Physicist,  mathematician, humanitarian, Albert Einstein is  one of the greatest scientists of all times. His theories established a new concept of the physical world and led to such advances as  harnessing atomic   energy.

In 1905, when barely 25, Einstein published his famous theory of relativity. It included his revolutionary expression of the relation between  mass  and  energy. This he stated in a brief, but highly pro­found, equation, E = mc2.

The generalised theory of gravitation or non-symmetric unified  field theory was independently developed by Einstein in 1945.

A Nobel Prize winner in 1921, Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany on March 14, 1879. By 1913 his fame was so great that the Kaiser Wilhelm  Institute  named  him its director and in 1914 he was elected a member of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. He went to the United States in 1932 and eventually settled in Princeton, New Jersey, at the Institute for  Advanced Studies. He became a U.S. citizen in 1940.

Albert Einstein was skilled in many fields of endeavour, but he was dedicated to his work in science. "What is really beautiful is science!" he once said. "It is a great gift if one is permitted to work in science for his whole life."

Einstein died on April 18, 1955, at the age of 76.

The P & T Department feels privileged to bring out a commemorative postage stamp on the birth centenary of this great scientist.

Source : Information Folder issued by Indian Posts & Telegraph Department, Government of India