1920
I have found and launched the new science of cosmology. My equations predicted that the universe is dynamic; expanding or contracting. This contradicted the generally current view that the universe was static, a view that I held earlier and was a guiding factor in my development of the general theory of relativity. But my later calculations in the general theory indicated that the universe could be expanding or contracting, which has proven me wrong. In 1921, I received word that I had received the Nobel Prize for Physics but; as I predicted that would happen, because relativity was still considered controversial, I received the award for my explanation of the photoelectric effect.
1920s
While I was touring the world and speaking about my theories, the Nazis were rising to power under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. My theories on relativity became a convenient target for Nazi propaganda. The Nazi’s enlisted other physicists to accuse me and my theories as "Jewish Physics." At this time, I learned that the new German government had passed a law forbidding Jews from holding any official position, including teaching. I also learned that my name was on a list of assassination targets, and a Nazi organization published a magazine with my picture and the caption "Not Yet Hanged" on the cover. I’m really scared and I am thinking of moving to another country, a country that may understand my theories and appreciate them, not forbid them and try to kill me because of them.
1933
In December, 1932, I decided to leave Germany forever. I took a position at the newly formed Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, New Jersey, which soon became a Mecca for physicists from around the world. I heard that other European scientists also fled their countries threatened by Nazi takeover and came to the United States. Some of these scientists said that they knew that there are some Nazi plans to develop an atomic weapon but nobody had listened to them. I believe in them and I actually think that they are right but the President or the guys in the D.C. do not believe in them.
1948
In the summer of 1939, I had to write a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to alert him of the possibility of a Nazi bomb. I knew that President Roosevelt could not risk the possibility that Germany might develop an atomic bomb first. Roosevelt invited me to his house and we had a talk about me helping the country to develop a nuclear weapon. I was not sure about developing a weapon that would kill a whole country in seconds but finally I agreed. On this day; August 6, 1945, while on vacation, I heard the news that an atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. I decided to become involved in an international effort to try to stop the atomic bomb and take it under control, and in 1946, I formed the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists with physicist Leo Szilard, someone whom I met before while writing a letter to the President. In 1947, I wrote an article for The Atlantic Monthly and I said that the United States should not try to develop or acquire the atomic bomb, but instead should supply the United Nations with nuclear weapons to try to stop the Nazis. I believe that this is the only way we can stop a nation that has a weapon that can erase all humanity from this world.
I have found and launched the new science of cosmology. My equations predicted that the universe is dynamic; expanding or contracting. This contradicted the generally current view that the universe was static, a view that I held earlier and was a guiding factor in my development of the general theory of relativity. But my later calculations in the general theory indicated that the universe could be expanding or contracting, which has proven me wrong. In 1921, I received word that I had received the Nobel Prize for Physics but; as I predicted that would happen, because relativity was still considered controversial, I received the award for my explanation of the photoelectric effect.
1920s
While I was touring the world and speaking about my theories, the Nazis were rising to power under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. My theories on relativity became a convenient target for Nazi propaganda. The Nazi’s enlisted other physicists to accuse me and my theories as "Jewish Physics." At this time, I learned that the new German government had passed a law forbidding Jews from holding any official position, including teaching. I also learned that my name was on a list of assassination targets, and a Nazi organization published a magazine with my picture and the caption "Not Yet Hanged" on the cover. I’m really scared and I am thinking of moving to another country, a country that may understand my theories and appreciate them, not forbid them and try to kill me because of them.
1933
In December, 1932, I decided to leave Germany forever. I took a position at the newly formed Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, New Jersey, which soon became a Mecca for physicists from around the world. I heard that other European scientists also fled their countries threatened by Nazi takeover and came to the United States. Some of these scientists said that they knew that there are some Nazi plans to develop an atomic weapon but nobody had listened to them. I believe in them and I actually think that they are right but the President or the guys in the D.C. do not believe in them.
1948
In the summer of 1939, I had to write a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to alert him of the possibility of a Nazi bomb. I knew that President Roosevelt could not risk the possibility that Germany might develop an atomic bomb first. Roosevelt invited me to his house and we had a talk about me helping the country to develop a nuclear weapon. I was not sure about developing a weapon that would kill a whole country in seconds but finally I agreed. On this day; August 6, 1945, while on vacation, I heard the news that an atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. I decided to become involved in an international effort to try to stop the atomic bomb and take it under control, and in 1946, I formed the Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists with physicist Leo Szilard, someone whom I met before while writing a letter to the President. In 1947, I wrote an article for The Atlantic Monthly and I said that the United States should not try to develop or acquire the atomic bomb, but instead should supply the United Nations with nuclear weapons to try to stop the Nazis. I believe that this is the only way we can stop a nation that has a weapon that can erase all humanity from this world.