Einstein Speaks at Saturday Morning Science Series - Hackerman Academy of Mathematics and Science

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He Has Einstein Down to a Science

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He Has Einstein Down to a Science

by Tracy Grant

Washington, DC (January 25, 2008) —So if you could have a chat with Albert Einstein, what might you ask him? Did he build the atomic bomb? What does e=mc2 really mean? Why does he never wear socks? You might just get the chance to ask those questions Saturday when the smartest man in the world visits Towson University.

Okay, so Einstein died in 1955, and even he wasn’t smart enough to figure out a way to come back to life, but actor and storyteller Marc Spiegel does the next best thing with his “Einstein Alive!” show.

Marc Spiegel entertains children of all ages
as he plays Albert Einstein

“I come in as Einstein, riding my relative motion machine,” says Spiegel, a D.C. native. The machine consists of “a chair bolted to a platform with four wheels under it and a brake.” He uses it to explain to kids how motion is relative. You can be sitting in the chair not moving a muscle, but you’re still moving because the platform you’re sitting on is moving.
(Got that?)

Spiegel’s program includes questions from kids (and parents), interactive experiments and songs about physics. “The real Einstein signs.”

Spiegel’s visit to Towson is part of a free Saturday family program called “A visit by Albert Einstein and Cool Physics Demonstration.”

After Spiegel, Professor Vera Smolyaninova will do levitating experiments, making objects (but we’re pretty sure not audience members) float in the air.

“The message is that science is a lot of fun,” says Don Thomas, former NASA astronaut and the head of Hackerman Academy at Towson, which aims to get kids form elementary to high school interested in math and science.

Thomas says the program is perfect for families and especially good for kids ages 7 to 12. The program should last about 1½ hours, with plenty of time for questions afterward. Arrive early and get juice, coffee and doughnuts.

Oh, and as for Spiegel – er, Einstein - and his socks. The great man didn’t wear socks because “sooner or later your big toe causes a hole and you either have to sew it or buy new ones,” Spiegel explains in a video on his Wed site. The real Einstein famously did not wear socks during a visit to the White House. Don’t expect Spiegel’s Einstein to wear them on Saturday either – no matter how cold it is.

Reprinted with permission from The Washington Post

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