To mark the centenary, the United Nations has declared 2005 “International Year of Physics”. The professional physics community will celebrate the anniversary in the way it knows best – by organizing conferences at which people will give talks showing how clever they are. The organizers of meetings for which the programmes are available have responded impressively in their efforts to present 21st-century physics with an Einstein-circa-1905 twist.
“Quantum information” and “From random walks to the complexity of financial markets” will be just two of the topics at the European Physical Society’s “Beyond Einstein” meeting in Bern in July (www.eps13.org). The Institute of Physics, meanwhile, has organized sessions on “beyond relativity”, “single-molecule biophysics” and more at the “Physics, a century after Einstein” meeting in Warwick in April (www.physics2005.iop.org).
Of course, the last thing that the legend of Einstein needs is further gilding by the physics community. His legacy as the greatest physicist of all time is guaranteed, despite the regular claims that “Einstein was wrong” or that he stole his ideas from someone else. The real opportunity presented by 2005 is the chance to sell Einstein and physics to the young. Physicists have to realize that physics needs the “outside world” more than it needs physics.
The biggest problem facing the world of physics right now is not the fact that quantum theory is incompatible with general relativity, or that we do not know what “dark energy” is. Rather it is the ongoing decline in the number of students studying physical sciences at schools and universities, and the effect that this is having on the supply of those qualified to teach physics in schools. 2005 is an opportunity to reach the next generation of physics students and teachers, and to reverse the trends of recent years, by presenting the subject in a way that is exciting and relevant in the 21st century.
Einstein Year in the UK, for instance, is “all about enthusing young people about physics, exploding the myth that physicists are white, middle-aged men with mad hair, and highlighting the contribution of contemporary physics to society”. The main target audience will be 11-14 year olds, and each month in 2005 will have a different theme that, it is hoped, will attract and retain their attention. Some of these themes will be obvious (such as time, space and energy), but others will be different (for example physics and music or sport). Details about other events around the world are given in the news story on pages 10-11. Some of these events have already been organized, but others need energy and imagination now.
Physics as a subject is lucky in having Einstein as a “brand”, and if anyone can make 2005 another annus mirabilis, it is him.
