Contact: Ralph Derickson

Albert Einstein

In Einstein’s honor, 2005 has been named the World Year of Physics by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. Endorsed by the United Nations, the World Year of Physics seeks to raise awareness of the influence of physics and its impact on society.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 28, 2005) -- The University of Kentucky Department of Physics and Astronomy is bringing the international World Year of Physics to campus with its lecture series, “Einstein and Beyond.” The series begins at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 3, in Memorial Hall with a talk by Alexei Filippenko, professor of astronomy at the University of California at Berkeley.

Filippenko, whose lecture is titled “Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe,” will discuss his groundbreaking research that was voted the top “Science Breakthrough of 1998” by Science magazine and was featured in Time magazine.

“Dr. Filippenko’s research provides profound, new insight into the nature of the world around us,” said Susan Gardner, associate professor of physics and astronomy and the coordinator of “Einstein and Beyond.” “He is an outstanding scholar in his field, and it is an honor to host him on our campus.”

UK joins hundreds of institutions around the globe in celebrating the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s “ miraculous year” of 1905, in which he reshaped the course of modern physics with the publication of three groundbreaking theories, including the principle of relativity.

In Einstein’s honor, 2005 has been named the World Year of Physics by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. Endorsed by the United Nations, the World Year of Physics seeks to raise awareness of the influence of physics and its impact on society.

Filippenko joined the University of California-Berkeley faculty after receiving his doctorate in astronomy from the California Institute of Technology in 1984. 

An observational astronomer who makes frequent use of the Hubble Space Telescope, Filippenko’s primary areas of research are exploding stars, active galaxies, black holes, gamma-ray bursts, and the expansion of the universe. With more than 440 academic publications, he is one of the world’s most cited astronomers.

Other speakers in the “Einstein and Beyond” lecture series include Eric Adelberger, professor of physics and adjunct professor of astronomy, University of Washington at Seattle, who will speak Thursday, Feb. 24, on “How Many Dimensions Does the Universe Have. . . Really?”  Barry Barish, director of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Linde Professor of Physics at the California Institute of Technology, discusses “Einstein’s Legacy: Our Best Description of the Universe” Thursday, March 3. Both the Adelberger and Barish lectures take place at 7 p.m. in Memorial Hall.  Joseph Polchinski, professor of physics at the University of California at Santa Barbara, will speak on “The Search for Nature's Ultimate Building Blocks” Thursday, March 31, at 7 p.m. in 107 Thomas Hunt Morgan Biological Sciences Building.

The events are free and open to the public. For more information on the University of Kentucky “Einstein and Beyond” lecture series, please visit the Web site.