Albert Einstein’s scientific theories are still relevant today for scientific development and life beyond science, said physicist Sylvester James Gates Jr.
Gates, who is the John S. Toll Professor of Physics and the director of the Center for String and Particle Theory at the University of Maryland, spoke to an estimated 3,500 students, faculty and community members at the University’s annual Convocation.
The event, designed to welcome new students and professors to the University, was held in McArthur Court Sunday afternoon.
This year, designated the World Year of Physics by the United Nations, marks the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s theories of special relativity, a concept of how the universe would function without gravity; the photoelectric effect, the idea that light beams are more like particles than waves; and Brownian motion, the study of how molecules in a given volume of liquid move.
Gates said Einstein’s greatest contribution was his 1916 theory of general relativity, which says the universe was formed 13.6 billion years ago when a drop in temperature and density led matter and anti-matter to destroy each other.
The process inexplicably stopped, leaving 5 percent of the initial matter. From this 5 percent, life and then consciousness evolved, according to the theory.
“The universe manages to create exactly one copy of a creature known as you,” Gates said. “How is it that we can discount the preciousness that every single creature inherits from the universe?”
Gates said the scientific community should respect the fact that many people believe in intelligent design and openly debate it, although he said it does not qualify as a scientific theory because there is no way to prove it false.
“The percentage of scientists who believe in intelligent design is about the same as the percentage of ordinary people, of the general public, who believe in the flat earth,” Gates said, adding that Einstein never considered science and religion mutually exclusive.
Emphasizing the ever-changing nature of science, Gates noted that even Einstein’s theory of general relativity allowed for some ambiguity because Einstein’s realization that the universe is expanding conflicted with the then-accepted notion that the universe is static. When astronomers discovered a few years later that the universe was indeed expanding, Einstein amended his theory.
“That’s how science works,” Gates said. “It looks a lot like people doing homework.”
Before Gates spoke, University President Dave Frohnmayer emphasized the value of new ideas, even those that might seem absurd.
“We come here together on Convocation to celebrate the idea of ideas,” Frohnmayer said.
Convocation also recognized 34 new University faculty members.
“We chose them, they chose us and we’re better off for it,” Vice President for Academic Affairs Lorraine Davis said.
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Einstein’s famed theories discussed at Convocation
Daily Emerald
September 25, 2005
Sylvester James Gates Jr. speaks at Convocation on Sunday afternoon in McArthur Court. The University of Maryland physics professor was the guest speaker at the ceremony.
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