Colloquium
February 11, 2005
Giffels Auditorium, Old Main

John Rigden
Honorary Professor, Department of Physics,
Washington University, St. Louis

Einstein 1905, 1999: Legacy and Hope

During the six months from March to September 1905, Einstein sent five trail-breaking papers to Germany's leading physics journal, Annalen der Physik. This performance, unequalled in the history of science, established Einstein as the standard of greatness. Today, after a century of enormous advances in physics, Einstein's 1905 papers remain foundational to the subject. Einstein thought deeply about physics, and his reputation is prominent in the minds of contemporary world citizens because, in a profoundly human way, he found meaning not only in the pursuit of physical knowledge but also in the knowledge itself. Physics was the ideal vehicle for Einstein and enabled him to demonstrate the essence of human nature. Without Einstein's physics and the wonder and awe he brought to his physics, 1999 would not have happened.

Dr. Rigden will sign copies of his new book, Einstein 1905: The Standard of Greatness immediately following his lecture in Giffels Auditorium.