Einstein's Miracle Year: The Discoveries That Changed Science Forever
Einstein's Miracle Year: The Discoveries That Changed Science Forever Imagine a single year where one person makes not one, but four groundbreaking discoveries that redefine science as we know it. That is exactly what Albert Einstein did in 1905, a year often called his Annus Mirabilis , or Miracle Year. Let us explore these key breakthroughs, why they mattered then, and why they still matter today. 1. The Photoelectric Effect: The Birth of Quantum Mechanics What happens when light hits a material and ejects electrons? Scientists in the early 20th century were baffled by this phenomenon, known as the photoelectric effect. Classical physics could not explain it. Enter Einstein, who proposed a radical idea: light is not just a wave but also behaves like particles, or quanta . Einstein showed that light’s energy is proportional to its frequency, solving the mystery of why only certain frequencies of light can eject electrons. This discovery introduced the idea of photons and ...