DocumentCode
42739
Title
Was Einstein an Engineer?
Author
Drake, Samuel Picton
Author_Institution
Cyber & Electron. Warfare Div., Defence Sci. Technol. Organ., Edinburgh, SA, Australia
Volume
102
Issue
12
fYear
2014
fDate
Dec. 2014
Firstpage
1870
Lastpage
1872
Abstract
Referring to the very epitome of physics as an engineer may appear humorous. However, there is a serious case for it. What would you call somebody who worked in a patent office as a technical expert for seven years, held a number of patents himself on refrigeration, self-adjusting cameras, and electric motors, and explained the photoelectric effect, i.e., the principle now behind photodiodes ? Also, Einstein´s father was an engineer-I am not suggesting that engineering is a genetic disease, but engineering was in the family; moreover, Albert Einstein took-and failed-an entrance exam to study electrical engineering in Zurich. Despite being renowned as one of the most abstract thinkers of the 20th century, Einstein was also very interested in the application of ideas, and it could be argued that he was more of an engineer than a physicist, especially in his early career.
Keywords
electric motors; photoelectricity; Albert Einstein; electric motors; photodiodes; photoelectric effect; refrigeration; self-adjusting cameras; Engineering profession; Global positioning system; Patents; Physics; Research and development;
fLanguage
English
Journal_Title
Proceedings of the IEEE
Publisher
ieee
ISSN
0018-9219
Type
jour
DOI
10.1109/JPROC.2014.2366208
Filename
6957008
Link To Document