55. Albert Einstein was a German-born Jewish physicist who managed to escape the Nazis to the United States. What country offered Albert Einstein its presidency in 1952?
From Quiz A Panoply of Trivia 2
Answer:
Israel
Albert Einstein is one of the best-known physicists of all time. A Nobel Prize laureate in 1921 for the photoelectric effect, he was the lead theorist behind the concept of relativity, both general and special. Einstein postulated that the laws of classical mechanics, established by Isaac Newton, were only true in special cases (low velocities, for example). With the emergence of quantum mechanics as well as field theory, some of the math was not adding up for Einstein. He came up with the idea of special relativity in his 'miracle year' of 1905, as well as his mass-energy relationship, from which the most famous equation in all of physics comes:
E = m * c^2
Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany, in 1879. His family was Jewish but very secular. From a young age Einstein took to mathematics, and, despite being mostly self-taught, was swiftly at a level far higher than most adults. To further his studies, Einstein endeavoured to study at the Swiss Federal polytechnic school in Zürich, however, when he first applied, he did not make it in. A year of study later and Einstein was in. He was naturalized as a Swiss citizen in 1901 and worked at the Swiss patent office. He later became a professor, and for a couple of years, worked in Prague, part of the Austrian Empire.
Einstein loved to travel, so much, in fact, that he missed his Nobel ceremony. In 1933, Einstein was on a trip in the United States when Hitler rose to power and, while in Belgium, Einstein realized that he could no longer return home. He officially emigrated to the United States in 1933. Always a supporter of Jewish intellect, he helped establish the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1925. While not initially a supporter of the State of Israel, when in 1952 he was offered the ceremonial role of President, he stated that he was saddened that he could not accept.