Somehow, to me, this post seems strangely appropriate, given that this is the 100th anniversary of Einstein's seminal papers, and (if I may be so conceited!) my 50th post in this blog :-). This year is also the 50th anniversary of Einstein's death.
Albert Einstein is one physicist who defined and dominated the 20th century. His papers on Special and General Relativity, Brownian Motion, and Photoelectric Effect single-handedly transformed our view of the world and how it operates.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955)As part of the celebrations of Einstein's famous discoveries in 1905 the British Library has released a CD (here) containing various speeches and radio broadcasts by Einstein. The CD begins with a discussion of his most famous equation E=mc². However, most of the CD is devoted to his speeches and talks on international affairs, and the fate of the Jewish people.
The centerpiece of the CD is a 25 minute eulogy to Einstein by the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Says Shaw: There are great men who are great men amongst small men, but there are also great men who are great amongst great men, and that is the sort of great man whom you have amongst you here tonight. Men like Einstein are not makers of empires, but they are makers of universes. And when they have made those universes, their hands are unstained by the blood of any human being on earth.
Einstein was a great physicist, but he was a greater humanitarian. One week before his death Einstein signed his last letter. It was a letter to Bertrand Russell in which he agreed that his name should go on a manifesto urging all nations to give up nuclear weapons. It is fitting that one of his last acts was to argue, as he had done all his life, for international peace. Perhaps while celebrating his science, we could also pay tribute to this giant of a man by taking steps to honor his vision of a nuclear-free world, a world he (unwittingly) played such a large part in creating? I sure hope so.