Albert Einstein’s E=mc² is now more than 100 years old. A tribute a legend, and a towering genius.

When his father first showed Albert Einstein, the greatest of theoretical physicists, a receptacle compass, it was like what the falling apple was to his illustrious scientific "forebear" Sir Isaac Newton.

Einstein was barely five years old, but he felt an indescribable experience -- his mind lit up with the gadget, in a manner born, and he began his long adventure in science.

Paradoxically, as it often happens with great people, Einstein, despite his passion for knowing, was first thought to be a slow learner by his peers. He built models and mechanical gadgets for joy, all right, but psychologists, who deciphered his "consciousness" when he had grown to be a legend, felt that Albert, as a kid, suffered from dyslexia. This was further strengthened by observations that his plain shyness sprung from the notably unusual structure of his brain, which was scientifically examined after his death.

All the same, Einstein, as his legendary intellect suggests, was able to turn science inside-out, thanks to his non-obsessive attitude with space and time. This, scholars observe, led him on his great path for the development of the theory of relativity -- his most celebrated discovery.

The best part -- it’s also said that Einstein’s unhurried thought process laid the foundation to his science, unlike most children who find no time for mental fine-tuning. What’s more, and as with all great folks, who come under the scanner long after they are gone, Einstein, scholars now suggest, may have also had Asperger’s syndrome -- a disorder related to autism. So be it!

Einstein began to first dabble in mathematics when he’s hardly 12, although it’s whispered that he had flunked in the subject as he progressed with his academic pursuits. The "failed-buzz" apart, it’s a fact that Einstein was encouraged to study science and mathematics by his uncles -- and, he seemed to have made them happy, if not proud, with his skills.

Einstein was not an exceptional student, yes, but what he liked best was doing his own thing. That he loved philosophy, mathematics, music, and science, is beyond an iota of doubt. What’s not widely known is he was his own apprentice in them -- although he’s not quite keen to learn them in school.

When his parents moved to Italy in 1895, as his father’s business could no longer sustain them, Einstein was left behind to continue with his studies. But, Einstein, who never fancied rigid learning left school without a certificate, and rejoined his family. He now dipped himself into his own private studies. It was at this time that he learned calculus and some of the more complex principles of science. Curiously, he failed in his entrance test for admission to the famed Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. He was quite desolate. However, he gained entry to the Institute and graduated in physics and mathematics in 1900.

Einstein became a Swiss citizen, the following year. He was also hired as a technical assistant at the Swiss Patent Office. Two years later, he married his "original" flame, Mileva Maric. The patent office was Einstein’s grand laboratory; his radar and compass in theoretical physics.

When Einstein published an article -- A New Determination of Molecular Dimensions in Annalen der Physik, a physics magazine of repute, the submission fetched him a PhD, from the University of Zurich. Buoyant with the progression, Einstein published four more papers in Annalen der Physik -- this included his ground-breaking theory that light exists in both waves and particles. His paper shelved the conventional view that time and space were absolute concepts; it also deliberated that both time and space differ with circumstances.

This sent the scientific world into a tizzy.

In the midst of change, Einstein, who perfected his general theory of relativity, emerged with his famous mathematical equation, E=mc² [energy equals mass time the speed of light squared] in 1905. His theory of relativity also appeared in print -- The Principle of Relativity, Sidelights on Relativity, and The Meaning of Relativity. The Royal Society of London noted that the solar eclipse, that took place the same year, had confirmed Einstein’s general theory of relativity.

Einstein had now moved places in the scientific sense. He not only opted for the position of Professor of Physics in Prague and Zurich University, but also moved from there to Berlin with his wife and two sons [1914]. The Prussian Academy of Sciences was his next destination. Strangely enough, he was not innately happy in Berlin; hence, he returned with his family to Switzerland just before World War I rattled Europe. The Einsteins separated at the end of the Great War, and Albert married his second cousin, Elsa Lowenthal, in 1919.

Einstein was now the toast of the entire world. As his fame spread far and wide, Einstein, like all great men, was not exempt from "spat" by scientific critics and also on the groundwork of his political ideologies. In the years that followed, he began to be as much disliked for his scientific theory, just as much as he was appreciated for his vigorous stand on peace, liberty and justice.

When Einstein won the Nobel Prize in 1921 for his photoelectric law and work in the field of theoretical physics, there was no mention of the word, relativity, his landmark breakthrough. What a paradox! Undaunted, Einstein continued to work just as passionately, trying to coalesce his concept of gravity and electromagnetism into a “grand unified theory of physics.” In other words -- a single mathematical formula that could amalgamate the universal chattels of matter and energy. It’s a voyage that Einstein was sadly unable to complete.

Einstein sure foresaw the Nazi spectre; he also saw the employment of the atom bomb with as much distress. And, yet, he never ever shirked his stand for pacifism -- come what may -- to make our world a better place to live in.

This was and is still his lasting greatness.