P Albert Einstein, who became internationally famous at 26 for his theory of relativity, died Monday after a four-day illness. The 76-year-old world-acclaimed scientist died at Princeton Hospital at 1:15 a.m. of a rupture of the main artery of the body caused by hardening of the arteries. A man who shunned publicity, Einstein had entered the hospital Friday. Only his intimates knew he was ill. His death first was attributed to a gallbladder condition, but an autopsy showed differently.
The shy, white-haired scholar was credited with making possible the atomic bomb by disclosing a small quantity of matter could produce vast amounts of energy. Einstein was probably the foremost theoretical mathematician and physicist in the world. As recently as 1950, he published a monumental mathematical treatise, the unified field theory.
This was hailed as a daring tire of mathematics that sought to describe the forces of the universe in a set of equations. At the time of his death, Einstein was a professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study, comprised of world-famous scholars and headed by Dr. Robert Oppenheimer.
During his late years, he was outspoken in many causes and far removed from the realm of theoretical physics. On several occasions, he advised witnesses called before the congressional subversive investigations committee that they had a duty to refuse to answer questions.
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