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You are here: Home / Books / Who Wants to Zoom with Einstein? (sort of)

Who Wants to Zoom with Einstein? (sort of)

by WaterGirl|  March 28, 20246:25 pm| 38 Comments

This post is in: Books, Open Threads

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While he was in Arizona, John Cole put me in touch with a work connection of his, Benyamin Cohen.  Benyamin is Einstein on social media, and he also wrote this book.  Benymin is interested in coming to talk with BJ peeps on a zoom (for sure) and is also up for doing an Ask Me Anything post (if there’s interest).

For now, let’s plan the zoom.

If you think you might be interested in joining the zoom, let me know if April 17 at 7:30 would work for you.  We’re thinking a 45-minute presentation and then questions.

This will be a fun, light-hearted, not particularly science-y talk about Einstein.

The Einstein Effect

Einstein

Benyamin gave me a .pdf copy of the book, and I enlisted kalakal to take a look at it, too, and help choose the topics we would like Ben to cover.  kalakal was kind enough to supply a casual summary of some of the three areas we’ve asked Ben if he will share with us in his presentation.

War and Peace… and Einstein.
Covers Einsteins humanitarian work and legacy, how his experiences in, and as a refugee from, Nazi Germany led him to be deeply committed to humanitarian aid work throughout the rest of his life beginning with helping fellow Jews from the Nazis the organization he founded, the International Rescue Committee, still exists, helping millions suffering from conflict and crise. Also his support for the civil rights movement.  **Special bonus Mandy Patinkin story!

Einstein and pop culture. Einstein 70 years after his death is the world’s most famous dead celebrity, he has a bigger social media following than, say, Tom Hanks. He’s the universal embodiment for science in popular culture, like say Beethoven for classical music or Sherlock Holmes for detectives. How did this come about and why, some entertaining & informative examples eg Yoda’s face and hair was based on him.

Einstein in the age of Fake News.
Einstein himself was a major target of fake news, both from the Nazis and later in the US. Both he and his work were attacked and lied about and he was under surveillance by the FBI up to his death. Discusses the phenomenon and poisonous effects of fake news generally and compares Einstein’s experiences with those of Lenny Pozner, father of one of the children murdered at Sandy Hook. How both men fought back, Einstein taught physics at black colleges to counteract the lower IQ myth, Pozner sued and won against Alex Jones.

Let us know what you think in the comments!

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Previous Post: « A Good Combination: Entertainment and Education Open Thread
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  • ColoradoGuy
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    38Comments

    1. 1.

      JPL

      March 28, 2024 at 6:33 pm

      OMG  That sounds awesome.

      Reply
    2. 2.

      Mike in NC

      March 28, 2024 at 6:39 pm

      Fat Bastard considers himself “World’s Favorite Genius”.

      Reply
    3. 3.

      NotMax

      March 28, 2024 at 6:40 pm

      7:30 would be 4:30 on the other coast, a bit early on a weekday for the 9 to 5ers..

      Reply
    4. 4.

      Baud

      March 28, 2024 at 6:40 pm

      @NotMax:

      It’s ok. Time is relative.

      Reply
    5. 5.

      TBone

      March 28, 2024 at 6:41 pm

      I would adore this, but alas I don’t Zoom.  Ask Me Anything would also be great!

      Reply
    6. 6.

      TBone

      March 28, 2024 at 6:41 pm

      @Baud: snicker

      Reply
    7. 7.

      WaterGirl

      March 28, 2024 at 6:42 pm

      @NotMax: Yeah, we could probably start as late as 8 pm Eastern if that would help the CA peeps.

      I figured that even if we made it at 8, which would be 5 for the west coast, they would still be driving home.

      We’ll work something out.

      What time is 7:30 Eastern in your neck of the woods?

      Reply
    8. 8.

      TBone

      March 28, 2024 at 6:43 pm

      @Mike in NC: isn’t that spelled with a ‘j’?

      Reply
    9. 9.

      WaterGirl

      March 28, 2024 at 6:43 pm

      @TBone: You can listen to a zoom on the phone, and you can zoom with the camera off.  You don’t do either of those?

      Either way, we will happily to an Ask Me Anything if there’s interest.

      Reply
    10. 10.

      TBone

      March 28, 2024 at 6:44 pm

      @WaterGirl: I don’t have the technology as far as I know (to connect, don’t you need the app?)

      I mean, I have a cell phone, a laptop and video capability but never felt the need to watch someone or anyone (thank God I don’t WFH).

      Reply
    11. 11.

      WaterGirl

      March 28, 2024 at 6:45 pm

      @TBone: You don’t need the app.  You can just zoom through a browser – that’s what I do. And if you want audio only, you can dial a number with your phone, and participate that way.

      Reply
    12. 12.

      TBone

      March 28, 2024 at 6:47 pm

      @WaterGirl: sweet!  I’ll try to be there then.  Health & circumstances permitting.

      Reply
    13. 13.

      NotMax

      March 28, 2024 at 6:47 pm

      @WaterGirl

      That would be 1:30. in this throat of the woods.

      Reply
    14. 14.

      schrodingers_cat

      March 28, 2024 at 6:49 pm

      @Baud: Its only noticeable if you are traveling at speeds close to the speed of light. I just don’t get the fascination normies have with Einstein. Is it because he looks the part?

      Reply
    15. 15.

      SiubhanDuinne

      March 28, 2024 at 6:49 pm

      I’d love to participate. The 17th at whatever time is fine with me. Thanks for setting this up, WG.

      Reply
    16. 16.

      TBone

      March 28, 2024 at 6:51 pm

      @schrodingers_cat: he was (is) completely fascinating to me and normal is a setting on the dryer.

      Reply
    17. 17.

      Michael Bersin

      March 28, 2024 at 6:55 pm

      Since the last total solar eclipse in our neck of the woods in 2017 I’ve been planning for this April 8th with friends (two who are retired photography professors).

      We’ve planned an expedition south into Arkansas on April 8th.

      The preparations have included practice with cameras, lenses, filters, and laptop software. And we’re all planning on packing our vehicles for an expedition and calculating maximum out and back fuel range.

      I went to a local hardware last week for some supplies for the adventure. I still do wear a mask in public. I realized in the moment that it didn’t look good at the checkout when I presented my purchases – 100 feet of clothesline, 50 heavy zip ties, and electrical tape. One of my friends later quipped, “At least you didn’t have plastic sheeting in the pile.”

      We’ve planned for a location (including paying for a place to  set down – $25 per vehicle), but I’m starting to worry about the weather forecast. The longer (and less accurate) forecasts are calling for cloud cover and rain over a wide area, including all of our alternate sites. We can only drive so far in the amount of available time. At this point, we’re still a go for the experience, but are reconciled to the prospect of few or no solar photos.

      At least half the fun is in getting there, even if it’s a washout. I’ll keep telling myself that.

      Everybody talks about the weather, nobody does anything about it

      Reply
    18. 18.

      SiubhanDuinne

      March 28, 2024 at 6:56 pm

      @Baud:

      Hahaha

      Reply
    19. 19.

      schrodingers_cat

      March 28, 2024 at 6:56 pm

      To elaborate on my earlier comment. There are other twentieth century physicists whose work is comparable to Einstein but no one outside of the physics community has even heard of them.

      Hans Bethe, P. A. M. Dirac, John Von Neumann to name a few.

      Einstein the archetype of a mad scientist. He did his best work in the early aughts and teens of the twentieth century. He was not on board with quantum mechanics which changed how we understand the world

      But to most people when you say physicist or even a scientist Einstein is the image that comes to mind. I wonder why.

      Reply
    20. 20.

      NotMax

      March 28, 2024 at 7:04 pm

      @TBone

      As mentioned above, you don’t need the app and can go through your regular browser, which will get you into a sort of stripped down version. But the app is free and a snap to install.

      Mom, age 96, uses Zoom on her computer frequently to view and listen to presentations provided by libraries in her area. She doesn’t have a camera and doesn’t even bother with connecting a mic.

      Reply
    21. 21.

      WaterGirl

      March 28, 2024 at 7:05 pm

      @NotMax: 1:30 am or pm?

      Reply
    22. 22.

      NotMax

      March 28, 2024 at 7:09 pm

      @WaterGirl

      7:30 p.m. EDT is 1:30 p.m. here.

      Reply
    23. 23.

      ColoradoGuy

      March 28, 2024 at 7:10 pm

      I was fascinated to discover he had attended ETH in Zurich, as well as working in the Swiss Patent Office afterward. The Swiss are NOT big fans of German nationalism or Teutonic discipline. They may share the same language and much of the German/Swiss technology base, but the mental and social attitudes are very, very different. Above all else, the Swiss are independent, and nobody tells them what to do.

      I’m sure that affected Einstein when he moved to Berlin … he was probably disgusted by the mindless Prussian militarism all around him.

      Reply
    24. 24.

      NotMax

      March 28, 2024 at 7:26 pm

      @ColoradoGuy

      The Swiss Air Force had business hours, with time off for lunch, until 2020.

      Calls for greater readiness on the part of the air force have existed for years, but they became front-page news in 2014 when a hijacked Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane landed in Geneva at about 6am.

      While Italian and French military aircraft were scrambled to accompany the plane, Switzerland couldn’t deploy any jets and intervene because the air force only worked during office hours (8am-12pm and 1.30pm-5pm). Source

      Reply
    25. 25.

      kalakal

      March 28, 2024 at 7:26 pm

      @schrodingers_cat: A scientist (19th century) I’ve always felt deserves wider recognition is James Clark Maxwell.

      Reply
    26. 26.

      NotMax

      March 28, 2024 at 7:29 pm

      @kalakal

      People warble about his silver hammer.
      :)

      Reply
    27. 27.

      TBone

      March 28, 2024 at 7:35 pm

      @NotMax: Hubby has the laptop borked somehow that it won’t install Zoom or any other video messaging dealio.  I dunno, maybe Microsoft did it when I let him set up that laptop by himself, but we couldn’t even video conference with his doctor either on their website or app or whatever.  We’ve attempted to install several times leading only to much consternation and verbal assault towards the computer.  But thank you for that link, I’ll see if it’s doable soon.

      Reply
    28. 28.

      Ruckus

      March 28, 2024 at 7:38 pm

      @schrodingers_cat:

      I’ve known of the second and third you mention P. A. M. Dirac and  John Von Neumann. OK I looked up Hans Bethe and yes I have studied him as well, the name just didn’t stick.

      Reply
    29. 29.

      kalakal

      March 28, 2024 at 7:40 pm

      @NotMax: The Prefab Four did it best

      Reply
    30. 30.

      schrodingers_cat

      March 28, 2024 at 7:43 pm

      @kalakal: That he does.

      Reply
    31. 31.

      Timill

      March 28, 2024 at 7:46 pm

      @kalakal:

      Maxwell’s Reflex Hammer

      Reply
    32. 32.

      FelonyGovt

      March 28, 2024 at 8:01 pm

      I would be interested and that date would probably work for me, at 7:30 or 8 EST, doesn’t much matter.

      Reply
    33. 33.

      MomSense

      March 28, 2024 at 8:03 pm

      yes please!!

      Reply
    34. 34.

      Tom Levenson

      March 28, 2024 at 8:18 pm

      I’d be interested, and as the author of Einstein in Berlin, might have some stuff to add to the conversation.

      Not to self promote.

      (Narrator: he just self promoted.)

      Reply
    35. 35.

      WaterGirl

      March 28, 2024 at 8:24 pm

      @Tom Levenson: You just might! :-)

      Reply
    36. 36.

      SW

      March 28, 2024 at 10:53 pm

      It’s been over a hundred years now yet we still haven’t digested the fundamental insight of relativity.

      Reply
    37. 37.

      Quadrillipede

      March 28, 2024 at 11:11 pm

      I’m tentatively interested — 4:30pm, but I WFH, so nobody would miss me for 45 minutes unless something is actively on fire at the time. (Commenting email should be able to receive a Zoom invite…)

      Reply
    38. 38.

      merrily 100

      March 29, 2024 at 11:00 am

      I’m very interested, but already booked at that time. Can it be recorded?

      Reply

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