Einstein's Miraculous Year: U of S Celebrates World Year of Physics
Posted January 18, 2005
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - January 18, 2005
2005-01-06-OTHER
Einstein's Miraculous Year: U of S Celebrates World Year of Physics
The University of Saskatchewan's department of physics and engineering
physics will celebrate the World Year of Physics with numerous events
throughout 2005, beginning this Thursday with the first of a series of
public lectures, and later with an open house and events for schools.
The United Nations has endorsed 2005 as the World Year of Physics, a year to
bring the excitement of physics to the public and to inspire the next
generation of scientists.
2005 is chosen to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of Einstein's
miraculous year. In 1905, he published papers on his most famous
contributions to physics: special relativity, the photoelectric effect, and
Brownian motion.
The public lectures will showcase many hot topics in physics and the
application of physics to everyday life. Some presentations will highlight
the front-line research being done at the U of S, while some will focus on
the history of physics in Saskatchewan in keeping with the 2005 centennial.
The public lecture series will kick off Thursday, January 20th at 7:30 p.m.
in Room 107 of the Physics building with a multimedia presentation on the
dramatic contributions to physics made by Einstein in 1905. Entitled "Space,
Time, Light and Heat", the lecture will be presented by three physics
professors -- Rainer Dick, Rob Pywell and Andrew Robinson. A free coffee and
cookie reception will follow the lecture.
Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1922 "for his services
to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the
photoelectric effect." This discovery led to his development of quantum
theory, arguably the most important advance in the 20th century since it led
to the development of electronic devices such as computers which are now so
much a part of our daily lives.
That said, Einstein is best known for his theory of relativity which, even
today, represents a view of our world mind-bogglingly different from every
day experience. Nevertheless, understanding relativity theory is vital to
the development of many of today's technologies, from the Global Positioning
System to the Canadian Light Source synchrotron.
Finally, Einstein's explanation for the seemingly random "Brownian Motion"
of microscopic dust particles provided evidence for the molecular structure
of all matter.
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For more information, contact:
Rob Pywell
Dept. of Physics and Engineering Physics
(306) 966-6396
rob.pywell@usask.ca
Michael Robin
U of S Research Communications
(306) 966-2427
michael.robin@usask.ca
www.usask.ca/research
