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Published: January 10, 2026
Video Description
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In 1905, Albert Einstein used the seemingly random motion of tiny particles suspended in a liquid to resolve a centuries-old question: are atoms real? By analysing Brownian motion statistically, Einstein showed that the wandering of a visible particle contains direct evidence for the existence of invisible molecules. In this video, we follow his original reasoning and see how random motion became a quantitative proof of the atomic nature of matter.
References & Further Reading
Albert Einstein (1905)
Investigations on the Theory of the Brownian Movement
(Original papers on Brownian motion, diffusion, and molecular reality)
Jean Perrin (1909)
Brownian Movement and Molecular Reality
(Experimental confirmation of Einstein’s theory and measurement of Avogadro’s constant)
Ronald Newburgh, Joseph Peidle, Wolfgang Rueckner (2006)
Einstein, Perrin, and the Reality of Atoms: 1905 Revisited
American Journal of Physics 74, 478–484
M. D. Haw (2002)
Colloidal Suspensions, Brownian Motion, and Molecular Reality: A Short History
Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 14, 7769–7779
Abraham Pais (1982)
Subtle Is the Lord: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein
(Historical and conceptual background)
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