Einstein's work was influential in the development of the atomic bomb

England have

Albert Einstein has died in hospital in Princeton, New Jersey, aged 76. The eminent scientist and originator of the theory of relativity was admitted to hospital three days ago with an internal complaint.

In recent years Dr Einstein had lived a secluded life although he was still a member of staff at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University.

In a statement issued following the scientist's death, US President Dwight Eisenhower said: "No other man contributed so much to the vast expansion of the 20th century knowledge.

"Yet no other man was more modest in the possession of the power that is knowledge, more sure that power without wisdom is deadly.

"To all who live in the nuclear age, Albert Einstein exemplified the mighty creative ability of the individual in a free society."

'Disruptive' behaviour

Albert Einstein was born on 14 March 1879 to Jewish parents at Ulm, Wurttenburg in Germany.

Soon afterwards the family moved to Munich where the young Einstein began his education at the Luitpold Gymnasium.

His early academic career was notable only for the fact he was asked to leave his school for "disruptive" behaviour.

But he had always excelled at mathematics - a subject which would later make him the most renowned scientist in the world.

In 1896 Einstein entered the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich to train as a physics and maths teacher.

But he struggled to get a job, largely due to the fact he was German, so, in 1902, he accepted a job as a technical assistant in the Swiss Patent Office.

It was during his seven years at the Patent Office that, in his spare time, he worked on his mathematical theories which would eventually take the world by storm.

The Special Theory of Relativity, which describes the motion of particles moving close to the speed of light, was published in 1905.

In the years that followed, Einstein took up senior academic posts in Berne and Zurich. In 1911 he became Professor of Theoretical Physics in Prague but returned to Zurich a year later.

However, well-known German physicists, Walter Nernst and Professor Planck, were eager for Einstein to return to Berlin.

In 1913 they persuaded him to take up the position of director of the projected research institute for physics in the University of Berlin and become a member of the Royal Prussian Academy of Science.

Einstein's General Theory of Relativity was published in 1916 and in 1922 he was awarded a Nobel Prize for his works.

He kept the positions in Berlin until 1933, when he accepted a part-time post at Princeton University in America.

His plan was to divide his time between Germany and America but in the same year the Nazis came to power and Einstein, being a Jew, never returned to hisbirthland.

Control of the canal is a sensitive issue

The Senate's approval by 68 votes to 32 was by the narrowest of margins - just one vote more than the two-thirds majority required.

The outcome was seen as a victory for President Jimmy Carter's foreign policy at a time when the effectiveness of his administration is under question.

Last September President Carter signed two treaties with Panama's leader, General Omar Torrijos Herrera.

The first provided for the gradual transfer of the canal to Panamanian control on 31 December 1999.

The other declared the canal neutral territory and open to vessels of all nations.

However, the US has retained the right to defend the canal, preferably in support of Panama but alone, if necessary.

Domestic opposition

The canal - a 51-mile (82-kilometre) swath through Panama - cuts thousands of miles off sea journeys between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Started by the French in 1880, the US took over the construction of the canal in 1904 and completed it 10 years later.

In return for rights to the waterway the US recognised Panama - which was then attempting to break away from Colombia - as a sovereign state and paid it $10m and anannuityof $250,000.

During the First and Second World Wars the canal was a vital strategic artery for the United States and its allies.

But it could not accommodate the larger vessels which had become part of the US fleet by the time of the Korean War.

There had been fierce domestic opposition to the prospect of giving up the canal which critics argued was a necessary part of the US' defences.

But President Jimmy Carter argued that the issue of the canal was leading to an upsurge of anti-American feeling in Panama and other Latin American nations.

birthland: 出生地，故鄉

annuity: the annual payment of an allowance or income（年金）