Albert Einstein established the foundation of modern physics. He wrote four articles and realizing the weaknesses in Newtonian physics, he decided to develop his own ideas of relativity. In one of his articles, he argued for his famous equation E=mc^2. This is called the general theory of relativity, and he would go on to win the Nobel Prize for it. Einstein had a tremendous impact. His work contributed to the ideas of the movement of planets, the development of nuclear reactors, and essentially the end of Word War II.
Hope this helps.