Instructions on changing your email address or canceling this newsletter can be found
at the bottom of this message.
Today’s newsletter is made possible by:
See ya on the Net, https://www.surfnetkids.com/einstein.htm
Albert Einstein, known as one of the greatest scientists of all time, was born on March 14, 1879 in Ulm, Germany. The following sites explore his life and his work and what struck me most was how accessible Einstein’s theories can be when explained with examples and illustrations.
Albert Einstein Archives
Although there is an Einstein for Kids section here at the Albert Einstein Archives of The Hebrew University, it would be a shame if you stopped there, because the rest of the site is so much better. Best clicks for students are the biographical timeline, the Multimedia Mini-Exhibit and the audio recordings. The Mini-Exhibit is a slide show of highlights from Einstein’s life and achievements. Unfortunately the pages turn automatically, and if you want to stay at a particular page, my only advice is to use the previous arrow to view it again.
Einstein: Image and Impact
The American Institute of Physics site (my pick of the day) explores Einstein’s life through historical accounts, photographs and sound clips. The Brief Version (recommended for elementary students and anyone not wanting to read all one hundred pages of the Main Exhibit) can be traversed by following the Next Page link at the very bottom of each page. Clicking on any other links for more detail will take you into the Main Exhibit. To return to your tour through the Brief Version, use your browser back button, or start again at the home page.
“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” While I might argue with Einstein’s first statement, I can’t agree more with his conclusion about the importance of effort. You’ll find a hundred more Einstein gems categorized intosubjects at this quotation site created by a University of Colorado staff member. Want to understand relativity? Here’s Einstein’s short version: “Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. THAT’S relativity.”
NOVA Online: Einstein Revealed
This PBS site is a companion to their two-hour Einstein Revealed television special. Do-not-miss-them clicks are the two Hot Science lessons. Light Stuff explores everyday objects that slow down the speed of light. Second is Time Traveler, which asks “What happens to time when you travel very quickly?” This Shockwave experiment can either be played online or downloaded to your Windows or Mac computer and played off line. Other worthwhile clicks are the timeline of Einstein’s life and (for high school students and adults) a synopsis of how Einstein’s work laid the foundation for modern cosmology (the study of the universe.)
The Why Files: Everything’s Relative
For middle and high school science enthusiasts, The Why Files dive into Einstein’s theories about the speed of light and the space-time continuum. Twentieth century physics “has been a long trail of vindication for Einstein’s theories.” And this great Why Files site takes you by the hand to show how black holes and neutron stars offer proof of theories Einstein made eighty years earlier.