Scientific American Magazine

The fruits of one mind shaped civilization more than seems possible

Albert Einstein created his most famous theory amid personal strife, political tension and a scientific rivalry that almost cost him the glory of his discovery

Einstein’s thought experiments left a long and somewhat mixed legacy of their own

Everyone makes mistakes. But those of the legendary physicist are particularly illuminating

A visualization of recent physics terms affirms the enduring influence of Einstein's 100-year-old masterpiece

A new generation of physicists hope to succeed where Einstein failed

General relativity has never been tested in places where the effects of gravity become truly extreme—for example, at the edge of a black hole. That will soon change

Sure, he was pretty good at science. But science isn't everything

The bizarre journey of Einstein's brain illustrates the pitfalls in science's search for the origins of brilliance

Einstein’s assertion that God does not play dice with the universe has been misinterpreted

The great physicist was not the first to equate forms of mass to energy, nor did he definitively prove the relationship