Why didn't Albert Einstein win a Nobel Prize for his work on Special/General Relativity?

Einstein got the nobel prize for Photo electric effect because the theory was confirmed by experiment.He did not get the nobel prize for relativity because at the time they did not have the technology to confirm his theory with physical experiment. It has subsequently been confirmed.

The first Einstein biographer to be given full access to the minutes and reports of the various Nobel prize committees and subcommittees found that Einstein was first nominated for the Nobel in 1910 and then in most subsequent years and that most of these early nominations were for relativity (first special, later general too) and sometimes also for photoelectric and/or statistical mechanics.  See Subtle is the Lord, A. Pais, pp. 502-509.  In 1921 he was nominated for General Relativity.  The Nobel committee asked a professor of Ophthalmology at Uppsala named Gullstrand, who was on the Nobel committee, to write a report on whether the special and general relativity work qualified.  At the same time, they asked another committee member, the famous Arrhenius, to write a report about whether the photo-electric effect qualified.  In short, see pp. 510-511, Gullstrand rather incompetently concluded that the effects predicted by special relativity were too small to be measured (not true in 1921) and that the effects predicted by general relativity (Mercury's orbit and light-bending) had not been verified.  Again, not true by 1921.  Meanwhile Arrhenius said that the photoelectric work qualified but they had just given a Nobel for quantum mechanics and shouldn't give another one in the very next year.  In the end, no prize at all was given in 1921.  Finally, in 1922 they decided to give Einstein the 1921 prize.  Ophthalmologist Gullstrand repeated his (false) opinion that neither special nor general relativity had received experimental verification so they went ahead and gave it for the photoelectric effect.  (It seems, this is just my opinion, they could not withstand the growing pressure from the world-wide physics community to give Einstein a Nobel so they took the easy path of giving it for photoelectric and not insulting their committee colleague who couldn't understand relativity.)..............................................So, why wasn't Einstein's Nobel prize given for relativity?  Answer: Nobel prizes are awarded by a committee of Swedish academics.  A fairly ignorant committee member, whose expertise was not theoretical physics, effectively blackballed relativity.  As in many committee processes, the other members were reluctant to challenge their friend and colleague.

GR was at the time considered still a bit too far "out there", with not nearly enough experimental backing. You have to remember: it took some time for such a fundamentally different way of viewing the world to become accepted and established. That sort of thing can and usually does take decades. It took time for the radical GR to become consensus. But, clearly, Einstein deserved a Nobel, and the photoelectric effect (not to mention several of the other of his 1905 "miraculous year" papers) fit the bill, and in such a way that the entire physics community was comfortable.

Oh no ... I cry for this Question ... my heart bleeds ... I wanted to embrace Albert Einstein way way back in 1905-1910: for Special Relativity - not still yet understood ...; and then - 1910 to 1915 to 1927 to 1955 till his death in quiet sleep in April 1955 at Princeton Hospital: Relativity Physics - Special & General Relativity have not been yet fully embraced to knowledge & understanding in heart & mind 100% by the Science Community. Therefore -My ANSWER: I am living in this 20th Century & 21st Century Science & Mathematics World deeply saddened to answer this Question: Until now today, humanity has not understood Albert Einstein and his Relativity Physics; more so for that matter way way back in the 1st Quarter of the 2oth Century; of truth, even a great mathematical physicist, Nobel Laureate Richard Feynmann in his time in all honesty boldly told the Science Community that he had hard time; he could not figure out how Albert Einstein came to the process to think of Relativity Physics: all 5 papers in 1905 & one single paper in 1915 that almost strikes out (almost ...) Newtonian Physics, which all in all Dr Feynmann lost touch of the inner truth of Nature by not being able to fully grasp the essence of Relativity. Hence, is it not that Albert Einstein failed to win Nobel Prize for Relativity Physics but that Science Community, including Nobel Committee in Einstein Time failed to award Albert Einstein the Nobel Prize for Special Relativity & General Relativity simply because humanity, with science community included, has not completely known & understood Einstein's Relativity Physics. Note: Kindly wait for this Gpw Bernard Bautista Rementilla 2016 Paper, in all sincerity. Yes, there is this last series of my Paper to be published this near future January-February 2016 (or, earlier) about the Title: "The World As I See It" - Albert Einstein: The 2nd Coming John The Baptist in 1945-1952 AD. In that Paper, you will be shown in simplified manner: The Relativity Theory: Special & General Relativity in more Essential & Technical Perspective as actually applied in human life & natural world of creation - not as modified; nor revised, not even to rectify it but to expand it, to extend & reconstruct it in its Concept & Mathematical Basics to present Albert Einstein not in the perspective of Albert Einstein Blueprint but in the context of GOD'S Nature's Blueprint: Its GUT & TOE. The reader(s) need not to worry about mathematics in that 2016 Paper, because I try to crystallize the mathematics in a glass of clean water where one can see the Relativity Concept the natural way - in the phenomena manner ... for the benefit of human understanding. - Thanks. Gpw Bernard Bautista Rementilla

The photoelectic effect was accepted as valid.  Relativity was highly controversial in 1921.  I'd assume that a lot of those consulted felt there was a risk of it being shown to be mistaken and incomplete, and so making an award for it look foolish.It actually remained a matter of distpute for many years afterwards.  Mostly resolved by the doubters dying of old age.  But also the first tests using satellites vindicated relativity exactly, disposing of a slew of alternatives.

I was always surprised that Albert Einstein never won as well. The main reason was because special/general-relativity are both theoretical and only mathematically proven. The Nobel Committee deemed it to abstract or unproven to maybe award Einstein. This is most likely the same reason Stephen Hawking hasn't won yet. However, these theories of relativity are the foundation for a tremendous amount of physics today. The Nobel Committee seems to honor proven discoveries. This is why Einstein won a Nobel Prize for Physics for discovering the photoelectric effect. This was a discovery that could be proven.

My Physics Professor told me that the mass - energy equivalence i.e. E=mc2 was used in the making of nuclear bombs. Though theory of relativity is more important than photoelectric effect, Albert Einstein was not awarded nobel prize for it because Alfred Nobel wanted that Nobel prize should be awarded to a person whose works lead to service to humanity in one way or the other.

There is a book titled 'The Love Letters', a nice collection of (53, in the latest edition 3 crucial letters are "missing") love letters between Albert Einstein and his first wife, Mileva Maric. If you don't know the rest of the tragic story (for her, anyway), it's just as well. It's enough to make you reflect on the amount of pain that love turn to hate can engender. They cover the period when he is getting his PhD, his first job at the patent office (which he was happy to get, by the way) in Zurich, and the birth of their first, but illegitimate child, a daughter named Lieserl, whose eventual whereabouts became a mystery (see the excellent Einstein's Daughter by Michele Zackheim for an exhaustive search for Lieserl). What is most intriguing about these letters is the number of times Einstein refers to "our" in his scientific work. He has never acknowledged Mileva's help, but I don't know how anyone can avoid the conclusion that she was a collaborator during the critical period leading up to 1905. Consider the following, in Einstein's own words: " . . . our work on relative motion . . . "(p. 39); "Don't [Mileva] forget to check on the extent to which glass conforms to the Dulong-Petit law." (p. 40); " . . .our theory of molecular forces . . ."(p. 45); " . . . enough empirical material for our investigation . . . "(p. 47); and "I gave him our paper" (p. 52). There are other references. Mileva has had her defenders in the last ten or fifteen years, but for the most part those who want to keep the Einstein myth alive that whatever he did, he did without any help have relegated her to the role of some sort of amanuensis and helpmeet. If the word "our" means what I think it means, she was a whole lot more than that. For those who think the sainted Einstein did not get any help from a mere woman, consider the following: "Poincare undoubtedly discovered many of the ideas that now form our mental picture of the theory of special relativity and associate with the name of Einstein," (HENRI POINCARE, Jeremy Gray, Princeton, 2014, p.368).   To summarize:   Nobel Committee never awarded GR theory for a number of good reasons. Actually, the theory was put together by Mileva Einstein-Marity (Marich) as revealed in the 'Love Letters' recently published. From the 1905., when they separated, until 1915. Einstein maintained contact with his wife Mileva as she was working on GR theory mathematics. When she was finished in 1915. Einstein stopped all communication with her and told her to "shut her mouth". As a compensation, he gave Mileva all proceeds from his Nobel award. He threatened her that if she speaks about that, then she will have to return all money. With two sons to care about Mileva didn't have choice. But 'Love Letters' reveal the full truth about GR and who the actual author is. At the time the work was submitted for publishing, the Russian physicist Jaffe said he saw Mileva's name on the original paper. Later, somebody removed 'Marity' from 'Einstein-Marity' (that was how women of that time in Austro-Hungarian empire represented themselves on official documents). The GR theory itself was derived from Lorentz and Poincare work. Nowadays, more or less, everybody knows the theory is plain wrong. In order to "save" the theory "scientists" invent things like "dark matter", "dark energy" and other stupidities.

Ideas of general and special relativity are not physically perceivable however it had implications. His work in photoelectric effects give physically perceivable ideas and it can be used for peaceful purposes. It is considerable contribution to be given Nobel prize.