Remembering Einstein's groundbreaking contributions on his anniversary

March 14 is a big date in the world of science. Scientists celebrate Pi Day, the mathematical constant pi (3.14.), and the anniversary of the birth of Albert Einstein – an occasion to remember and celebrate his groundbreaking contributions to physics.

A picture taken on November 22, 2021 shows pages of one of the preparatory manuscript to the theory of general relativity of Albert Einstein, during their presention a day before being auctioned at Christie's auction house in Paris. AFP - ALAIN JOCARD

Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who is widely held to be one of the greatest and most influential scientists of all time.

For Thibault Damour, professor emeritus at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifique (IHES) and an expert in the theories of relativity, Einstein was certainly the greatest physicist of the 20th century.

Speaking about the enormous impact of the two theories of relativity which Einstein discovered in the early 20th century, Damour said the theory of special relativity was the basis of all the developments in particle physics.

As for the theory of general relativity, Damour said that it was first considered by many people like a beautiful object of art, but not something useful.

"It has turned out to be an extremely important element of our description of the Universe because the Big Bang, gravitational waves, black holes and many discoveries in astrophysics are based on Einstein's theory of general relativity."

Einstein 'was right'

Einstein's mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, which arises from relativity theory, has been called "the world's most famous equation"

Besides the two theories of relativity, Einstein made other significant contributions to physics.

"Einstein was the one to introduce the quantisation of many aspects of matter, of oscillators and the quantisation of light. He outlined the concept of quantum light.

"For 20 years, most people did not believe in what he was saying that light was made of quanta. But, he was right," Damour explained.

The German scientist received the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics "for his services to theoretical physics and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect" a major step in the development of quantum theory.

His work also influenced the philosophy of science.

In a 1999 poll of 130 leading physicists worldwide by the British journal Physics World, Einstein was ranked the greatest physicist of all time.