Stuart Gibbs studied biology in college, and science inspires much of his work. Science features most heavily in the Charlie Thorne series, which was partially “inspired by a traveling exhibit on Albert Einstein that [he] saw twice at two different museums, and by reading about geniuses” (“FAQ.” Stuart Gibbs). In fact, Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation begins with the death of Einstein in 1955, and Einstein’s legacy is an integral element of the narrative.

Einstein was a German physicist (1879-1955) and one of the most respected and recognizable figures in science. He was born in the German Empire, moved to Switzerland in 1895 to pursue his education, and renounced his German citizenship in 1896. He published some of his most famous work, including the special theory of relativity, in 1905 while working for the Swiss Patent Office in Bern, Switzerland. The special theory of relativity reconciles the conflict between Maxwell’s laws of electromagnetism and Newton’s laws of motion and includes the famous equation E=mc^2, which describes the relationship between mass and energy.

Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 for his work on the photoelectric effect. He moved to Berlin from 1914 to 1933; however, the rise of the Nazi Party forced him to leave his home and eventually emigrate to the US, where he held a teaching position at Princeton University until his death.