In 1905 Albert studied the phenomena of light. He added to Max Planck's work by discovering light quanta and saying that light was not only waves but also particles of energy. This seemed to contradict what was known at the time and shook the physicists' world!

Later that same year Albert found a way to prove that the principle of relativity was linked with the electromagnetic theory. His theory was called the special theory of relativity and was based on an analysis of space and time that even beginning science students would be able to understand. However, because it is based on Newton's second law it is only valid when there are no forces present. Therefore, it cannot be generalized when there is a gravitational field present. There are two major implications that come from the special theory of relativity and they are the equation that Albert is famous for, E=mc2. From this equation E stands for energy, m for mass, and c for the speed of light. This equation explains that a body of a certain mass gives off a certain amount of energy. Another major implication is the dependence of space and time on velocity. Simply put at speeds close to the speed of light, space becomes thin in that direction of motion and therefore time slows down. Our minds have a difficult time wrapping around that idea, and the reason for that is assumed because our minds have a hard time understanding the speed of light and therefore anything involved with the speed of light would be more difficult for us to comprehend.

Albert at the blackboard courtesy of http://www.th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de/~jr/physpiceinstein.html

These theories that Albert "came up with" were like building bricks added to what other scientists already knew. The world of science was being built one brick at a time and Albert added three bricks just around his 26 birthday!

Albert in 1912 courtesy of http://www.th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de/~jr/physpiceinstein.html

Albert continued trying to relate the force of gravity and the motion of acceleration and in 1915 he was successful. The equations showed how matter was twisted the framework of space and time, and yet they were fairly simple. With the new equations Albert was able to explain an inconsistency in the motion of Mercury that astronomers had been baffled by.

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