Albert Einstein was a theoretical physicist known for his wild hair, pacifism, violin playing, and reshaping modern physics.

His works laid the foundation for modern cosmology, black hole physics, satellite-based radio navigation technology, and quantum mechanics.

He was also a prolific essayist and public intellectual who wrote hundreds of political manifestos, speeches, and philosophical essays.

Throughout his life, he advocated for disarmament and international cooperation, pushing for a world government to prevent future wars.

Einstein was an outspoken socialist. In his 1949 essay "Why Socialism?", he argued that capitalism creates "a crippling of individuals" through economic anarchy and the concentration of wealth; and that a planned economy was necessary to ensure social justice, though he cautioned that socialism also risked excessive state power over individual.

Image: 1927 5th Solvay Physics Conference

He revered the rational order of the universe and saw the pursuit of scientific truth as a sacred act being a deep wellspring of science and ethics.

Albert had a deep skepticism about the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics. He asserted that "God does not play dice with the universe".

Niels Bohr is said to have replied, "Einstein, stop telling God what to do".

Modern physics has largely sided with Bohr on this specific point. Through Bell's Theorem and decades of subsequent experiments on quantum entanglement, scientists have suggested that at the quantum level, the universe genuinely does have an inherent, fundamental randomness to it.

Albert Einstein's 1929 remark on Vladimir Lenin:

In Lenin I honor a man, who in total sacrifice of his own person has committed his entire energy to realizing social justice. I do not find his methods advisable. One thing is certain, however: men like him are the guardians and renewers of mankind's conscience.