One hundred years ago this month, Einstein discovered the general theory of relativity. This interactive timeline follows Einstein’s early progress from his brilliant but rebellious school days to his first job working as a clerk in a patent office in Bern, Switzerland, through to the announcement of Einstein’s special theory of relativity in 1905.

Wednesday, November 25th is a big day for fans of scientific breakthroughs that re-shape our understanding of how the universe operates. One hundred years ago, Albert Einstein discovered the general theory of relativity.

It was 100 years ago this month that Einstein delivered four lectures to the Prussian Academy of Sciences in Berlin, which culminated in his discovery of the general theory of relativity. Einstein’s determined pursuit of mathematical equations that describe how the force of gravity works remains one of the most influential scientific discoveries of all time. If you’re planning a party — a general relativity rave, maybe — November 25th is the day it all came together. That’s a Wednesday. But a Thanksgiving toast at dinner the next day works well, too.

“Human kind cannot bear very much reality,” says T.S Eliot. So much reality is forced upon us by the enormity of our manmade global warming that it’s very hard to bear. The world’s leading climate scientists and policy makers are letting themselves say publicly what they’ve long said off-camera: Even the very existence of the human race is threatened. “OPTIMISM FACES GRAVE REALITIES AT CLIMATE SUMMIT” is the all-caps boldface lead headline on the December 1, 2014 New York Times. The second paragraph of the article, setting up the UN’s 20th annual climate summit, held in Lima Peru, reports that uncontrolled global warming could make the world “uninhabitable for humans.”

I watched Interstellar and came out deeply disappointed. Since then, I’ve read many other reviews, of both the science and the filmmaking, and I keep thinking maybe I’m being too hard on the film. Yeah, some of the science was bad. A lot of movies have bad science, and this one also had a lot of really good science. And it’s just a movie! So maybe I should give it a pass. Maybe I should say, “It did a really great job explaining relativity!” (which it did) and leave it at that.