Max-von-Laue-Lecture
Tuesday, 20:00
HSZ-01 (Audimax)
David Kaiser: "Gravity: A Political History"
Abstract:
A popular image persists of Albert Einstein as a loner, someone who avoided the
hustle and bustle of everyday life in favor of quiet contemplation. Yet Einstein
was deeply engaged with politics throughout his life; indeed, he was so active
politically that the US FBI kept him under surveillance for decades. His most
enduring scientic legacy, the general theory of relativity – physicists’ reigning
explanation for gravity and the basis for nearly all our thinking about the cosmos
– has likewise been cast as an austere temple standing aloof from the all-toohuman
dramas of political history. But was it so? is talk explores surprising
linkages between the pursuit of general relativity and the political history of the
20th century, tracing the embedding of the research in the wider context of the
social responsibility of science.
The Max von Laue Lecture is open for all conference participants and interested public. The entrance is free.
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