Nobel laureate gives free UQ physics lecture

A Nobel Prize winner will give a free lecture at The University of Queensland on January 28 as part of international celebrations to commemorate the discoveries made by Albert Einstein 100 years ago.

The lecture launches the University’s year-long activities for the UN 2005 International Year of Physics, which will include hands-on workshops, international guest speakers, public lectures and an entertaining “Physics in the Pub” debate.

Head of the School of Physical Sciences Professor John Eccleston said he was delighted to welcome the 2003 Nobel Prize winner in Physics, Professor Tony Leggett of the University of Illinois, to St Lucia.

“The lecture is part of a world-wide collaboration of scientific societies to bring the excitement of physics to the public and to inspire a new generation of scientists.

“Professor Leggett’s lecture, “Testing the limits of quantum mechanics: motivation, state of play, prospects”, will be of particular interest to physicists and high school physics teachers,” Professor Eccleston said.

The January 28 one-hour lecture will be held at 4pm in Room 222, Parnell Building, St Lucia Campus.

The World Year of Physics honours Albert Einstein, who pioneered theories in relativity, quantum mechanics and Brownian motion in 1905.

Einstein was renowned for making complex scientific explanations as simple as possible.

His explanation of the theory of relativity, E=mc2 (energy equals mass times the speed of light squared), was: “Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. THAT`S relativity."

Media: for more information contact Professor John Eccleston (telephone 3365 3460, email j.eccleston@sps.uq.edu.au) or Lynda Flower (telephone 07 3346 7264, mobile 0407 697 937, email l.flower@uq.edu.au).

Australian Institute of Physics World Year of Physics: http://www.aip.org.au/wyop2005/

Physics Lecture information: http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/colloquium/sched/index.shtml