In one paper, Einstein analyzed a phenomenon known as Brownian motion and presented a brilliant argument to support the theory that matter is composed of atoms and molecules. Einstein's research shook the foundations of physics. Scientists assumed that nobody would ever match Newton's annus mirabilis, yet 1905 witnessed a series of groundbreaking papers from Albert Einstein that took physics from the classical post-Newtonian era into the age of modern physics. Newton had combined mathematics, theory, and experiment to give scientists a deeper understanding of the laws of nature. These were discoveries that transformed science, allowing physicists to explore the universe with renewed confidence. His annus mirabilis included major breakthroughs in calculus, the nature of light, and, most famously, gravity.

Scientists judged the discoveries of Sir Isaac Newton to be the true wonders of 1666. Scientists, however, soon adopted the term to describe the same year for quite different reasons. The term annus mirabilis was originally the title of a John Dryden poem about the sensational events that took place in 1666, namely London's endurance through the great fire, Britain's recovery after the great plague, and the victory of the British fleet over the Dutch. But what defines a wonder year? What exactly did Einstein do that was so wondrous? And why is E=mc² Einstein's most famous legacy of 1905? Indeed, there have only been two such wonder years in the history of science, and Albert Einstein experienced one of them in 1905. Not every physicist has an annus mirabilis.

Acknowledgments Foreword Einstein's Miracle Year

Biography of e mc2