100 Years of General Relativity: Scientific American Special Issue

How Einstein Changed the World

The fruits of one mind shaped civilization more than seems possible

How Einstein Discovered General Relativity amid War, Divorce and Rivalry

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

Was Einstein the First to Invent E = mc²?

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

Lost in Thought—How Important to Physics Were Einstein's Imaginings?

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

What Einstein Got Wrong

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

Relativity's Influence Is Still Going Strong on Its 100th Birthday

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

After Einstein, a New Generation Tries to Create a Theory of Everything

A new generation of physicists hope to succeed where Einstein failed

Does Einstein's Theory of Gravity Hold Near Black Holes?

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

The Quest for Genius in Einstein's Brain

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

Einstein's Light and Dark Sides

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

What Einstein Really Thought about Quantum Mechanics

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