Who Was Albert Einstein and Where Can You Find Reliable Sources on His Life, Theories, and Quotes?

Updated

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the special and general theories of relativity, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921, and is generally considered the most influential physicist of the 20th century. For reliable material, prioritize institutional archives, the official Nobel Prize site, and established science platforms over fan pages — then match the source to what you actually need: a biography, a timeline, a quote, or a book.

Start With the Facts

A few anchor points worth confirming before you dig deeper:

  • Born: 1879, in Germany.
  • Died: 1955.
  • Core work: special and general theory of relativity; the mass–energy relation E=mc².
  • Recognition: Nobel Prize in Physics, 1921.
  • Historical detail: when he left Germany in 1933, the Nazi regime placed a price of 20,000 marks on his head.

These are the claims any source you use should agree on. If a page gets these wrong, treat the rest of it with caution.

Match the Source to What You Need

Different questions need different kinds of sources. The table below maps common needs to the type of source that serves them best.

What you need Best source type Examples
Broad overview and quick orientation Encyclopedia entries Wikipedia – Albert Einstein
Authoritative biography and archival material University or institutional archives Albert Einstein Archives – The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The physics itself Academic and research institutions American Institute of Physics; Wolfram Research
Award details Official award body Nobel Prize site
Accessible introduction, including for students Science media and education platforms PBS – Nova; Einstein for Kids
Quotes Curated quote collections Dedicated quote sections on established Einstein sites
Books, by and about him Bibliographies and publisher listings See the book list below

Where to Find Reliable Material

The Albert Einstein Site Online (alberteinsteinsite.com) organizes its links into sections — General, Physics, Books, Pictures, Quotes, and Audio and Video Clips — which makes it a reasonable starting index, though it is a fan-maintained site and its last update was January 8, 2012. Use it to find leads, then verify against the primary sources it points to.

For biography and archives:

  • Albert Einstein Archives – The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • Albert Einstein – University of St Andrews, Scotland
  • Albert Einstein: MacTutor Biography
  • Einstein: A Life – Denis Brian
  • Einstein: His Life and Times – Philipp Frank

For physics and theory:

  • American Institute of Physics
  • Wolfram Research
  • PBS – Nova
  • Relativity: The Special and the General Theory – Albert Einstein (his own exposition)

For quotes:

  • The quotes section on the Albert Einstein Site Online
  • Ideas and Opinions and The World As I See It, both collections of his own writing, are better than quote aggregators because you can see the context.

For pictures and media:

  • The Pictures section of the site above
  • Audio and Video Clips section
  • Hulu – Einstein Biography from the Biography Channel

For younger readers:

  • Einstein for Kids
  • Einstein Online (described on the site as "Most Excellent site by Morgan")

Books: By Him and About Him

If you want depth rather than a webpage, these are the titles the site lists.

By Einstein:

  • Ideas and Opinions
  • The World As I See It
  • Out Of My Later Years
  • Relativity: The Special and the General Theory
  • The Evolution of Physics (with Leopold Infeld)
  • Why Socialism?

About Einstein:

  • Einstein's Miraculous Year: Five Papers That Changed the Face of Physics – Roger Penrose
  • Einstein In Berlin – Thomas Levenson
  • Einstein's Dreams – Alan Lightman
  • Einstein: A Life – Denis Brian
  • Albert Einstein: A Biography – Albrecht Folsing
  • Einstein's Tears – a fictional novel by Joseph C. Prindle

Note the distinction: Einstein's Dreams and Einstein's Tears are imaginative works, not biographies. If you need factual accuracy, keep them separate from the biographical titles.

How to Judge Whether a Source Is Reliable

Run any page through these checks:

  1. Who published it? University archives, the Nobel Prize organization, and established physics institutions carry more weight than personal sites.
  2. When was it updated? The Albert Einstein Site Online was last updated in 2012. That is fine for historical facts, which do not change, but not for anything current.
  3. Does it cite its own sources? A page that links to archives and primary documents is easier to trust than one that asserts facts without attribution.
  4. Is it primary or secondary? Einstein's own books and the Hebrew University archives are primary or near-primary. A fan page summarizing them is secondary.
  5. Does it separate fact from fiction? A good source labels novels and speculation as such.

A Practical Research Path

If you are starting from scratch, this order works:

  1. Read a short encyclopedia entry for orientation.
  2. Go to the Albert Einstein Archives or a university biography for verified detail.
  3. Check the Nobel Prize site for the award facts.
  4. Use PBS – Nova or the American Institute of Physics when you need the physics explained.
  5. Pull quotes from his own books rather than from quote lists.
  6. Use the Albert Einstein Site Online as a link index, not as a final authority.

The site itself describes its goal as containing "the most comprehensive information and detailed links about Albert Einstein on the Internet" — treat it as a directory, and let the institutions it links to carry the authority.