2005 Einstein (Éire)
Albert Einstein appeared on an Irish stamp for the second time in five years,
this one being part of a set of three issued to mark the UNESCO World Year of
Physics in 2005, which was the 50th anniversary of Einstein’s death. That year was also the bicentenary of the birth of William Rowan
Hamilton, regarded as Ireland’s greatest-ever scientist, who was shown on the 48c stamp in the same World Year
of Physics set. Although he was Andrews Professor of Astronomy at Trinity
College, Dublin, and director of its associated observatory at Dunsink, from
1827 until his death in 1865, Hamilton was not an astronomer but a
mathematician; he was best-known for originating the theory of quaternions. The
60c value stamp depicted the Paris headquarters of UNESCO.
Britain’s Royal Mail did not issue stamps for the World Year of Physics, presumably
reckoning that the greatest British physicist, Isaac Newton, had been
sufficiently feted on stamps in 1987 and 1999.
Stanley Gibbons no. 1729