THE COPENHAGEN INTERPRETATION:
SCIENCE AND HISTORY ON STAGE
A FREE SYMPOSIUM ON SATURDAY, MARCH 2
AT THE BAIRD AUDITORIUM
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
The symposium is presented with major support from the Department of Energy (Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Office of High Energy and Nuclear Physics and the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences) and the National Science Foundation, and with additional support from the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, the American Physical Society, the American Institute of Physics, the Royal Danish Embassy in Washington, and The Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
In conjunction with the opening of the play in Washington, a free first come, first served, all- day symposium will be held on Saturday March 2 starting at 10 AM at the Baird Auditorium, in the National Museum of Natural History (Constitution Avenue and 10th Street entrance) of the Smithsonian Institution. Doors open at 9:30 AM. There will be three sessions.
* * *
SESSION 1: 10:00 AM - 12:00 Noon
THE SCIENCE OF COPENHAGEN AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE 20TH CENTURY
CHAIRS: Robert A. Eisenstein (National Science Foundation) and Eugen Merzbacher (University of North Carolina)
The Honorable Spencer Abraham, Secretary of Energy (invited)
Welcoming Remarks
His Excellency Ulrik Federspiel, Danish Ambassador to the United States Welcoming Remarks
John Marburger, III (25 minutes)
Science Advisor to the President and Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy
On the Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics
Jerome I. Friedman (25 minutes)
Institute Professor, MIT
From the Bohr Atom to Quarks
Lene Vestergaard Hau (25 minutes)
Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics, Harvard University
Manifestations of Modern Day Quantum Mechanics: Stopping Light
Richard Rhodes (25 minutes)
Author, "The Making of the Atomic Bomb"
A Great and Deep Difficulty: Niels Bohr and the Atomic Bomb
12:00 Noon - 1 PM BREAK (lunch available in the nearby cafeteria of the National Museum of Natural History)
SESSION 2: 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
BOHR AND HEISENBERG: A STRONG INTERACTION
CHAIRS: Patricia M. Dehmer (Department of Energy) and Harry Lustig (Provost Emeritus, CCNY)
Rita Colwell
Director, National Science Foundation
Welcoming Remarks
Jeremy Bernstein, (25 minutes)
Author, "Hitler 's Uranium Club: The Secret Recordings at Farm Hall"
The Drawing or Why History is Not Mathematics
Jochen H. Heisenberg (25 minutes)
Professor of Physics, University of New Hampshire
A Personal and Historical View of My Parents
Finn Aaserud (25 minutes)
Director of the Niels Bohr Archive, Copenhagen, Denmark
The Bohr-Heisenberg Meeting from a Distance
Vilhelm A. Bohr (25 minutes)
National Institute on Aging, NIH
Recollections of my Grandparents
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM BREAK (coffee available in the Cafeteria)
SESSION 3: 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
THEATER AS SCIENCE - SCIENCE AS THEATER
PART A: HOW WELL DOES COPENHAGEN DEAL WITH THE GERMAN ATOMIC BOMB PROJECT?
CHAIR: Gregg Herken (Smithsonian Institution)
SPEAKERS
Thomas Powers (25 minutes)
Author:
"Heisenberg's War: The Secret History of the German Bomb"
Why Heisenberg Went to See Bohr - What Frayn Says, and What the Record Says
Paul Lawrence Rose (25 minutes)
Penn State University and Author,
"Heisenberg and the Nazi Atomic Bomb
Project. A Study in German Culture"
What Really Happened at Copenhagen? Intelligence and Reassurance
PART B: HOW COPENHAGEN AND OTHER PLAYS PRESENT SCIENCE ON STAGE
MODERATOR: Lloyd Rose (Author and Theater Critic)
PANELISTS
Steven Barfield
Senior Lecturer in English Literature, University of Westminster
Jennifer Uphoff Gray
Associate Director of the Copenhagen National Tour
Elizabeth Ireland McCann
Producer of the Broadway and National Tour Productions of Copenhagen
Lloyd Rose
Former Theater Critic of the Washington Post
* * *
Organized by Brian Schwartz, VP for Research and Professor of Physics, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York; Harry Lustig, Provost and Professor of Physics Emeritus at the City College of New York and Treasurer Emeritus of the American Physical Society; and Arthur Molella, Director, Lemelson Center, Smithsonian Institution.
For further information on the symposium contact:
Will Eastman
Phone: (202) 357-2735
Email: eastmanw@nmah.si.edu
or
Brian Schwartz
Phone: (212) 817-7521
Email: bschwartz@gc.cuny.edu
The program and useful information on the play Copenhagen are available on the web site below.
http://web.gc.cuny.edu/ashp/nml/artsci/copenhagen.shtml
The Copenhagen touring company web site is:
http://www.copenhagenontour.com/tour.htm
The Kennedy Center Copenhagen web site for dates and tickets can be reached via
http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/theater/