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	Albert Einstein

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."

Another of Einstein's quotes - "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - has been widely reproduced, appearing on t-shirts and posters to fridge magnets and badges. His powerful words on the theme of imagination encapsulate the overlap between scientific and artistic creativity.

Einstein was famous for his attitude to science and research.

His approach was unconstrained by orthodox thought, instead emphasising creativity and innovation.

He said: "The state of mind which enables a man to do work of this kind…is akin to that of the religious worshipper or the lover; the daily effort comes from no deliberate intention or programme, but straight from the heart."

Our resident language expert, Professor David Crystal, explains how Einstein had a way with words

Factoids on Einstein

At 16 he imagined what it would be like to ride on a light beam.

Joseph Degenhart, his high school teacher, said "nothing [will] ever become of you.

Declined the offer of the Presidency of the State of Israel in 1945.

Asked physicist, Isaac Newton, to forgive him for replacing Newton's system with his own.

Smoke detectors and exit signs make use of the equation, E = mc²

Profile

Born in Germany in 1879, Albert Einstein is widely regarded as the greatest scientist of the 20th century. He was the author of the general theory of relativity and contributed much to the theoretical development of the special theory of relativity, quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, and cosmology. He was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect and "for his services to Theoretical Physics."

After British solar eclipse expeditions in 1919 confirmed that light rays from distant stars were deflected by the gravity of the sun - exactly the amount he had predicted in his theory of relativity - Einstein became world-famous. In his later years, his fame exceeded that of any other scientist in history. In popular culture, his name has remained synonymous with great intelligence and genius.