Lecture 5 - Albert Einstein: or How to Turn a Hero into a Celebrity

The fifth lecture in Professor Susan Neiman's Gifford Lectures

Event details

Date: Tuesday 10 May 2022, 5:30pm to 6:30pm

Venue: Lecture Theatre A, 40 George Square

Lecture abstract

While Einstein is certainly famous, there’s no reason to consider him heroic – according to most depictions of his life and work.  In fact, the usual picture of Einstein has been sanitized to remove precisely the most interesting and provocative aspects of his work.  I’ll discuss why our culture defangs heroes as a way of undermining their force, and provide reasons for considering him a hero.

Lecture video

 

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