Princeton, N. J.—Albert Einstein, who became internationally famous at 26 for his theory of relativity, died Monday after a four-day illness.
The 76-year old world-acclaimed scientist died at Princeton hospital at 1:15 a.m. of inflammation of the bladder. A man who shunned publicity, he had entered the hospital Friday with only his intimates knowing he was ill.
The shy, white-haired scholar was credited with making possible the atomic bomb by disclosing a small quantity of matter could produce vast amounts of energy.
Einstein stood as probably the foremost theoretical mathematician and physicist in the world.
Born in Ulm, Germany, March 14, 1879 of middle class Jewish parents, he was swept to international fame by the theory of relativity which he devised at the age of 26.
It was Einstein’s disclosure, many years ago, that a small quantity of matter could produce astronomical quantities of energy, which was so spectacularly proved when the first atomic bomb exploded.
But, the famous, white-haired scientist looked upon the A-bomb with misgivings.
In 1945 shortly after the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima, he commented:
“At present atomic energy is not a boon to mankind, but a menace.”
He saw one hope, however, that “it may intimidate the human race to bring order into its international affairs, which, without pressure of fear, it undoubtedly would not do.”
A theoretical physicist, the tools of his trade were a fountain pen and a pad of paper.
Though few people understood Einstein’s complex theories, his work is one of the important bases of today’s electronic and television industries and the great industrial developments which rely partly on the laws of atomic mass and energy.
He received the Nobel prize in physics in 1921 and the world heaped honors and adulation upon the modest scientist, who pleaded:
“Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized. It is an irony of fate that I myself have been the recipient of excessive admiration and respect from my fellows through no fault of my own.”
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