Wed, Apr 20, 2005 page1

• Taiwan joins global light relay in Einstein's honor

  • By Chiu Yu-Tzu / STAFF REPORTER
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  At 7pm last night, Taipei 101 was lit up with the most famous mathematical formula in the history of science -- Albert Einstein's E=mc2 -- in commemoration of the extraordinary physicist's death.

  That lighting ceremony was also carried out in nine other locations across the country as part of a global relay of light, "Physics Enlightens the World," to promote physics and pay respects to one of the 20th century's geniuses.

  Other lighting events took place in eastern Hualien County, southern Taiwan and even on Yushan, the nation's highest mountain.

  

  To mark the centenary of physicist Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity, the Taipei 101 skyscraper is illuminated with Einstein's iconic formula E = mc2 and a fireworks display last night.

  PHOTO: SUNG CHIH-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

  Yesterday in Kaohsiung, participants wearing Einstein masks held flashlights to light up the formula.

  The worldwide campaign produced an intercontinental relay of light that circled the globe in one night and united countries under the banner of physics.

  According to Chang Ching-ray (張慶瑞), a physics professor at National Taiwan University and director-general of the Physical Society of ROC, the idea of a global lighting campaign was put forward by Max Lippitsch and Sonja Draxler, physicists at the University of Graz in Austria, three years ago at a conference held by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) in Berlin.

  "We hope to raise public awareness that not only physics but also other basic science subjects deserve more attention," Chang said. "Because of the foundation of knowledge built by scientists in the early 20th century, people nowadays enjoy many applications."

  Chang said that the lighting campaign serves as a tribute to Einstein's many contributions.

  In 1905, Einstein explained the photoelectric effect, which refers to the emission of electrons from the surface of a metal in response to incident light. Because of this and his contributions to theoretical physics, Einstein received the Nobel prize in physics in 1921.

  Campaign organizers believe that science -- like sports or music -- is a universal language that crosses political and ideological borders.

  Physicists and Albert Einstein buffs flipped light switches and dialed phones in the worldwide relay.

  It got under way at 8:45pm on Monday with the illumination of the football stadium and two towers on the Princeton University campus in New Jersey. From there, about 140 groups illuminated everything from campus structures to private homes, one right after another, in a relay across the US.

  Organizers then took the relay around the world, using the telephone on some legs, said Claire Gmachl, an associate professor of electrical engineering at Princeton who was organizing the start of the relay. She said phone calls travel over fiber-optic cables, which make them lights, in a sense.

  "For a scientist or engineer like myself," she said, "light is light."

  The event drew criticism, however, from some astronomers concerned about light pollution.

  Chang said this year is also the World Year of Physics, endorsed by the UN as an international celebration of physics. Events throughout the year will highlight the vitality of physics and commemorate the pioneering contributions of Einstein in 1905. Einstein, who lived and worked in Princeton from 1933 until his death on April 18, 1955, published three groundbreaking papers on physics in 1905. One of them laid out what is now known as the Theory of Relativity, which deals with the nature of light.

  Einstein was then a 26-year-old Swiss patent clerk, working on physics problems in his spare time.

  "The 21st century has just begun," Chang told the Taipei Times. "It's time for us to dig further into basic scientific subjects to create a more solid foundation of knowledge for future generations."

  Chang said the government should invest more to encourage research in the basic sciences.
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