The 100th Anniversary of Einstein's Nobel Prize: Facts and Fiction

Abstract: As the 100th anniversary approaches of Albert Einstein being awarded a Nobel Prize, questions remain about the motivation for the prize and about the absence of any specific mention of his theory of relativity. By revisiting and supplementing earlier scholarly studies, it will be shown that “Einstein did not receive, as often claimed, a prize for his theory of the photoelectric effect and that committee member Allvar Gullstrand's error in comprehending relativity was not the cause for rejecting this strongly nominated achievement.” Rather, in their evaluations of relativity, “Svante Arrhenius (1920) and Gullstrand (1921 & 1922) brought to the task bias, if not prejudice; they incorporated arguments from the German ultranationalist experimental physicists’ politically and racially motivated opposition to Einstein and his theories of relativity and gravitation. Only when Carl Wilhelm Oseen joined the committee in 1922, he nominated, evaluated, and proposed a prize for the discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.” The precise wording and deliberate silence about Einstein's quantum theoretical derivation of the law owes to Oseen's insightful understanding of the challenges facing any effort to award a Nobel Prize to both Einstein and Niels Bohr.
As the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's Nobel Prize approaches, some confusion remains as to what actually transpired and what it means. A widely‐cited account claiming Einstein received a prize for his theory of the photoelectric effect and attributing relativity's absence to an error in evaluation carries misunderstanding and oversimplification of a much more complex and troubling history.

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: The 100th Anniversary of Einstein's Nobel Prize: Facts and Fiction ; day:05 ; month:08 ; year:2022 ; extent:9 ; Annalen der Physik ; (05.08.2022) (gesamt 9)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Friedman, Robert Marc

Further information

• DOI: 10.1002/andp.202200305
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2022080615051167741275
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:25 AM CEST