This is a link to the first part in the series about Albert Einstein.  https://steemit.com/til/@giantbear/til-that-albert-einstein-truly-had-the-greatest-mind-of-all-time-part-1

 Part 2

• Who was Albert Einstein?
• Why does matter matter?
• What is gravitational waves?
• What does the discovery of gravitational waves mean for us on earth?

                    

Who was Albert Einstein?

Albert Einstein was born on 14 March 1879.   He was born to a Jewish family and even when he was extremely young, he showed great ability in both Maths and Science. He was a natural curious person and could brilliantly analyze things in his mind. 

                                                          

Photo credit: Bettman/Corbis

Albert Einstein once said that if he was not a scientist he would have probably be a musician as he often thinks in music.  He worked in a patent office after graduation. In 1915 Albert Einstein produced one of the most famous equations ever E = mc². This means energy equals mass multiplied by the speed of light squared.

Einstein won the Nobel Prize in 1921 for his work on theoretical physics.  He did not only work on the theory of relativity but also on the deflection of light by gravity, the quantum theory of atomic motion in solids, and the Brownian motion. 

He died sadly on the 18 th of April 1955 after refusing surgery. After his death in 1955 his brain was removed but his body was cremated.  

                     

                                       Photo taken after Einstein received the Nobel Prize in 1921.

Photo credit: Bettman/Corbis

                                                                         

Famous Albert Einstein quotes include: 

"Whether you can observe a thing or not depends on the theory which you use. It is  the theory which decides what can be observed." 

"Physical concepts are free creations of the human  mind, and are not,  however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world." 

"I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my  imagination.  Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is  limited.  Imagination encircles the world." 

Why does matter matter?

 “Concerning matter, we have been all wrong. What we have called matter is energy, whose vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses. There is no matter.” 

Image credit

Image credit

The fact that Albert Einstein was not understood is very clear.  He was able to see all of this nearly a hundred years ago and it is only very recently that we can now prove his theory of relativity. Actual proof of the existence of gravitational waves would not arrive before 1974.  Nearly 20 years after Einstein's death.  In 1974, two astronomers discovered a binary pulsar. 

 A binary pulsar is a pulsar with a binary companion, often a white dwarf or neutron star.

According to general relativity, this was the exact type of system that were supposed to radiate gravitational waves.  The astronomers began measuring how the period of the star's orbit changed over time.  It took eight years of observations, but it was determined that the stars were getting closer to each other at precisely the rate that was predicted.  Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves in 1916 in his general theory of relativity.  

This system has now been monitored for over 40 years, and the observed changes agree exactly with the theory of relativity that there is no doubt that they are emitting gravitational waves.  

What are gravitational waves?

Gravitational waves are 'ripples' in the fabric of space-time caused by  some of the most violent and energetic processes in the Universe. Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves in 1916 in his general theory of relativity. Einstein's mathematics showed that massive accelerating objects (such as neutron stars or black holes orbiting  each other) would disrupt space-time in such a way that 'waves' of  distorted space would radiate from the source (like the movement of  waves away from a stone thrown into a pond). Furthermore, these ripples  would travel at the speed of light through the Universe, carrying with  them information about their cataclysmic origins, as well as invaluable  clues to the nature of gravity itself. 

                                                 

Why did the theory of relativity change everything?

Einstein sought out to rewrite the old rules of Newtonian gravity.  Max Planck, the dean of German Science, said to Einstein: " As an older friend, I must advise you against it....You will not succeed, and even if you succeed no one will believe you. "

Einstein just ignored him and pressed on and on..... until nearly a decade later.  

Albert Einstein once said that there are only two things that might be  infinite: the universe and human stupidity. And, he confessed, he wasn’t sure about the universe. 

What does the discovery of gravitational waves mean for us on earth?

We as a humanity now have the ability to see the universe in a totally new way.  The ability to detect gravitational waves, has been compared to the a deaf person that can hear for the very first time. 

"Up until now, we've been deaf to gravitational waves" LIGO Executive Director David Reitze, of the California Institute of  Technology (Caltech), said during an announcement ceremony in  Washington, D.C. "What's going to come now is we're going to hear more things, and no doubt we'll hear things that we expected to hear … but we  will also hear things that we never expected." With this new sensory view of the universe, here are some of the things scientists hope to discover.   

                                                       

References:

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/scientists/alberteinstein.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/24/science/a-century-ago-einsteins-theory-of-relativity-changed-everything.html

http://www.space.com/31922-gravitational-waves-detection-what-it-means.html

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