In the year 1900, the most famous scientist of the age, Lord Kelvin, gave a lecture in which he identified two dark clouds, as he called them, that hung over modern science.

The two principal unsolved problems that once solved would essentially complete humanity's understanding of the physical universe.

Lord Calvin would live long enough to see the year 1905, the year that a hitherto unknown

theoretical physicist named Albert Einstein would solve both problems.

But his solutions would not complete modern physics, far from it.

They would instead open a door to a wholly new and wholly unexpected understanding of the universe.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

Music Episode 37, Year of Wonders

Albert Einstein was born in the city of Ulm, which lies in the kingdom of Wurtemberg

in the German Empire on March 14, 1879. Yes, he was born on Pi Day,

which seems like an omen or something, and if you didn't have enough reason to celebrate Pi Day

before, well, you do now. His parents, Hermann and Paulina Einstein, were non-observant Jews.

When Albert was still an infant, Hermann and his brother, Jakob, moved their families to Munich

and founded a company to manufacture electrical equipment, which was called J. Einstein and Company.

This company only lasted 14 years because the Einstein brothers had dedicated it to the manufacture of DC electrical gear.

Direct current versus alternating current was to the period what AM versus FM or VHS versus Betamax or HD DVD versus Blu-ray or iOS versus Android would be to future

eras and in this case DC lost the battle. But that was enough time for Albert to grow up to be a

teenager. He attended Catholic school for a few years and when he was eight years years old, he transferred to the Luetpold Gymnasium.

A gymnasium, or gymnasium, is what the Germans call what we Americans call a high school.

And by the way, Luet Pol Gymnasium still exists today, except now it's called the Albert Einstein Hypnazium, and I hear they have

an awesome jazz band. The jazz hasn't been invented yet, so let's move on. And speaking of music,

young Albert was interested in music and was encouraged to take up the violin, although he

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