Sketch a thicket of unruly hair, a soup-straining moustache, a pair of knowing eyes and perhaps a thought balloon full of equations—people around the world will know who you mean as easily as if you had
drawn Mickey Mouse’s ears or Superman’s cape. Not only is “E = mc2” one of science’s best-known equations, but as a catchphrase it is probably as familiar to much of the public as any line from Shakespeare. Every
list of the 20th century’s most outstanding figures must include Albert Einstein because that era—and our own—is unimaginable without him and his influence.