Theodor Kaluza

Theodor Kaluza was a mathematician and physicist who, in 1919, proposed a revolutionary idea: adding a fifth spatial dimension to Einstein’s four-dimensional spacetime. This extra dimension aimed to unify gravity and electromagnetism into a single framework, suggesting they are different aspects of the same fundamental force. Although the fifth dimension was not physically observable, Kaluza’s work laid the groundwork for later theories, like string theory, that explore higher dimensions to explain the universe’s fundamental forces and particles. His approach opened new paths in the quest for a unified understanding of nature's fundamental laws.