World Year of Physics/Einstein Year Concert

Jack Liebeck, violin
Inon Barnatan, piano

8:00 p.m.
Mills Concert Hall, Humanities Building
UW-Madison Campus

Sponsored by the UW-Madison Physics Department

The year 2005 is the centennial of Albert Einstein's publication of three of the most important discoveries of 20th Century science: the special theory of relativity, the quantum theoretical explanation of the photoelectric effect, and a molecular interpretation of Brownian movement. World-wide celebrations of the centennial include not only the sciences, but visual arts and music as well. Young British violinist Jack Liebeck and Israeli pianist Inon Barnatan bring their musical offerings to Madison. The concert is free and open to the public.

Chemistry & Ceramics: Shared Ground, Common Fire

5:30 p.m.
Elvehjem Museum of Art
800 University Ave.
Madison, WI

Featuring Nobel Laureate Roald Hoffmann, the Frank H.T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters and of Chemistry at Cornell University.
Dr. Hoffmann is a chemist and writer of poetry, nonfiction, and plays.

Celebrating Women of Science

9:00 a.m. to Noon
Distinguished researchers from the UW-Madison describe their work.

1:00 to 3:30 pm. 
Thought-provoking hands-on activities for college, high-school, and middle-school students and their families.

Click here for more information, including registration forms

Photography's Golden Legend: Science Meets Art in Chrysotype

Slide-lecture by Mike Ware
Honorary fellow in Chemistry, University of Manchester (UK)

5:30 p.m.
Elvehjem Museum of Art, Room L140
800 University Ave.
Madison, WI

Since prehistory gold has embellished some of our finest jewelry, paintings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, ceramics, and glass. In contrast, photographic printing has been dominated by silver and, for a brief episode, by platinum. Although a gold-printing process was proposed in 1842 by Sir John Herschel, who dubbed it chrysotype, technical difficulties and expense barred its use. But modern chemistry has enabled the economic making of photographic prints in nanoparticle gold; essentially the same superb pigment known to ceramicists and alchemists since the Renaissance as Purple of Cassius. The New Chrysotype process promises to offer a novel, beautiful, and enduring medium of practice for artist-photographers who hand-make their own prints.

Co-sponsored by the Elvehjem Museum of Art and the UW Madison Geology Museum.

Her Lab in Your Life: Women in Chemistry

Presented by the WISL in the New Chemistry Building Atrium

Women in Chemistry is a traveling exhibition that showcases women chemists who have helped create our modern world and their historic contributions to science and technology. From the action of atoms to the substance of stars, these women have given us new visions of the material world and our place in it. The traveling exhibition encourages young women to explore possible careers in chemistry by presenting the rich history of women chemists and their contributions to everyday life.

The Wonders of Physics
Clint Sprott, Professor of Physics, University of Wisconsin Madison.

1:00 & 4:00 p.m. Each Day
1300 Sterling Hall
475 North Charter St.
Madison, WI

Click here for more information.

Once Upon a Christmas Cheery, In the Lab of Shakhashiri
Prof. Bassam Z. Shakhashiri

Conversations on Creativity
William Farlow
Associate Professor of Music and Opera Director, UW-Madison

7:00 p.m.
Unitarian Meeting House
900 University Bay Dr.
Madison, WI

Explore the nature of creativity in the complicated group dynamics of the opera with UW Opera Director William Farlow. With over 200 productions to his credit, and a long career that has taken him to Scotland, Mexico, Canada, and throughout the United States, Farlow has directed productions for the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, and the Canadian Opera. He has worked with such artists as Placido Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa, Carlo Maria Giulini, and painter/set designer David Hockney. As a singer, he has performed major roles in canonical operas, as well as principal roles in nine Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. In addition to his duties as opera director, he teaches voice and stage direction. Professor Farlow earned his Bachelor of Music in Theory and Composition from the University of Texas at El Paso and his MM in Opera from the University of Texas at Austin.

Carl Djerassi and Diane Middlebrook in Conversation

7:00 p.m.
Wisconsin Historical Society Auditorium
Library Mall
UW-Madison Campus

UW-Madison alumnus Carl Djerassi and his wife Diane Middlebrook can respectively claim responsibility for a dizzying range of accomplishments, including the birth control pill, plays, and biographies such as the tale of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes retold in Middlebrook's recent best-seller Her Husband (Viking, 2003). As a part of the 2004 Wisconsin Book Festival, this fascinating couple join for a conversation about science, literature, and art.

Presented in partnership with the Center for the Humanities.

Conversations on Creativity

Ronald L. Numbers
Hilldale & William Coleman Professor of the History of Science,
UW-Madison

7:00 p.m.
Gates of Heaven Synagogue
James Madison Park
E. Gorham and Butler St.
Madison, WI
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In the context of one of the oldest synagogues in North America, Ron Numbers will discuss the role of creativity in the formation of a science independent of religion. Professor Numbers teaches and writes about the history of science, medicine, and religion in America. He is currently writing a one-volume history of science in America since European settlement, and with colleague David Lindberg, he recently completed editorial work on the eight-volume Cambridge History of Science (Cambridge University Press, 2003). His numerous additional works include The Creationists (Knopf, 1992), Darwinism Comes to America (Harvard University Press, 1998), and Disseminating Darwinism: The Role of Place, Race, Religion, and Gender (Cambridge University Press, 1999).

President's Cultural Event: Science, the Arts, and the Humanities:
American Chemical Society Fall National Meeting

2:00-5:00 p.m.
Philadelphia Marriott
Liberty Ballroom
Philadelphia, PA

Professor Shakhashiri has organized a special presidential event at the American Chemical Society national meeting August 22nd, designed to combine science, the arts, and the humanities. Notable scientists and authors explained how they use theater, poetry, photography and other tools to communicate science to the public.

Click here to view the poster of this event.