Albert Einstine’s theory of relativity

If my theory of relativity is proven correct, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare that I am a citizen of the world. Should my theory prove untrue, France will say that I am a German and Germany will declare that I am a Jew.
– Albert Einstein –
Address at the Sorbonne, Paris, possibly early December in 1929, in New York Times 16th February 1930.

In the aforementioned quote pronounced by Albert Einstein it is visible that there is an existing correlation between his words and the current world. It also logically signifies some of the social issues which prevailed in the society during Einstein’s days, such as the status he held in the world due to his genius intellect. His quote being discussed was said to have been spoken in the time of the Holocaust (World War II). Albert Einstein of all the physicists’ to emerge from nineteenth and twentieth centuries, is one of the very few names known by almost everyone in the world. The German born theoretical physicist is also the originator of the great theory of relativity and many more which will be mentioned later on.
Albert Einstein a Jew, born on 14th March 1879 in Ulm, Germany1 was one of the greatest minds in world history. He is known as a brilliant physicist who contributed more to the scientific world than any other person. His theories on relativity paved the way to how science currently views time, space, energy and gravity. Einstein was so advanced in his thinking that his studies and work set the standards for the control of scientific energy and space explorations currently being studied in the astrophysics. Einstein’s many contributions to physics include his special theory of relativity, which reconciled mechanics with electromagnetism, and his general theory of relativity which extended the principle of relativity to non uniform motion, creating a new theory of gravitation1.
His other contributions include relativistic cosmology, capillary action, classical problems of statistical mechanics and their application to quantum theory, an explanation of Brownian movement of molecules and many more. Works by Einstein include more than fifty scientific papers and also non scientific books. As a result of his service in theoretical physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect in 1921 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. Moreover in 1999 he was named Time magazine’s “person of the century”.
The above mentioned quote conveys the idea of how the society views people with stunning success. He clearly highlights the words, “If my theory of relativity is proven correct, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare that I am a citizen of the world” (Albert Einstein, 1929). This illustrates how he is accepted throughout the world for his genius intellect; especially with regard to the theory of relativity. In addition these words also demonstrate how people understood the value of his theory.
Einstein is known to have worked at many universities including, University of Zurich, Charles University of Prague, University of Berlin, Princeton University (New Jersey)1. It is said that even the geniuses accepted him as on of the greatest minds to ever set foot on this earth. By the time of World War II he was so well known in America that he would be stopped on the side on the street by strangers wanting him to explain “that theory”. He finally figured out a way to handle the incessant inquiries, by telling them, “Pardon me, so sorry, I am always mistaken for Professor Einstein.”2 This clearly points out how people in the society valued and accepted Einstein.
Among the current issues in the world, social issues can be stated as one that causes the most damage to human life style. These issues can be classified under many sub categories; such as racial, political, religious, tribal, mythical issues, and also not forgetting colour bar. All these issues have one common reason which is, the virtual groups that humans have formed within their mind. As a result there were various consequences such as wars, exploitation, alienation, humiliation. The historical foundation for the quote in question is the mass execution of Jews during World War II. His quote unmistakably points out that if his theory proves untrue, how France will say that he is a German and Germany will declare that he is Jew.
This also indicates how he would be discriminated against and he would not be accepted in the society that he was born in if he was an ordinary person as appose to a world renowned scholar. During this time people were physically and psychologically affected by the war. In an era like such Einstein spoke the word above mentioned twice, once in France and the other in the United States, which shows how bad the situation was at that time.
Even today great researches, theorists, inventors exist. Some instances they are from developing or third world countries. They might be even from a particular minority from, a so called virtual group, where they suppressed, due to the status they are born in to or given to by the modern society. From the quote under consideration we could see how well such people are recognised by the world; and this quote sounds more or less a message to such people existing in the world to come up and present their ideas to the world so that the human kind would benefit from their ideas. Although this is the surface message there is also a deeper implication which is really important; and in the quote it is signified in a sarcastic tone. That is in reality people have themselves divided into groups and of which they should get rid off right now in order for the world to grow and prosper.
In conclusion, even though Albert Einstein is not physically alive in the world today his inventions, theories and his words would live on forever. At a time of such turmoil in the world he discovered a way to enhance and bring more creativity to the world. As he sarcastically mentioned in this quote people need to diminish the sense of status in society and start accepting people by what they can offer to better the world. Unfortunately such actions take a lot of will power and unity in the world, factors that are currently not present in the world, thus, his quote holds importance today as much as it did in the past.