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Setting the scene
In 1905, Albert Einstein, a 26-year-old patent clerk in Bern, Switzerland, published four papers in the German journal Annalen der Physik that revolutionized physics. Working in isolation from academia, Einstein produced what is called his annus mirabilis (miracle year). The papers addressed fundamental problems in physics that had puzzled scientists for decades, and each would have been worthy of a Nobel Prize.
What happened
The first paper (March) explained the photoelectric effect by proposing that light consists of discrete packets of energy called quanta (later photons), founding quantum theory. The second (May) explained Brownian motion, providing empirical evidence for the existence of atoms and molecules. The third (June) introduced special relativity, overturning Newtonian concepts of absolute space and time with the principles that the speed of light is constant and the laws of physics are the same for all non-accelerating observers, leading to the famous equation E=mc². The fourth (September) was a short addendum deriving mass-energy equivalence.
Why it still matters
Einstein's 1905 papers transformed our understanding of reality. They laid the foundation for quantum mechanics and relativity, the two pillars of modern physics. The photoelectric effect paper won Einstein the 1921 Nobel Prize. Special relativity enabled nuclear energy and GPS technology. The papers demonstrated the power of theoretical physics and thought experiments, and made Einstein, an unknown patent examiner, the most famous scientist in the world. The annus mirabilis remains the most productive single year in the history of science.
Background
They reshaped space, time, and matter concepts.