Scientific American Magazine

A new incarnation of Einstein's cosmological constant may point the way beyond general relativity

In a 1950 Scientific American article, Einstein outlined his unified theory of physics. Too bad it was wrong

In 1905 the musings of a functionary in the Swiss patent office changed the world forever. His intellectual bequest remains for a new generation of physicists vying to concoct a theory of everything

What was it about the magnetism of an iron bar that could divert Einstein from perfecting his celebrated theory of general relativity?

The theory of strings predicts that the universe might occupy one random "valley" out of a virtually infinite selection of valleys in a vast landscape of possibilities

The two scientific giants were alike in intellect and temperament

Unlike nearly all his contemporaries, Albert Einstein thought quantum mechanics would give way to a classical theory. Some researchers nowadays are inclined to agree

A new generation of technologies aims to put Einstein's theories to work in computers, hospitals--even submarines

To uncover evidence for an ultimate theory, scientists are looking for infractions of Einstein's once sacrosanct physical principle

Finding your way out of the woods with GPS? Hanging a picture frame with a laser level? Making photocopies? Better thank Einstein

Scientific American has covered Einstein's theories--and the refinements and reactions to them--ever since scientists began to grasp the import of his landmark 1905 papers. Read on for a sampling of our reports, some by leading physicists of their times