It turns out that electrons are dislodged by the photoelectric effect if light reaches a threshold frequency. Below this no electrons can be emitted from the metal. In 1905 Albert Einstein published a paper explaining the effect. Einstein proposed that a beam of light is not a wave propagating through space, but rather a collection of discrete wave packets (photons), each with energy. Einstein said that the effect was due to a photon striking an electron. This demonstrated the particle nature of light.