A notable centenary in 2005

One hundred years ago, in 1905, Albert Einstein published five acaemic papers. Two of them, one on photons and one on relativity, were momentous in their effects. The one on photons ensured that the ether was no longer necessary as a carrier for light to get from one place to the other. The other, of course, has led to countless discoveries and the immortal E=mc2 (imagine that "2" as a superscript, please). Oddly enough, the one on photons won him the Nobel Prize in 1921, not the one on relativity. Even the Nobel committee doesn't get it right all the time.

It's reminded me of one of the few clean limericks I know, and I offer it here as a New Year's gift, if you like.

Three marvellous people named Stein:
There's Gert, and there's Ep, and there's Ein.
Gert's poems are punk,
Ep's statues are junk,
And nobody understands Ein.

The limerick refers to three giants of the twentieth century: Gertrude Stein, Jacob Epstein, and Albert Einstein.

So, later on, raise another glass (perhaps a Virgin Mary with a raw egg to counteract the alcohol of last night, should you have indulged) to relativity.

And also remember this April 17th, the fiftieth anniversary of Einstein's death and the abduction of his brain.