Profiles in Greatness: Albert Einstein

In 1916, Einstein published his general theory of relativity, which asserts that gravity is a distortion of space-time by matter. In other words, matter tells space-time how to curve, and the curvature of space-time tells matter how to move. An astronomy experiment by another prominent scientist in 1919 proved Einstein's theory, and his discoveries excited a world recovering from World War I.

"It is high time the ideal of success should be replaced with the ideal of service…. Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile."

Einstein traveled to the United States for the first time in 1921. He returned periodically for work and in late 1932 was serving temporarily at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. When Adolf Hitler assumed power in Germany in 1933, Einstein chose to stay in the United States.