The 1905 Papers

The links below are to the papers of Einstein that changed the world of physics. To read them in their context of Einstein's other writings, please consult the first of the following books. It is an English translation of all his writings, while the second book is where the four 1905 papers were published in the original German. For convenience, the links at the bottom of this page take you to the English translations of his papers. The links below will display fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Digital resources are linked when available.

The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein by John Stachel (Editor); David C. Cassidy (Editor); Robert Schulmann (Editor); Anna Beck (Translator); Albert Einstein; Peter Havas (Consultant Editor)
Call Number: QC16.E5 A2 1987a
ISBN: 0691084750
Published/Created: 1987
Publisher description | Table of contents
Annalen der Physik
Call Number: QC1 .A6
Published/Created: 1905
Specifically volumes 17 and 18.
Electronic copy from HathiTrust External

Einstein's Annus Mirabilis

English translations of the four papers, from The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, vol. 2: The Swiss Years: Writings 1900-1909, Princeton University Press, 1990. English translation supplement.

On a Heuristic Point of View Concerning the Production and Transformation of Light External
The first of these four papers is on the photoelectric effect External, where electrons are released when light hits a material. Einstein put forth that light consists of "discrete packets" as opposed to the widely accepted wave theory of light. This later advanced the theory of wave-particle duality in quantum mechanics.
On the Movement of Small Particles Suspended in Stationary Liquids Required by the Molecular-Kinetic Theory of Heat External
The second paper focuses on Brownian motion External, the erratic random movement of microscopic particles in a fluid as they collide. This paper helped to move the theory of atoms into reality by offering a way for scientists to count and observe their behavior during experiments.
On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies External
In his third paper of 1905, Einstein argues that the speed of light is fixed and not relative to the observer. "...light is always propagated in empty space with a definite velocity c which is independent of the state of motion of the emitting body," meaning that light travels at the same speed regardless of whether the source is moving or stationary. The Special Theory of Relativity External also theorizes about what happens to objects when they travel near the speed of light (space contracts and time dilates).
Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon its Energy Content? External
The fourth paper, on the mass-energy equivalent External gave us what is arguably the most famous equation in history: E=mc².This equation showed that the energy of a body at rest equals its mass times the speed of light squared. The speed of light, or c, is 299,792,458 meters/second. That is a huge amount of energy that could be released, which would later be confirmed through the advent of nuclear bombs and reactors.

Annus Mirabilis of Albert Einstein

The 1905 Papers

Einstein's Annus Mirabilis