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Michael Shara of the American Museum of Natural History’s Department of Astrophysics will speak on “Relativity for the Millions: Einstein” noon today in Jaqua Auditorium, Hugel Science Center room 103.
Free pizza and drinks will be provided at the event, which is sponsored by the Physics Club.
Curator of the recent Einstein exhibit at the museum, Shara will talk about Einstein as a scientist and human being.
“He was daring, wildly ingenious, passionately curious,” says Physics Club adviser Michael Stark, assistant professor of physics. “He saw a beam of light and imagined riding it; he looked up at the sky and envisioned that space-time was curved. Albert Einstein reinterpreted the inner workings of nature, the very essence of light, time, energy, and gravity. His insights fundamentally changed the way we look at the universe — and made him the most famous scientist of the 20th century.”
Einstein was not only a visionary physicist, but also a passionate humanitarian and anti-war activist. Born a German Jew, he considered himself a citizen of the world. His celebrity status enabled him to speak out on global issues from pacifism to racism, anti-Semitism to nuclear disarmament.
Adds Stark: “‘My life is a simple thing that would interest no one,’ he once claimed. But in fact, his letters, notebooks and manuscripts tell a dramatically different story.”
The American Museum of Natural History exhibit provided the most comprehensive display ever of Einstein’s physics and turbulent life, including many original manuscripts. Dr. Shara will summarize the exhibition and a side of Einstein not well known to the public or even many physicists.