UF celebrates Einstein's miracle year

October 13, 2005

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Albert Einstein once referred to 1905 as the year “a storm broke loose” in his mind. It must have been the perfect storm, because that year he published five papers that forever changed the field of physics — proving the existence of atoms, devising the theory of relativity, laying the foundation for quantum physics and writing the world’s most famous equation, E=mc2 — all in 1905.

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s year of discovery, the University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Department of Physics are presenting “Einstein’s Miracle Year,” a seminar paying tribute to Einstein and his influence on the scientific community, on Oct. 18, from 2:30 to 5 p.m., in the Keene Faculty Center in 103 Dauer Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

“Einstein’s work has remained with us because it forces us to confront what we normally do not think about — that our lives on spaceship earth are part of a vastly larger drama,” said Fred Gregory, a history of science professor and symposium speaker. “We occasionally catch glimpses of its mystery — in Einstein’s results, for example — and these snatches of the whole remind us of how much there is yet to discover.”

The seminar schedule:

2:30–3 p.m.
“Einstein: The Making of a Physicist”
Presented by Fred Gregory, history

3–3:30 p.m.
“Who Ordered Theorists? Einstein and the Photoelectric Effect”
Presented by Arthur Hebard, physics

4–4:30 p.m.
“Einstein’s Remarkable Insight on Brownian Motion — Its Context and Impact”
Presented by Jim Dufty, physics

4:30–5 p.m.
“Einstein’s Relativity and Our View of the Universe”
Presented by Steve Detweiler, physics