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Science & the Arts Archive 

Fall 2006 Events

Spring - Summer 2006 Events

Presented by Science & the Arts as part of
The 26th International Colloquium on Group Theoretical Methods in Physics.

Science & the Arts Series

Fall 2005 Events

     These programs are supported in part by theNational Science Foundation
        and are part of the celebration of the World Year of Physics.

 

Spring 2005 Events
and Einstein Lecture Series

Einstein Lecture Series
 Click here for details

Fall 2004 Events

  • The History of Science and Magic, symposium, Monday, September 27, 7pm
  • Music and Media, Three Evenings – conversations
    Laurie Anderson & Greil Marcus, Thursday, September 23, 7 pm
    Michel Gondry & Ed Halter, Thursday, September 30, 7 pm
    Brian Eno & Todd Haynes, Thursday, October 7, 7 pm
  • Humboldt Festival events:
    Wide World, theatre premiere, Thursday, October 14, 6:45 pm
    Wilkommen!, choral and orchestral music, Sunday, October 17, 3 pm
  • Possible Worlds, conversation, Monday, October 18, 6pm.
  • Zyklon, science opera, Monday, December 13, 6pm

Spring 2004 Events

Fall 2003 Events

Summer 2003 Showcase Event

Spring 2003 Events

Fall 2002 Events

Spring 2002 Events: Science & Theater

Fall 2001 Events


 Benjamin Franklin’s Arcs and Sparks

The spirit of Ben Franklin comes alive as lightning bolts and electrical fire dance on the stage and some of Franklin’s most dramatic experiments are recreated using reproductions of eighteenth-century equipment. Join this celebration of Franklin’s 300th birthday with Jim Hardesty, physics historian and scientific instrument maker.

7136 - Monday, October 16, 2006   7:00 PM
 
Being Beakman

Paul Zaloom is a political satirist and puppeteer, but he’s best known as the title character on the award-winning children’s television series Beakman's World, an irreverent look at science concepts from thermodynamics to the mechanics of flatulence. Beakman's World will return to TV screens in fall 2006 and Zaloom will reveal the creative process in making science hip and entertaining.

7135 - Tuesday, October 24, 2006    7:00 PM
Science + Art Festival 2006
A city-wide celebration of science.  Click for the full schedule of events.
 
Theatre of Science

SPECIAL EVENT at Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue New York, NY 10003.  Ticket purchase required for this event.

Thursday, November 9 through Sunday, November 12, 2006  
 
A Scientist Goes to the Movies

Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and director of the Hayden Planetarium, will screen scenes from the 1997 film Contact. He’ll distinguish science fact from science fiction. Joined by Ann Druyan, who produced the film from the novel by her husband, Carl Sagan.

7134 - Friday, November 10, 2006    6:30 PM
 
Verse and Universe

A series of readings, talks and a panel discussion on poetry inspired by science. Organized by poet Kurt Brown. Participants: Roald Hoffmann, Jennifer Michael Hecht, Forrest Gander and Alison Hawthorne Deming.

7138 - Friday and Saturday, November 10 and 11, 2006  

More information
  Tesla's Letters, a play by Jeffrey Stanley

An American student goes to war-torn Yugoslavia to research the life, letters and inventions of the great scientist Nikola Tesla.  Bargaining for information, she is drawn into the violence and intrigue ravaging Tesla’s homeland.
A play reading by Break a Leg Productions.  Directed by Christopher Bellis.

7188 - Monday, December 11, 2006    6pm 


Copenhagen

Readings of excerpts from Michael Frayn’s renowned play Copenhagen, performed by Break A Leg Productions. The play reenacts the 1941 visit of Werner Heisenberg, who was then in charge of the Nazi nuclear power program, to Niels Bohr, his mentor and collaborator in creating quantum mechanics. The play won the 2000 Tony award for Best Play.

Monday, June 26, 2006 5:00 PM
Big Bang

Performance of a new work in progress -- concert theater inspired by astrophysics. Music by composer Patrick Grant, who combines live performance with cutting edge technology. Narration by Dr. Charles Liu, astronomer on the faculty of College of Staten Island, CUNY.

Tuesday, June 27, 2006 5:00 PM

Lovesong of the Electric Bear, by Snoo Wilson

A reading of a new play on the life and times of Alan Turing, code breaker and father of artificial intelligence. British writer and fantasist Snoo Wilson explores Turing's chaotic and creative life through the eyes of his teddy bear, Porgy.
Directed by Cheryl Faraone, Middlebury College
"A humorous, smart and moving piece of theatre." The Washington Post, July 2005.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006  7:00 PM

Science Valentine

Celebrate with a vaudeville evening featuring Lynda Williams, the “Physics Chanteuse”(Santa Rosa Junior College), and Bob Friedhoffer, magician and educator.
6982 - Tuesday, February 14, 2006  6pm Free

 
Soft Science

Experimental films on science
Soft Science is a collection of videos created by artists and scientists, curated by Rachel Mayeri. This unique program includes digital movies by biologists alongside contemporary video art.

Rachel Mayeri is a filmmaker and Assistant Professor of Media Studies at Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA.
6954 - Wednesday, March 1, 2006  7pm Free


© 2003 ArtsReproductions.Com
An Experiment with an Air Pump

Furtive romance, farce, science and buried secrets.
Reading of a play by Shelagh Stephenson about ethical choices made in the pursuit of scientific progress. The play flashes between 1799 and 1999, both years of extraordinary medical breakthroughs.
Presented by Break A Leg Productions
6955 – Tuesday, March 28, 2006  6pm Free
Robot Dance Competition

RoboCup Junior is an international robot design competition organized in elementary through high schools. Witness the crazy, colorful dance moves of the ‘bots, designed by the NYC-area teams.
6956 - Friday, March 31, 2006  2-3pm Free


The Violin: De-Coding Perfection

Learn the history of the famous Stradivarius violins from Toby Faber, author of Stradivari’s Genius: Five Violins, One Cello and Three Centuries of Enduring Perfection. Then learn about the new approaches to the craft employed by a renowned contemporary instrument maker, Sam Zygmuntowicz , who makes faithful copies of classic instruments as well as fresh interpretations in the classic style. Co-sponsored by the Ph.D./D.M.A. Programs in Music.

More information

6957 - Wednesday, April 5, 2006  6pm Free
Nanotech: When Things Get Small

What could a stadium-sized bowl of peanuts, a magic tennis ball, shrinking elephants, and a crazed hockey player possibly teach us about nanoscience? Not Too Serious Labs’ production “When Things Get Small” - a departure from your typical science-for-television fare - uses these and other comic inventions to take viewers on a comically corny romp into the real-life quest to create the smallest magnet ever known. View the half-hour film and hear from renowned physicist Ivan Schuller on making physics fun on film. First showing in NYC.
More at http://www.ucsd.tv/getsmall/

7060 - Wednesday, April 26, 2006  6:30 pm Free

 
Some Fantastic Realities

A talk by Frank Wilczek, Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004 and Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics, MIT, to celebrate the publication of his new book Fantastic Realities: 49 Mind Journeys and a Trip to Stockholm.
More at http://www.worldscibooks.com/physics/6019.html

Friday, April 28, 3:30, 2006  pm Free

Big Bang

Premiere of a new work of concert theater inspired by astrophysics. Music by composer Patrick Grant, who combines live performance with cutting edge technology. Narration by Dr. Charles Liu, astronomer on the faculty of College of Staten Island, CUNY.

6959 - Monday, May 15, 2006  6 pm Free
“Intelligent Design” under the Microscope

An evening of presentations on the controversial movement. What is the history of the movement? What are its scientific claims? What impact will it have on our schools? Hear speakers from the fields of science, journalism, theology, and law. Co-organized by Science & the Arts and the Center for Inquiry. Supported in part by the Albert and Lin Bildner Foundation.
 

Speakers include:

  • James E. Darnell, molecular biologist, who'll address the scientific strength of the theory of evolution.

  • Steve Harvey, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the case of Kitzmiller vs Dover, the Pennsylvania legal case against teaching creationism in science classrooms

  • Linda Froschauer, Middle school science teacher and President-elect of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA).

  • Chris Mooney, author of the best-selling book “The Republican War on Science.”

  • Moderator: Austin Dacey, The Center for Inquiry.

6958- Monday, May 22, 2006  6:30 pm*  Free (*Note new time.)

 
Street Fair Science

Why does popcorn pop and cotton candy spin? Savor science demonstrations while enjoying the fun of your neighborhood street fair! See science magic tricks. Have your photo taken with “Albert Einstein.” Enjoy hands-on experiments.
 
Saturday, June 17, 11 am-6 pm - Third Avenue between 12th and 13th St.
Sunday, June 18, 11 am-6 pm - Lexington Avenue between 37th and 38th St.
 
Participants include:
  • Science & the Arts at The Graduate Center of CUNY
  • The New York Hall of Science
  • The New York City Zoos and Aquarium 
  • Robot Village 
  • The Liberty Science Center 
  • The New York Public Library  
  • The Rutgers University Physics Department 
  • The American Physical Society 
  • The Amateur Astronomers Association 
  • The Center for Inquiry
  • Bob Friedhoffer

More Information  --  Click for pictures of the Street Fair!

6960 - Saturday and Sunday, June 17-18, 2006




Crocheting the Hyperbolic Plane
A Talk by Daina Taimina and David Henderson

The surface of an orange is a sphere—what is the opposite of a sphere? The answer is a hyperbolic surface. Confused? Mathematicians Daina Tamina and David Henderson will explain the concept and share their exciting discovery that crocheting is an excellent means of modeling and understanding hyperbolic surfaces, and for exploring the ruffles of lettuce leaves and sea slugs, exponential growth, and potential shapes of the physical universe.

David Henderson and Daina Taimina, mathematicians, Cornell University
Authors of Experiencing Geometry: Euclidean and Non-Euclidean With History (Prentice-Hall, 2005)
http://www.math.cornell.edu/~henderson/ExpGeom/

 

Co-sponsored by Science & the Arts and the Institute For Figuring http://www.theiff.org

6375 - Thursday, September 22, 2005   5pm $5
6366 - Thursday, September 22, 2005   7pm $5

 
 Flyer

Staged reading of a play by Kate Aspengren. Should women be astronauts? The play leapfrogs through time and includes testimony from Congressional hearings on the subject in 1962. Presented by Break A Leg Productions.

6367 - Monday, October 17, 2005    6pm Free
Albert Einstein and Religion

A talk by Corey S. Powell.

Corey S. Powell, Senior Editor, Discover magazine; author, God in the Equation: How Einstein Became the Prophet of the New Religious Era.

6368 - Monday, October 24, 2005    6pm Free

 
Voodoo Science in the Age of Intelligent Design

A talk by Robert L. Park.

Robert L. Park, Professor of Physics, University of Maryland; author, Voodoo Science: The Road from Foolishness to Fraud.

6369 - Monday, October 31, 2005    6pm Free
 

 

 Visual Art & the Brain: At the Interface of Art and Science

Registration and further event information at www.nyas.org/brainandart

This conference will explore the nature of the science-art interface, the inspiration this interface provides to scientists and artists alike, and the impact of such interactions in areas of research and other human endeavors. The morning session will explore scientific perspectives: what is vision? How do we perceive art and why do we respond to it emotionally? The afternoon session will feature discussions with artists and scientists on communicating the beauty and power of science as well as its social and ethical implications. This event is suitable for scientists interested in art and artists interested in science.

Participants:

Margaret Livingstone - Professor of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School; author, Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing.

V.S. Ramachandran - Director, the Center for Brain and Cognition, UC-San Diego; author, A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness: From Impostor Poodles to Purple Numbers.

David Freedberg - Professor of Art History; Director, Italian Academy, Columbia Univ.; author, The Power of Images: Studies in the History and Theory of Respons.e

Felice Frankel - Director, Envisioning Science Project, MIT; author, Envisioning Science Project: The Design and Craft of the Science Image.

Barbara Tversky - Professor of Psychology, Stanford University.

Eric Heller - Professor of Physics and Chemistry, Harvard University.

Suzanne Anker - Chair, Department of Fine Arts, School of Visual Arts; co-author, The Molecular Gaze: Art in the Genetic Age

Devorah Sperber - Visual Artist.

Torsten Wiesel - President Emeritus, Rockefeller University and Nobel Laureate.

Nell Breyer – Visual Artist, Center for Advanced Visual Studies, MIT

Co-organized by Science & the Arts and the New York Academy of Sciences. Supported in part by the David Schwarz Family and the National Science Foundation.

6370 - Saturday, November 5, 2005    10am-6pm. Registration and further event information at www.nyas.org/brainandart

Magic and Comedy about Science

6371 - Monday, November 7, 2005    7pm Free
  Idea Café – Crossing Disciplines

Do you have an idea that you have been thinking about, something that you really want to share with others? Here is your chance to have your ideas engaged with others. Or just come to hear what others are thinking. In the tradition of great intellectual programming at The Graduate Center, CUNY, we invite you to join faculty and students in our Idea Café. Each week will have a theme. You will have a chance to sign up for your short presentation and then be joined by all others in dialogue. Beverages and light food will be available for purchase from the Café.

-- We welcome people from outside CUNY, but we will give first priority to CUNY-associated speakers.

-- We welcome any kind of presentation on that evening’s topic, limited to 5 minutes.

Do you wish to speak? Please download the form here. Fill out the form and return it to continuinged@gc.cuny.edu

6576 - Monday, November 7, 2005    7pm Free


© Nigel Spalding 		Big Bang: The Origins of the Universe

A talk by Simon Singh

Singh, the Cambridge-educated physicist and author of the international best-seller Fermat's Enigma, has an uncommon talent for explaining difficult science to the layman. In his new book Big Bang he leads readers on a journey back into history and out into the cosmos as he explains how scientists arrived at the remarkable theory of the universe and why it is almost certainly correct.

6583 - Wednesday, Nov. 9 7pm free

Perpetual Motion: Revolutions in 17th Century Science and Music
Dava Sobel and Galileo's Daughters

A performance featuring award-winning science writer Dava Sobel and the early music ensemble, Galileo's Daughters (Sarah Pillow, soprano; Mary Anne Ballard, viola da gamba). With Ronn McFarlane, lute (as Vincenzo Galilei). Dava Sobel will weave stories of science history with the music of the period.

Dava Sobel, author, Longitude, Galileo's Daughter, and The Planets.

6373 - Monday, November 28, 2005    6pm Free

Monday, January 31, 2005    6 PM, Elebash Recital Hall. Free
Science to a Samba Beat
Nobel Laureate chemist Roald Hoffmann and the dancers and drummers of Samba New York! celebrate Carnaval in Rio.

More information


Monday, February 28, 2005    6 PM, Elebash Recital Hall. Free
Einstein Simplified: Cartoons on Science
 Illustrated lecture by Sidney Harris

More information
© Sidney Harris

 

 

 

 Monday, March 14, 2005  
Celebrate Einstein's Birthday
 4:00 PM, Skylight Room, Rm 9100. Free
Two of His Associates Reminisce 
Frederick Seitz, Former President of the Rockefeller University and Colleague of Einstein at Princeton, and  William T Golden, Architect of U.S. science policy, the National Science Foundation and the President's Science Advisory Committee.

6:00 PM, Proshansky Auditorium. Free   
Einstein's Greatest Blunder: A Cosmic Mystery Story
Lecture by Lawrence M Krauss, Chair, Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University
Author of The Physics of Star Trek (BasicBooks) 

More information


SATURDAY, March 12, 2005    3:00 PM, The Graduate Center, $5 children, $10 adults, group rates available
I Spy Walter Wick
Walter Wick, co-author of the best-selling I Spy and author of Can You See What I See?, has been entertaining and engaging children for years with his photographs and books. In this interactive slide show, he will offer a behind-the scenes look at the games, puzzles, science, and illusions that have made his books such a phenomenal success.
  Monday, March 28, 2005    6 PM, Room 4102.
Free and appropriate for families.
The Magic of Science
Magic tricks that teach science, with Bob Friedhoffer


J. B. Edwards 		Monday, April 18, 2005    6 PM; Elebash Recital Hall. Free
Two Plays about Einstein
Mass, by playwright Lauren Gunderson; Performed by Break A Leg Productions
The Day Einstein Died, by playwright J. B. Edwards; Performed by Third Avenue Productions 

More information
Monday, May 2, 2005  
A Celebration of the American Physicist Richard Feynman: The Best Mind Since Einstein
 4:30 PM- 5:30 PM, Elebash Recital Hall. Free  
Panel Discussion: Views of Richard Feynman
Moderator: Dorian Devins
Panelists: Freeman Dyson, Arthur Giron, Phil Platzman, Corey S. Powell
  6PM, Elebash Recital Hall. Free 
Moving Bodies by Arthur Giron.
A staged reading of the full length play.

More Information

National Archives and Records Administration, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives

The year 2005 will mark the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's Annus Mirabilis (Miracle Year) of 1905 in which he published three seminal papers which changed the nature of 20th century physics: the Special Theory of Relativity; the Theory of Brownian Motion; and the Theory of the Photoelectric Effect.  (Note that Einstein received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921 "for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.")

Cost: $10 for each lecture, or $45 for the series of five lectures.
Phone 212-817-8215 for reservations.
All lectures will be held in Room 4102 of the CUNY Graduate Center.

Monday, February 14, 2005    6:00 PM   
An Overview of the Life of Einstein and his Impact.
Lecture by David Cassidy, Professor of the Natural Sciences, Hofstra University, NY 
Author of Einstein and Our World (Prometheus Books).

Monday, March 7, 2005    6:00 PM
Einstein and Freud: A Discourse Concerning Two New Sciences
Lecture by Richard Panek, author and columnist for Natural History Magazine
Author of The Invisible Century: Einstein, Freud and the Search for Hidden Variables (Viking Books).  
Tuesday, April 5, 2005    6:00 PM (please note new date)
How to Think Like Einstein
Lecture by Joe L. Kincheloe, Professor of Education, The Graduate Center
Co-author with Shirley R. Steinberg and Deborah J. Tippins of
The Stigma of Genius: Einstein, Consciousness, and Education (Peter Lang Publishing).

Monday, April 11, 2005    6:00 PM
Einstein, Surveillance and Social Activism 
Lecture by Fred Jerome, Consultant, Gene Media Forum and founder, Media Resource Center
Author of The Einstein File: J. Edgar Hoover's Secret War Against the World's Most Famous Scientist  (St. Martin's Press) and Einstein On Race And Racism (Rutgers University Press).


Monday, May 9, 2005    6:00 PM
Einstein's Vision of Space, Time and Parallel Universes
Lecture by Michio Kaku, Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics, City College of New York
Author of Einstein's Cosmos: How Albert Einstein's Vision Transformed Our Understanding of Space and Time (W. W. Norton & Co) and  Hyperspace : A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the 10th Dimension (Anchor Press).

Einstein Lecture Series
CENTENNIAL LECTURE SERIES TO CELEBRATE
EINSTEIN'S MIRACLE YEAR IN 1905

 

MAGIC
The History of Science and Magic: A Golden Age Symposium

Monday, September 27, 2004   7pm
Historical perspectives on science, magic and theatre in New York City.

More information

MULTIMEDIA
Music and Media: Three Evenings

Media innovators present and discuss their work.

Thursday, September 23, 2004   7pm
Laurie Anderson & Greil Marcus

 

 

 

Thursday, September 30, 2004   7 pm
Michel Gondry & Ed Halter

 

 

 

Thursday, October 7, 2004   7 pm
Brian Eno & Todd Haynes

More information

 

THEATRE
Wide World
Thursday, October 14, 2004   6:45pm

Play about the meeting of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander von Humboldt.

More information

 

MUSIC
Wilkommen!
Sunday, October 17, 2004   3pm

Choral and instrumental music inspired by Humboldt.

More information



MATH & THEATRE
Possible Worlds: mathematics, physics and playwriting
Monday, October 18, 2004   6pm

Conversation between John Mighton, mathematician and playwright and Brian Greene, physicist/mathematician. Moderated by ABCNews correspondent Robert Krulwich.
Co-sponsored by The Canadian Consulate General, New York.

More information

 

 

OPERA
Zyklon
Monday, December 13, 2004   6pm

Opera about the astonishing life of chemist Fritz Haber.

More information

   

Image courtesy of
The Goethe-Institut
Mexiko

ART
The Water City: A Public Art Project in Mexico City
Wednesday, January 21, 2004   4pm

Illustrated lecture by Bernd Scherer.

More information from the Bildner Center at the Graduate Center of CUNY.

RADIO
Science Friday
Friday, January 23, 2004   2-4pm

A nationally broadcast radio show, live from our stage. Hosted by award-winning science journalist Ira Flatow.

Science Friday home.
Hour One: Science on Stage
Hour Two: New York City in 2050

FUN FOR ALL
Science Vaudeville
Monday, March 1, 2004   6pm

Juggling, music, conjuring and more, with a science subtext.

More information

GRAPHICS
Women and the Machine
Monday, March 15, 2004   5pm

Illustrated lecture by Dr. Julie Wosk.

Dr. Wosk's home page.

THEATER
The Doctor's Dilemma
Tuesday, March 30, 2004   6pm

Scenes from the play by George Bernard Shaw and a panel discussion on medical ethics.

Commentary on the play.
Review from the NY Academy of Sciences

Image courtesy of the American Institute of
Physics 

THEATER
The Physicists
Monday, April 19, 2004   6pm

'Einstein' meets 'Newton' in an asylum in this comedy. A staged reading by Break A Leg Productions.

Commentary on the play
1995 review of the play.

THEATER
Partition
Monday, May 17, 2004   6 pm

Reading of a drama about math genius S. Ramanujan.

Review from Notices of the AMS.
 

Galileo:
The Emotional Life of a Spacecraft
 Wednesday, September 17, 2003   6pm and 8pm 
Two performances.  Seating is limited. 
Please call for reservations: 212 817-8215
 Martin E. Segal Theatre
Free

For fourteen years the Galileo spacecraft has been our eyes and ears in its travels through our solar system, unraveling the mystery of Jupiter and its many satellites. On September 21, 2003 the craft will fly directly into the planet and be destroyed.  Join us for a concert of rock, folk, and funk music, provided by Redshift Productions, in celebration of the life and successes of the Galileo spacecraft. 

Cosponsored by the Science and the Arts series and by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center

Click for more information.

Lustig

Science as Theater - Theater as Science
 Monday, October 20, 2003   6 pm
Room 4102, The Science Center
Free

Dr. Harry Lustig is professor of physics emeritus and provost emeritus at the City College of the City University of New York, Treasurer Emeritus of the American Physical Society, and Adjunct Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of New Mexico.

Cosponsored by the Science and the Arts series, the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center and the Ph.D. Program in Theatre.

Click for more information.


Feynman

Feynman Lives!
 Monday, October 27, 2003  6 pm
Elebash Recital Hall
Free

Who won the Nobel Prize, kept people awake by playing bongo drums at Los Alamos and wrote a best-seller? No one but the brilliant and irrepressible physicist Richard Feynman. Film and television actor Norman Parker will perform a solo tribute, delivering Feynman's wit and wisdom in his own words.

No Feynman evening is complete without bongos -- we also present Tom Rutishauser and Ralph Leighton. Mr. Rutishauser, a cellist, played bongos with Feynman and taught Alan Alda to play bongos for his role as Feynman in the play “QED.” Ralph Leighton (and Feynman) co-authored the bestseller “Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman.”

Cosponsored by the Science and the Arts series and by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center

More Information
 
Horovitz

promises.com
 Monday, November 3, 2003   7 pm
Elebash Recital Hall
Free

On the brink of a revolutionary discovery, a liberal biologist must choose between altruism and financial success. This staged reading of award-winning playwright Israel Horovitz's promises.com will star Bob Dishy, Novella Nelson, Douglas Simmons, and Mary McCormack, directed by Michael Morris. An audience talk-back with the author, director, and cast will immediately follow the reading.  Please call for reservations: 212 817-8215

This production is presented courtesy of the Ensemble Studio Theatre and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Science and Technology Project.

Cosponsored by the Science and the Arts series and by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center

More Information
Look Up! 
"Chaos" comes to New York
 Monday, December 1, 2003   6 pm
Elebash Recital Hall
Free

CUNY joins forces with Art & Science Collaborations, Inc. (ASCI) for an evening of fascinating talk, music and images by physicist James Crutchfield and David Dunn, composer and audio engineer. Together they spearhead “The Theatre of Pattern Formation” project, a visual and auditory articulation of Chaos Theory, designed for the LodeStar Astronomy Center in Santa Fe, NM and for planetariums everywhere.

Pierre and Marie: Love and Chemistry
 Monday, December 8, 2003   6 pm
Elebash Recital Hall
Free 

In a small laboratory in Paris in the 1890s, Pierre and Marie Curie discover uranium, radium and love.  Pierre and Marie, adapted by Ron Clark from the original French play by Jean-Noel Fenwick, is equal parts science, history and riotously charming comedy.  Join us for a reading by Break A Leg Productions.

Cosponsored by the Science and the Arts series and by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center

 

 

 

 

 

 Science as Performance
Showcase Event
Wednesday, July 23, 2003, 5:00-6:30pm
Elebash Recital Hall
Free

The performing arts can bring science to a wide audience. This event showcases outstanding examples of entertainment that also informs.

This event will feature:

• Excerpts from Einstein’s Dreams, an enchanting new musical inspired by the best-selling 1993 novel of the same title by Alan Lightman. The work explores the concept of time as expressed in the fictional dreams of young Albert Einstein. Book by Joanne Sydney Lessner with music by Joshua Rosenblum.

• Science and Dance: The Physics of Ballet.  Much of science is invisible, mathematical, and abstract, but a dancer's movements bring to life concepts of physics that are easily understood and deepen one's appreciation of the art form. Presenters: Kenneth Laws, Professor of Physics (and ballet instructor), Dickinson College, plus Sara Michelle Murawski, a young ballerina.

• Excerpts from the new play Thread of Life about the role of the scientist Rosalind Franklin in the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA. Written by Rita Nachtmann. Performed by Break A Leg Productions. Courtesy of the Ensemble Studio Theatre/Sloan Project

More Program Information
  Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Discovery of DNA , Spring, 2003

The Science and the Arts series will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the discovery of DNA by Francis Crick and James Watson. The celebration will include the opening of an exhibition of art related to DNA, in the Graduate Center's Art Gallery in late February 2003. There will be three additional public events featuring theater, art, dance and music.

Genomic Issue(s): Art and Science
February 26 –April 5, 2003
Tuesday – Saturday, 12 – 6 pm
CUNY Graduate Center Art Gallery
Free

Growing public awareness of genomic issues has been accompanied by fascination, excitement, confusion, and skepticism.  Genomic Issue(s) features the works of artists who are exploring the rapidly changing genetic landscape of the twenty-first century.  In an age of increasing specialization and complexity, artists play an important role in expanding public dialog by creating images that help to demystify and interpret the language, images, business, and implications of genomic science.  The works on display raise questions about the relationships between art, science and society, and suggest a broad range of issues to be navigated – economic, legal, ethical, intellectual, and spiritual – in the rapidly expanding field of genomic research.

Marvin Heiferman and Karen Sinsheimer, Curators

Genomic Issue(s): Art and Science is based on the exhibition, photoGENEsis: Opus 20, curated by Karen Sinsheimer for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in 2002-3.  Genomic Issue(s): Art and Science is funded, in part, by a grant from JGS. Inc., a not-for-profit foundation.

Click for more information and views of exhibition.

Thread of Life
Monday, March 10, 2003, 6 pm
Elebash Recital Hall
Free

Thread of Life is a riveting new play about the role of Rosalind Franklin in the discovery of the structure of DNA.  Written by Rita Nachtmann.  Performed by Break-A-Leg Productions.  Courtesy of the Ensemble Studio Theatre/Sloan Project.

Co-sponsored by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center and the Science Center.

Click for more information.
Graphic Science: New Ways of Taking Science to the People
Frank Burnet, University of West England, UK
Tuesday, March 11, 2003, 5 pm
The Science Center, Room 4102
Free 

Frank Burnet is the Director of Graphic Science, a portfolio of innovative projects designed to take science to targeted audiences. He has also played a leading role promoting the discussion of the key issues facing individuals and organizations that undertake Science Communication activities, both within the United Kingdom and internationally.

Click for More Information
Artist Discussion: Genomic Issue(s)
Friday, March 14, 2003, 6 pm
Elebash Recital Hall
Free

The Genomic Issue(s) exhibition addresses some of the most urgent questions of our times.  Are engineered identities and medical therapies a threat or a hope?  Join artists Helen Donis-Keller, Steve Miller, and Eva Sutton, and Adam Bly, Editor-in-Chief of Seed magazine, for a discussion of the artwork and a lively dialog with the audience.  The panel will be moderated by Michael Rush, Director of the Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art.

Click for more information.
Dance, Music and DNA
 an evening of performance
Friday, March 28, 2003, 6 pm
Elebash Recital Hall
Free

Discover DNA-inspired dance and music.  Dancer/choreographer John Pennington, Pomona College, CA, will perform a piece he composed in collaboration with a molecular biologist and an artist. The Patrick Grant Group will perform a musical suite from GENOME: The Autobiography of a Species in Twenty-Three Movements.   Lori Belilove & Company, resident troupe of The Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation, will present a new work, commissioned for this event.

Co-sponsored by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center and the Science Center.

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[Lise Meitner] 

Science and Theater:
Remembering Miss Meitner and Background
 new one-act dramas
Monday, May 19, 2003, 6pm
Elebash Recital Hall
Free

Join us for a performance of two new one-act dramas about the pioneers of physics. 

Robert Marc Friedman's "Remembering Miss Meitner" takes as its subject the role of Lise Meitner in the splitting of the atomic nucleus.

Lauren Gunderson's "Background" is a dramatization of the story of cosmologist Ralph Alpher and the origins of the universe. Both plays will be performed by Break-A-Leg Productions.

Co-sponsored by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center and the Science Center.

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  Science and the Arts-Theater
EINSTEIN'S DREAMS: SOLD OUT
 Monday, October 7, 2002, 6 PM

Elebash Recital Hall, The Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue
World Premiere of a Concert Reading of an Original Musical Play "Einstein's Dreams"; Based on the novel Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman; Book and lyricist, Joanne Sydney Lessner; Composer and co-lyricist, Joshua Rosenblum
Produced by Brian Schwartz, Associate producer, Linda Merman
Sponsored by the Science Center and the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. An "Open Dress Rehearsal" at 3 PM in the same venue and date. 
For tickets contact (212) 817-8215.

The ground-breaking writing and composing team of Joanne Sydney Lessner and Joshua Rosenblum have created an original musical adaptation of Alan Lightman's captivating and enchanting novel Einstein's Dreams. Lightman's novel caused a literary sensation when it was published in 1994, with one critic calling it "a brilliant novel of time in its marvelous flight. . . gorgeous in its writing, spellbinding and profound in its effects." Lessner and Rosenblum, the authors of the cult hit musical Fermat's Last Tango, weave Lightman's ingenious fantasy vignettes about the nature of time into an infectious musical tapestry that revolves around Einstein himself and a compelling, elusive, beautiful woman who haunts his dreams. This provocative but lighthearted new work of musical theater is guaranteed to stimulate, move and entertain. No physics background required..

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Science and the Arts-Music
The Science, History and Music of the Concertina
 Monday, November 4, 2002, 6 PM
Elebash Recital Hall, The Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue
Performers:
Allan Atlas, The Graduate Center/CUNY
Alla Borzova, The Graduate Center/CUNY
David Cannata, Temple University
Wim Wakker, Schumann Academy of Music, Netherlands
FREE, First Come First Served

This year is the 200th anniversary of the birth of the inventor of the concertina, the English physicist, Sir Charles Wheatstone, known widely for the "Wheatstone Bridge" (a device for measuring electrical properties). The speaker-musicians will discuss how the instrument works, the science and acoustics of the concertina as a "free reed" instrument, and its history and changing social status. In addition to the science, the presentation also includes a complementary program of music for the concertina from Victorian England, present-day chamber music, the early twentieth-century music hall, and the English Country Dance tradition.

Sponsored by the Science Center and the CUNY Graduate Center's Ph.D. Program in Music.

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ArtSci2002: New Dimensions in Collaborations
 Art & Science Collaborations, Inc. (ASCI)
in partnership with the American Museum of Natural History
and Continuing Education & Public Programs at the Graduate Center
Friday- Sunday, December 6 - 8, 2002 

In this 4th international art-sci symposium, organized by ASCI, we will continue to highlight exemplary models of art-sci collaboration while providing an open forum for dialogue about current artscience practice and interdisciplinary collaboration in general. We anticipate there will be projects about art-in-space or even particle physics, as well as those that explore the body's inner workings via MRI, scanning electron microscopy, and other imaging devices. We also hope to showcase new models of interdisciplinary art-sci curriculum.

Registration required, see http://www.asci.org/artsci2002/intro.html, for more information.

Science Vaudeville
An Original Science Revue
Monday, March 4, 2002, 6-7:30pm
Elebash Recital Hall
Free 

NEW: Photos of the Show!

All too often science is viewed as a serious subject with little humor and fun and reserved for the laboratory and the nerds. In this original production, a group of scientists and performers present an original vaudeville flavored evening of science, song, humor, legerdemain and entertainment. The cast includes The Physics Chanteuse (Lynda Williams), the science comedian (Brian Mallow), the philosopher magician (Bob Friedhoffer) and the Techno-tainer (Joe Gizmo). Directed by Kurt Tarroff and produced by Brian Schwartz.
  SCHRÖDINGER'S GIRLFRIEND
A Staged Reading
Written by Matthew Wells
Monday, April 22, 2002, 6-7:30pm
Elebash Recital Hall
Free 

Schrödinger's Girlfriend is best described as "Einstein meets 'The Blue Angel." Peppered with cabaret songs, vaudevillian comedy, and stirring moments of passion and epiphany, Schrödinger's Girlfriend is an Orton-esque romantic comedy about love, sex, and quantum physics. In 1926 the physicist Erwin Schrödinger proposed the famous non-relativistic Schrödinger equation and recognized soon thereafter that it was equivalent to Heisenberg's matrix mechanics formulation for what is now known as quantum mechanics. The play follows the odd, erotic, symbiotic relationship between Erwin Schrödinger, a physicist, and Hansi Haas, a cabaret star whose thirst for knowledge is insatiable.

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OXYGEN
 A Staged Reading by
Break-A-Leg Productions
Monday, May 20, 2002, 6-7:30 pm
Elebash Recital Hall
Free 

At the beginning of the 21st century, the Nobel Committee for Chemistry is meeting to discuss the awarding of the first "retro" Nobel Prize as a way of marking the centenary of the first Nobel Prize in 1901. After some discussion, the committee decides to investigate the claims of three chemists, Joseph Priestley, Antoine Lavoisier, and Carl Wilhelm Scheele associated with the discovery of Oxygen. Oxygen has a relatively simple plot. The play shifts between the 18th-century characters, their process of science, politics and ambitions, and the Nobel committee's 21st century sensibilities as they argue about which of these men should be awarded the first "retro" Nobel Prize for chemistry.

Oxygen is the fruit of a unique collaboration between two world-renowned chemists who are also prolific authors, Nobel laureate Roald Hoffmann and Carl Djerassi, developer of the oral contraceptive pill.

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Delmos Jones Lecture
Why Einstein Would Love Spaghetti in Fundamental Physics
 Sylvester James Gates, Jr.
John S. Toll Professor of Physics
University of Maryland
Thursday, April 4, 2002, 6 PM
Elebash Recital Hall
Free 

Professor Gates is a prominent scholar in theoretical physics, an educator and an entrepreneurial leader. His important research is in an area called string or superstring theory, also known as the Theory of Everything. This theory uses complex mathematical descriptions to explain how gravity and other natural forces are connected and it may one day allow scientists to understand a unified theory of all forces.

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Science and Dance: The Physics of Ballet
Presenter: Kenneth Laws
Monday, October 1, 2001, 6-7:30pm
Elebash Recital Hall
Free 

There is a scientific basis to most art forms. Much of science is invisible, mathematical, and abstract. But a dancer's movements bring to life concepts of physics that are easily understood and deepen one's appreciation of the art form. In this presentation, professional ballet dancers will demonstrate some analyzable movements including illusions in which physical laws appear to be violated. How can a dancer leap into the air and then start turning, or appear to float horizontally in a leap? How does a toppling dancer regain balance if the only source of force is the floor? Aspects of the art of dance will be illuminated by straightforward applications of the science of physics.

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