Einstein, Albert (1879- ), physicist, was born at Ulm, Würtemberg, Germany, of German-Jewish parents. He was educated at the Gymnasium in Munich, and, on leaving school in his sixteenth year, accompanied his parents to Milan. Six months later, he enrolled at the Technical High School in Zurich, where he studied from 1896 to 1900. He held a post in the Swiss Patent Office from 1902 to 1909, then various professorships in Zurich till 1914, when he received a call to the Prussian Academy of Science, Berlin, as successor to van't Hoff. Einstein has been twice married. He has become famous as the author of the Theory of Relativity (q.v.). The 'special theory', which deals chiefly with electrodynamics and optics, was published in 1905, and the 'general theory' or theory of gravitation, about ten years later. His name became popularly known in 1919, after observations made during the solar eclipse of that year had verified his prediction of the bending of rays of light coming from a star and passing close to the sun. He has made other valuable contributions to Theoretical Physics, among these being a theory of the Brownian movements and various important applications of the modern quantum theory of energy. In 1921 he visited the United States and Britain, and delivered many lectures on Relativity.
Eisenach (ī´zėn-āh), a town of Germany, in the former grand-duchy of Saxe-Weimar, near the mountains of Thuringia, at the junction of the Nesse and Hörsel. It is an attractive town, and contains a palace erected in 1742. It has manufactures of pottery, leather, woollen yarn, &c. Sebastian Bach was born there in 1685. Near it lies the Wartburg, where Luther was kept for safety during 1521 and 1522. Pop. 38,362.
Eisenberg (ī´zėn-berh), a town of Germany, former duchy of Saxe-Altenburg, with a palace and various manufactures. Pop. 10,750.
Eisleben (īs´lā-bėn), a town, Prussian Saxony, 25 miles north-west of Merseburg, celebrated as the place where Luther was born and where he died. There are many memorials of Luther, and also a bronze statue of the reformer erected in 1883. Copper is extensively worked in the neighbourhood. Pop. 24,630.
Eisner, Kurt, Bavarian revolutionary leader, born in 1867 at Berlin, of a Jewish family. He studied at the University of Marburg, and early acquired a vast erudition. Entering journalism, he contributed to the Frankfurter Zeitung, where he published an article attacking the Kaiser. For this he was condemned to nine months' imprisonment. He then wrote for the Socialist press and eventually became editor-in-chief of
the Vorwärts. In 1907 he published a work entitled The Fall of the Empire which attracted much attention, and in 1910 he attacked Prussian ascendancy in the Munich Post. Eisner took an active part in the Revolution of 1918, and was appointed Prime Minister of Bavaria. A revolutionary and a Socialist, he was, however, opposed to Bolshevism, which he did not hesitate to criticize violently. But his policy of separation, his aim of liberating the South German States, and his constant attacks upon the Kaiser and the whole military caste of Germany, brought him many enemies. Whilst on his way from his house to the Foreign Office he was shot at and killed by Count Arco Valley on 21st Feb., 1919.
Eisteddfod (ī-steth´vōd; W. eistedd, to sit, and bod, to be; pl. eisteddfodau), an ancient assembly of Welsh bards for the purpose of musical and poetical contests, the judges being originally appointed by commissions from the native princes, and after the conquest from the English kings. There are two kinds of eisteddfodau, the national or general, and the provincial gatherings which take place in many parts of Wales. The last commission was issued by Queen Elizabeth in 1568, but the eisteddfod fell into abeyance during the seventeenth century. In 1798 the ancient custom was revived by the Gwynnedigion Society, and on a more elaborate scale by the Cambrian Society, which grew out of the Gwynnedigion. Eisteddfodau are now held annually in North and South Wales alternately, and are attended by many thousands of people. The festivals of 1919 and 1920 were held at Corwen and at Barry, Glamorgan, respectively.—Cf. Rhys and Brynmor Jones, The Welsh People.
Eject´ment, in law, an action wherein the title to lands and tenements may be tried and the possession recovered. It is commenced by a writ addressed to the tenant in possession and all entitled to defend the possession, bearing that the plaintiff lays claim to the property in question, and calling upon all interested to appear within a certain time to defend their rights. In its older form the action was remarkable for the curious fictions on which procedure was based. The names of John Doe, an imaginary plaintiff, and of Richard Roe, an imaginary defendant, were familiar in cases of this kind in the English courts until 1852, when the Common Law Procedure Act abolished these fictitious suitors.
Ejector, in mechanical engineering, an appliance for ejecting gases, vapours, or liquids from closed spaces by the use of another gas, vapour, or liquid at a higher pressure. For instance, the air may be extracted from a condenser by an ejector. A jet of steam is directed along a short specially-shaped pipe leading from the condenser to the outside atmosphere. The velocity of the steam when it leaves the jet in the pipe is very high, and it blows out into the atmosphere in spite of the atmospheric pressure against it. In blowing out into the atmosphere it sucks the air in the condenser along with it, and after it has been in operation some time practically the whole of the air is sucked out of the condenser. The appliance works on the principle of momentum. The active jet mixes with the material to be ejected and imparts a common momentum to the mixture, which is sufficient to enable it to pass outside the vessel from which the ejection is taking place. The same principle is used in the mercury air-pump (see Air-pump).—Bibliography: W. E. Dalby, Steam Power; Modern Mechanical Engineering (The Gresham Publishing Company).
Ekat´erinburg, a town, Russia, in the government and 170 miles S.E. of Perm, founded in 1723 by Peter the Great. It is the mining and metallurgy centre of the Ural regions; and gem-cutting, the making of machinery, cloth, and candles are industries. Pop. 70,000.