The World Science Festival will be a series of lectures, panel discussions, films, and special events in New York City from 28 May to 1 June. Subtitled “A Universe of Science in New York City,” the huge roster of participants includes actor Alan Alda, mathematician and magician Arthur Benjamin, physicist Brian Cox, journalist Ira Flatow, physicist and writer Brian Greene, author Lucy Hawking, theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, inventor Ray Kurzweil, paleontologist Richard Leakey, actor and playwright Sam Shepard, a handful of Nobel Prize winners, and many more. The dozens of events have admission prices of from $10 to $40 (that is, those which aren’t already sold out).
In announcing the festival, co-founder Brian Greene said, “In an era in which scientific discovery so directly impacts economics, education, politics, and culture, Tracy Day [the other co-founder] and I realized that there was a great need for a major science festival in the United States. The World Science Festival will allow science enthusiasts to engage many topics in modern science, while also encouraging those who may be on the periphery of science—artists, students, children, families, policy-makers, and educators—to think about the many ways scientific inquiry impacts their lives. Our goal is to help shift the public’s perception of science so that more and more people see science as wondrous, exciting, accessible, and even inspirational.”
Alda Alda said, “When I was in high school, I thought that if you were interested in the arts you weren’t supposed to be interested in science. This was hard because I was intoxicated by both. Now, after 15 years of interviewing some of the most inventive scientists around the world, I realize that the creativity, rigor, and sheer fun of science is very similar to what keeps the heart beating for those of us in the arts. It makes me deliriously happy to see the World Science Festival bring art and science together again: two lovers who once lost touch with each other and have longed ever since to be reunited.”
Some of the events include:
Signature Events, such as: “The Science of Longevity” with Pulitzer Prize-winning author and gerontologist Robert Butler; and “Invisible Reality,” in which Alda, Greene, and other scientists survey how quantum mechanics has evolved to reflect on the very nature of reality.
Youth & Family Events, such as: “The Science of Imagination,” featuring Walt Disney Imagineering technologists exploring the theoretical underpinnings of robotics, pyrotechnics, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence; and “The Science of Sports.”
Science & Culture Events, such as: “The Elegant Universe,” featuring a dance performance by director/choreographer Karole Armitage; and “Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives,” a documentary following musician Mark Everett’s exploration of the contribution his father Hugh Everett made to physics—a theory of parallel worlds.
The full list of programs is available here.