugh, so he nicknamed it "laughing gas"
Marie-Anne Paulze-Lavoisier
French chemist; wife of Antoine Lavoisier who contributed to his work and translated certain works
1920s-1930s
Golden Age of Nuclear Research; Meitner and Hahn raced to create atoms with larger nuclei than what was known then
Royal Society
Michael Faraday was elected as a member of this society in 1824
Antoine Lavoisier
Often called the 'Father of Modern Chemistry' as he proved that mass is never lost, no matter what kind of physical transformations a substance undergoes
Lise Meitner & Otto Hahn
Scientists who worked with nuclear chemistry to prove E=mc^2; relationship began with unequal footing for Meitner
James Clerk Maxwell
Scottish mathematician and scientist responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism and light as different manifestations of the same phenomenon.
Mileva Marić
Serbian physicist and mathematician and the first wife of Albert Einstein from 1903 to 1919. She was the only woman among Einstein's fellow students at Zürich Polytechnic and was the second woman to finish a full program of study at the Department of Mathematics and Physics.
Lise Meitner
Swedish-Austrian physicist considered radioactivity and nuclear physics in her works; discovered nuclear fission alongside Otto Hahn and Otto Frisch
speed of light
The fixed speed which the spectrum of visible light waves travel at; 3.00*10^8; discovered by Albert Einstein while contemplating how long it took for light to reach clock towers at varying distances
Electromagnetism
The relationship between electricity and magnetism
1905 - Albert Einstein
Year in which Albert Einstein had an incredible outpouring of new scientific ideas which he published as papers
Émilie du Châtelet
a French natural philosopher and mathematician who translated Isaac Newton's 1687 book Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica
celeritas (c)
a Latin word meaning swiftness; used to represent the speed of light in Albert Einstein's equation for the theory of relativity
Michael Faraday
an English chemist who was a pioneer in electromagnetism and helped design early electric motors
Compasses
instruments which Michael Faraday used in early experiments about electric fields/forces