Annus Mirabilis
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Dimensions: 48" H X 48” W X 1.5” D.
Square orientation.
Acrylic paint, open-sourced printed materials overlaid with high gloss varnish.
Original Artwork $1200 + shipping.
Contact artist for purchase.
Annus Mirabilis
This collage celebrates the works and achievements of Albert Einstein. The pomegranate tree in the middle of the collage represents the tree of knowledge of good and evil from the Garden of Eden. Knowledge is intrinsically neutral, but once unleashed or "tasted," it becomes a tool for good or evil in the hands of man.
The black background represents space, the clock represents time, and together they are the spacetime continuum that Einstein postulated. The sheet music represents Einstein's love of music, which inspired his beautiful scientific theories. The vibration of Einstein's violin strings is like the vibrating strings of energy explained in string theory. We are "vibrated" into existence by strings of energy. Music begets science begets life.
1905 was known as Einstein's "Annus Mirabilis," interpreted as a miraculous year. Einstein published four seminal papers that changed the world forever.
His paper on the photoelectric effect showed that light has wave-particle duality. This theory is fundamental to all quantum mechanics. It also has led to the development of the electron microscope, solar panels, among other inventions. He won a Nobel Prize for this paper in 1921.
His paper on Brownian motion showed that the random movement of particles in both liquid and gases occurs because other moving particles bombard them. This proved that atoms and molecules did exist and provided evidence for particle theory.
His third paper introduced his theory of special relativity which created a fundamental link between space and time. The universe can be viewed as having three space dimensions- up/down, left/right, forward/backward - and one time dimension. This 4-dimensional space is referred to as the space-time continuum. This theory explains the behavior of objects in space and time. It can be used to predict everything from the existence of black holes to light bending due to gravity to the behavior of the planet Mercury in its orbit.
Out of his theory of special relativity, he developed his fourth paper, which introduced the world to E =mc^2. This famous equation is called the mass-energy equivalence equation. This equation explains conversions between mass and energy, such as how an engine burns gasoline to produce energy in the form of motion. This is only one of the thousands of examples of this conversion. It led to the development of the theories of atomic fusion and fission reactions which ultimately led to the development of the atomic bomb.
The years on the collage show the progression of the technologies birthed by his theories since their introduction in 1905/1915. In 1945, the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The development of the atomic bomb required a vast amount of scientific expertise. However, its usage was destructive, and many would say "evil."
In 1969, the human race landed on the moon. Without Einstein's theories, we would not have been able to accomplish this impressive feat, and many would say this was "good."
His theories continue to unfold in the present and will in the future. It is up to us to steer that technology toward "good" versus "evil." The mantle of responsibility lies with each of us as we move forward in our own spacetime.
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, in Ulm, Germany. He was enrolled at the Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich and later the University of Zurich, where he studied physics and mathematics. Einstein excelled at mathematics at a young age, teaching himself algebra, geometry, and mastering integral and differential calculus by the age of fourteen. Philosophy was also of great interest and gave him a vehicle for creatively solving the conundrum of space and time. While sitting in a patent office in Bern, Switzerland, he thought up his special theory of relativity. In 1905 he published four groundbreaking papers that described the photoelectric effect (Nobel Prize in Physics 1921), Brownian motion, special relativity, and the famous mass-energy equivalence formula E=mc^2. 1905 was Einstein's "Annus Mirabilis," interpreted as miraculous year. He extended his special relativity theory to include gravitational fields and published his seminal paper on general relativity in 1915. Einstein became famous throughout the world as a genius of unparalleled magnitude. His general theory of relativity transformed the science of physics and revolutionized our understanding of the universe, space, time, gravity, predicted the existence of black holes and gravitational waves. His theories lead to successful space travel, the construction of atom bombs, nuclear energy, a better understanding of atomic theory, molecules, and light. He passed away on April 18, 1955, in Princeton, New Jersey.