Friday, February 4, 2011
My Second Favorite Scientist
1:36 PM | 
Posted by
Stevie |
On Wednesday evening, The Scientist and I, along with several of our good friends, went to an event at Town Hall Seattle. Town Hall is a fantastic venue for lectures and other educational events. It's a gorgeous old building and the main hall is breathtaking.
The event we attended was a talk given by Brian Greene, one of the most famous scientists of our time. He's a particle/theoretical physicist most well known for his work on String Theory. I know what you're thinking...particle physics? String theory? YAWN. And it's true. If it were any other physicist, I would've been sound asleep with a nice string of drool rolling down my chin 5 minutes into the talk. But Greene is just as well known for his ability to communicate these concepts effectively as he is for the concepts themselves.
He has a way of explaining these incredibly abstract, complex ideas in a way that almost anyone could understand, but he does it without dumbing it down. I don't know how he does it, but after hearing him speak I find myself imagining living in a world with 11 dimensions and multiple universes. Did I just lose you?
Here, check out this video. Seriously, take the 10 minutes or so to watch this. Your mind will be BLOWN.
Anyway, the talk was fantastic. I was under the impression that it would be more of a lecture environment, with him at the podium and walking back and forth across the stage, but to my surprise and delight, it was more of a fireside chat type of format, with Brian Greene speaking with a facilitator - who was none other than Steve Scher, my favorite local NPR radio host! (For those of you in the Seattle area, Steve hosts Weekday. Do you listen? He's wonderful)
They sat in comfy chairs up on stage and Steve asked questions while Brian explained the idea behind string theory, as well as some new concepts from his latest book. We had great seats so it was pretty incredible.
Afterward, we waited around while some of our friends got their books signed, and The Scientist and I walked up to Steve Scher and shook his hand. We had a great conversation with him about the talk, and then started discussing E.O. Wilson and Wendell Berry. It was SO COOL. Once the book signing was over, I walked up to Brian Greene and shook his hand, too. I was completely starstruck, I could barely speak.
Plus, I think he's totally hot (and looks a lot like MY Scientist).
He has a way of explaining these incredibly abstract, complex ideas in a way that almost anyone could understand, but he does it without dumbing it down. I don't know how he does it, but after hearing him speak I find myself imagining living in a world with 11 dimensions and multiple universes. Did I just lose you?
Here, check out this video. Seriously, take the 10 minutes or so to watch this. Your mind will be BLOWN.
Anyway, the talk was fantastic. I was under the impression that it would be more of a lecture environment, with him at the podium and walking back and forth across the stage, but to my surprise and delight, it was more of a fireside chat type of format, with Brian Greene speaking with a facilitator - who was none other than Steve Scher, my favorite local NPR radio host! (For those of you in the Seattle area, Steve hosts Weekday. Do you listen? He's wonderful)
They sat in comfy chairs up on stage and Steve asked questions while Brian explained the idea behind string theory, as well as some new concepts from his latest book. We had great seats so it was pretty incredible.
Afterward, we waited around while some of our friends got their books signed, and The Scientist and I walked up to Steve Scher and shook his hand. We had a great conversation with him about the talk, and then started discussing E.O. Wilson and Wendell Berry. It was SO COOL. Once the book signing was over, I walked up to Brian Greene and shook his hand, too. I was completely starstruck, I could barely speak.
Plus, I think he's totally hot (and looks a lot like MY Scientist).
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Talk to me, Goose.