Einstein and the Atomic Bomb
In July 1939, scientists Leo Szilard and Eugene Wigner visited Einstein to discuss the possibility that Germany was working on building an atomic bomb. The ramifications of Germany building such a destructive weapon prompted Einstein to write a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to warn him about this potentially massive weapon. In response, Roosevelt established the Manhattan Project, which was a collection of U.S. scientists urged to beat Germany to the construction of a working atomic bomb.Even though Einstein's letter prompted the Manhattan Project, Einstein himself never worked on constructing the atomic bomb.
Einstein's Later Years
From 1922 until the end of his life, Einstein worked on finding a "unified field theory." Believing that "God does not play dice," Einstein searched for a single, unified theory that could combine all the fundamental forces of physics between elementary particles. Einstein never found it.
In the years after World War II, Einstein advocated for a world government and for civil rights. In 1952, after the death of Israel's first president, Chaim Weizmann, Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel. Realizing that he was not good at politics and too aged to start something new, Einstein declined the honor.
On April 12, 1955, Einstein collapsed at his home. Just six days later, on April 18, 1955, Einstein died when the aneurysm that he had been living with for several years had finally burst. He was 76 years old.
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