The German scientist arrived in Montevideo on April 24, 1925, at the invitation of the University of the Republic to deliver three lectures on “General Aspects of the Theory of Relativity,” each of which drew a crowd that exceeded the institution’s capacity, attracting more than 2,000 people.
Einstein had another purpose for his visit: to meet in person with Carlos Vaz Ferreira, the Uruguayan writer, philosopher, and scholar. The meeting took place in the square now known as Plaza de los Treinta y Tres, where a monument has stood since 2008 to commemorate this important moment.
In addition, a delegation from the Uruguayan Jewish community welcomed Einstein (then 46 years old, born in the German city of Ulm in 1879) and spoke with him about the various issues affecting Jews at that time.
Theory of Relativity
In November 1915, at the age of 36, Albert Einstein completed the General Theory of Relativity, which he himself considered his masterpiece. In it, he established that time and space are relative concepts due to the impossibility of finding an absolute frame of reference.
“This result is not an isolated phenomenon, but a whole new world of scientific ideas. It is the most important result obtained in relation to the theory of gravitation since the days of Isaac Newton,” stated the English physicist Joseph John Thomson, president of the Royal Society, in 1919.
Einstein was not the first scientist to propose a relationship between mass and energy. However, he was the first to propose the famous formulaE=mc² and the first to interpret the equivalence between mass and energy as a fundamental principle arising from the relativistic symmetries of time and space.
Nobel Prize
Upon returning from a lecture he had given in Japan in 1921, Einstein received the news that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics—not for his theory of relativity, but for his contributions to the field of photoelectric effects.
In his speech at the awards ceremony, the physicist surprised the audience by referring to his theory of relativity instead of discussing the other discoveries for which he had been honored.
The Nazi Years
The worldwide recognition of Einstein's work sparked a violent reaction from the Nazi regime, which was gaining popularity in Germany in the early 1930s.
The Nazis labeled the scientist's research "Jewish physics," organized rallies against him, and burned his books.
They also brought together more than 100 physicists to write the book One Hundred Authors Against Einstein, published in 1931. The Jewish scientist replied that to refute the Theory of Relativity, one did not need 100 scientists, but only a single fact.
In December 1932, realizing that his life was in danger, Einstein decided to leave Germany. A Nazi organization had already published a magazine featuring a picture of the physicist on the cover, accompanied by a caption that read: “He hasn’t been hanged yet.” And a price had been put on his head.
His connection to ORT
On October 28, 1930, Albert Einstein was invited to speak at a dinner hosted by World ORT, the largest Jewish nongovernmental organization dedicated to education and vocational training, which took place at the Savoy Hotel in London.
“Anyone who wishes to keep the spirit alive must also care for the body that houses it. The ORT Association seeks to overcome the social and economic hardships that the Jewish people have endured since the Middle Ages,” said the physicist.
“The past few years, indeed the past few days, have certainly brought us discouragement. Do not complain about fate; rather, find in these events the motivation to be faithful and remain faithful to the cause of the Jewish community,” he added.
According to Einstein, the Jewish people’s tradition embodies a longing for justice that should serve all the peoples of the world, both now and in the future.
His beliefs
Einstein wrote that he did not believe in a personal God who intervened in human affairs, but rather in the God of the Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza (17th century); that is, a God of harmony and beauty.
He often said that “God does not play dice with the universe.” And his task, as Einstein believed, was to formulate a master theory that would allow him to “read God’s mind.”
“I am not an atheist, and I don’t think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a small child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages… The child may suspect that there is a mysterious order to the way the books are arranged, but he does not know what it is. This, in my opinion, is the attitude toward God held by the most intelligent human beings,” Einstein noted.
His unfulfilled quest for the elusive “theory of everything” (commonly referred to as the “Holy Grail” of modern physics) haunted and consumed him until his death at the age of 76 on April 18, 1955. But he would surely be pleased to know that today many physicists are enthusiastically dedicating their careers to pursuing his dream.