He took to reading advanced treatises on modern physics during his most tedious classes, gaining familiarity with such new and revolutionary concepts as American physicist Albert Einstein's general theory of relativity. In 1918, Pauli graduated from high school in Vienna and entered the University of Munich. He chose Munich because it was the home of German theoretical physicist Arnold Sommerfeld, then one of the greatest teachers of theoretical physics alive. Two years into his course of study, Pauli was given a special assignment by Sommerfeld: he was asked to write an entry on the subject of relativity for the forthcoming
Encyclopedia of Mathematical Sciences. The 250-page article that Pauli produced was not only a summary of all that was known on the subject but also an analysis of the information. In a letter to Einstein, Sommerfeld described Pauli's work as "simply masterful." A year later, after the shortest time allowed by the university, Pauli was awarded his Ph.D.
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