E=mc2 is probably the most famous equation in the world because it changed the way we thought about energy. The mass of an object was connected with its energy for the very first time.
Before E=mc2, scientists thought that time, space, force, and pressure were separate. They never considered energy which would bring all the other quantities under a single umbrella. Scientists had wondered: How hard is it to move a thing when it’s just sitting there, or change its course while its moving? E=mc2 postulated that the total amount of energy in a thing that’s at rest is equivalent to its mass, multiplied by the square of the speed of light. Put another way, because the square of the speed of light HUGE, the E=mc2 equation showed that small amounts of mass are equivalent to huge amounts of energy.
The big takeaway from E=mc2 is that a tiny particle of matter can create a vast quantity of energy.
It opened up a new study of physics, and was the basis of nuclear power. It also made possible developments that impact your daily life: The GPS in your phone and car, lasers that enable a supermarket door to open automatically as we approach, smoke detectors to detect fires, and home security systems that alert the presence of an intruder.
It’s staggering to consider that this seismic shift in our understanding of the world was the result of one 26-year-old man’s thinking, and of course that man was Albert Einstein.
It’s easy to sidetrack into the many aspects of this interesting man’s life, a Nobel laureate and TIME magazine’s Person of the century, but for our purposes, we focus on him as a dog owner.
Albert Einstein was a well-known animal lover, and early on, he had cats, and most notably, a tomcat named Tiger who became depressed whenever it rained. In fact, because Einstein wanted his cats to be able to roam the house without leaving doors open, he carved little holes in the doors for the cats to crawl through. Flash! Einstein invented the doggy door.
Later in his life, he got a Wire Fox Terrier named Chico Marx. Of the dog, Einstein once said, “The dog is very smart. He feels sorry for me because I receive so much mail; that’s why he tries to bite the mailman.”
Can’t get enough Einstein? You might like this list of surprising facts about the genius.
Art Image: Fox Terrier by John D Benson is available as fine art and in home decor and lifestyle items here.