Hans Albert Einstein (May 14, 1904 – July 26, 1973) was a Swiss-American engineer and educator, the second child and first son of physicists

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

and

Mileva Marić Mileva Marić ( sr-cyr, Милева Марић; 19 December 1875 – 4 August 1948), sometimes called Mileva Marić-Einstein ( sr-cyr, Милева Марић-Ајнштајн, Mileva Marić-Ajnštajn), was a Serbian physicist and mathematicia ...

. He was a long-time professor of

hydraulic engineering Hydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive use of gravity as the motive force to cause the mov ...

at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. Einstein was widely recognized for his research on

sediment transport Sediment transport is the movement of solid particles (sediment), typically due to a combination of gravity acting on the sediment, and/or the movement of the fluid in which the sediment is entrained. Sediment transport occurs in natural system ...

. To honor his outstanding achievement in hydraulic engineering, the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

established the "Hans Albert Einstein Award" in 1988 and the annual award is given to those who have made significant contributions to the field.

Early life

Hans Albert Einstein was born on May 14, 1904, in

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

, Switzerland, where his father, Albert Einstein, worked as a clerk in the

Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property The Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property ( French: ''Institut fédéral de la propriété intellectuelle'', IPI; German: ''Eidgenössisches Institut für Geistiges Eigentum'', IGE; Italian: ''Istituto federale della proprietà intelle ...

. His father was of

German-Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...

descent and his mother, Mileva Marić, Serbian. His younger brother, Eduard Einstein, was born in 1910 and died in 1965. In 1913, Hans and Eduard were baptized as

Orthodox Christians Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churc ...

in the Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

. The fate of his older sister,

Lieserl Einstein The Einstein family is the family of physicist Albert Einstein (1879–1955). Einstein's great-great-great-great-grandfather, Jakob Weil, was his oldest recorded relative, born in the late 17th century, and the family continues to this day. Al ...

, Albert Einstein's and Mileva Marić's first child, is unknown, although it has been suggested she died of scarlet fever in 1903. Their parents divorced in 1919 after living apart for five years.

Career

In 1922, Hans followed in his parents' footsteps and entered

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

, where he studied

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

, graduating in 1926. From 1926 to 1930 he worked at the

steel design Steel Design, or more specifically, Structural Steel Design, is an area of structural engineering used to design steel structures. These structures include schools, houses, bridges, commercial centers, tall buildings, warehouses, aircraft, ships ...

company Klönne, in

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

, Germany. From 1931 to 1938, he worked as a research engineer at the newly founded Laboratory of Hydraulics and Soil Mechanics (VAWE) at ETH Zurich. There, in 1936 Hans Albert obtained a doctorate in technical science. His doctoral thesis "Bed Load Transport as a Probability Problem" (''Der Geschiebetrieb als Wahrscheinlichkeitsproblem'') is considered the definitive work on sediment transport. Hans' father, Albert, left Germany in 1933 to escape the persecution of Jews by the

Nazi government The government of Nazi Germany was totalitarian, run by the Nazi Party in Germany according to the Führerprinzip through the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler. Nazi Germany began with the fact that the Enabling Act was enacted to give Hitler's gover ...

. Heeding his father's advice, Hans emigrated from Switzerland to

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...

, in 1938. He worked for the

US Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

, studying sediment transport from 1938 to 1943. He continued working for the USDA at the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

starting in 1943. In 1947 he took a position as associate professor of

at the

. He advanced to full professor, and later professor emeritus. Einstein traveled the world to participate in hydraulic engineering conferences. He was at a symposium at

Woods Hole Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 781 at ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

when he collapsed and died from heart failure on July 26, 1973. Einstein was honored by a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

(1953), research awards from the

(1959 and 1960), the Berkeley Citation from the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

(1971), the Certificate of Merit from the

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

(1971), and a certificate of recognition for more than 20 years of devoted and distinguished service to

Applied Mechanics Reviews ''Applied Mechanics Reviews'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal established in 1948 by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The editor-in-chief is Harry Dankowicz (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign). Abstracting and ...

by the

American Society of Mechanical Engineers The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) is an American professional association that, in its own words, "promotes the art, science, and practice of multidisciplinary engineering and allied sciences around the globe" via "continuing ...

(1972). Hans was also made an member of

Pi Tau Sigma Pi Tau Sigma () is an international honor society in the field of mechanical engineering, with most chapters established in the United States. It honors mechanical engineering students who have exemplified the "principles of scholarship, characte ...

in December 1949 with honorary membership grade. In 1958 he was the principal guest of honor at the Technion's dedication of a new building housing the Albert Einstein Institute of Physics. HAE_gravestone

Hans Albert Einstein died due to heart failure on July 26, 1973 in

Woods Hole, Massachusetts Woods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands. The population was 781 at ...

. His papers are held at the

Water Resources Collections and Archives The Water Resources Collections and Archives (WRCA), formerly known as the Water Resources Center Archives, is an archive with unpublished manuscript collections and a library with published materials. It was established to collect unique, hard-t ...

in the University of California, Riverside Libraries and in the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

Libraries Special Collections and Archives.

Personal life

In 1927, Hans Albert Einstein married Frieda Knecht. They had four children: * Bernhard Caesar Einstein (10 July 1930 – 30 September 2008), who was a physicist and engineer. *Klaus Martin Einstein (1932–1939), died of diphtheria aged six. *David Einstein (October–November 1939), died aged one month. *

Evelyn Einstein Evelyn Einstein (March 28, 1941 – April 13, 2011) was the adopted daughter of Hans Albert Einstein, the son of Albert Einstein. She graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a master's degree in literature, and had several jobs in ...

(28 March 1941 – 13 April 2011), adopted. Knecht died in 1958, and Hans Albert married neurochemist Elizabeth Roboz (1904–1995) the following year. Einstein was an avid sailor, frequently taking colleagues and family out for excursions on the

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

. On his many field trips and academic excursions, he took thousands of pictures, many of which he developed himself and presented as slide shows. He also loved music, as denoted on his gravestone, and he played flute and piano.

References

Bibliography

* Einstein, H. A. (1950). "The bed-load function for sediment transportation in open channel flows". ''United States Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin 1026''. Washington DC, 1950 * H. A. Einstein, Hsieh Wen Shen, ''Sedimentation: Symposium to honor H. A. Einstein'', edited and published by Wen Shen Hsieh, University of California, 1972 *Ettema, R., and Mutel, C.F., (2004) Hans Albert Einstein: Innovation and Compromise in Formulating Sediment Transport by Rivers, Journal of Hydraulic Engineering ASCE, June, 477-486

External links

Biography from einstein-website.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Einstein, Hans Albert 1904 births 1973 deaths ETH Zurich alumni People from Bern 20th-century Swiss engineers 20th-century American engineers Swiss civil engineers American civil engineers Hydraulic engineers UC Berkeley College of Engineering faculty Sedimentologists

Hans Albert Hans Albert (born 8 February 1921) is a German philosopher. Born in Cologne, he lives in Heidelberg. His fields of research are Social Sciences and General Studies of Methods. He is a critical rationalist, paying special attention to rational ...