Theory of Relativity

1905 | Albert Einstein

The spirit of the time is relative

A pop star usually gets to be one by serving up easily digestible fare that is easy to sing along with. Albert Einstein enjoys this status, although practically no one can sing his greatest hit, the Theory of Relativity. The man with his tongue stuck out knew how to market himself and his inventions even at the start of the 20th century. In 1905 he questioned the absoluteness of time and space. Time, he claimed, always depends on the speed of the moving body. Consequently, time measurements are always relative to their system of reference.

As a result, clocks in planes or express trains always run slower than the watch of a pedestrian. Together with his formulation of the General Theory of Relativity in 1915, Einstein changed the understanding of time and space worldwide.

(Information taken from German Stars – 50 innovations, produced by the Federal Foreign Office, the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, Invest in Germany and the Goethe Institut.)