RE Log Spring 2019

SPRING 2019 Ransom Everglades LOG 25 Acclaimed physicist Brian Greene merged hard science with artful commu- nication to bring to life one of the most famous theories in science – Einstein’s theory of relativity – during an Oct. 24 lecture at the Lewis Family Auditorium. Greene, director of Columbia’s Center for Theoretical Physics, spoke to more than 200 members of the RE community and guests after meeting separately with RE’s faculty in the afternoon. “Often we think about science as facts wedged between the hard covers of a textbook,” Greene said. “Science should take its rightful place with theater, art and music as a vital part of what it means to be alive.” Greene, one of the most widely re- spected physicists of this era, addressed the crowd for more than 60 minutes, speaking without notes and moving animatedly around the stage. He was introduced by Associate Head of School Holocaust survivor Selly Laszlo shared his harrowing tale of survival, and film producer Robert M. Krakow recounted the tragic journey of a Jewish refugee ship denied entry to Miami Beach during a moving Upper School assembly Jan. 15 in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Laszlo, who recalled a terror- filled childhood in Budapest, Hungary, received a standing ovation after his presentation. Laszlo, who was introduced by Jewish Student Association officers Margo Squire ’19  and Lily Karson ’19 , told of the rat- and disease-infested Jewish apartments in which he spent much of his childhood, and described a period STEM and Storytelling Physicist shares the art of physics Holocaust Remembrance Survivor tells emotional story at Upper School John A. King, Jr., and welcomed by Head of School Penny Townsend. His visit to RE came just a week after the first anniversary of the school’s REinventing Excellence campaign, which is designed to transform all of the school’s programs while revitalizing the Upper School campus. Greene’s expertise is in the field of super- string theory, which seeks to provide a quantum theory of gravity along with a unified theory of all forces and all mat- ter. “There’s so much we’ve been able to figure out,” he said. “At least it gives you hope that a unified theory and the final laws of physics might be within the brain’s grasp.” of hiding in the windowless back room of a store. He was frequently terrified, he said, listening to the cries of fel- low Jews being beaten and murdered in the streets. “When I remember my childhood, I recall persecution, I recall violence, I recall starvation, but most of all, I recall fear,” he said. “Constant, never-ending fear.” Krakow shared the story of the SS St. Louis, a German ocean liner carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees that in 1939 was denied entry to Cuba, the United States and Canada and forced to head back to Europe. It wasn’t until Sept. 24, 2012, that the U.S. State Department made some amends by issuing a formal apology to the survivors.