SCIENCE AND THE ARTS

News and Updates from Science & the Arts The Graduate Center of the City University of New York 365 Fifth Avenue (at 34th Street) view our website

Powers of Ten Wednesday, October 6, 7:00 pm Elebash Recital Hall Celebrate 10 / 10 / 10 (a few days early). We will observe the date with a tribute to the classic short film Powers of Ten, by designers Charles and Ray Eames. The film is a 9-minute journey of scale, from the infinitesimal to the cosmic. Powers of Ten encourages rich, cross-disciplinary thought that approaches ideas from multiple interrelated perspectives, at all orders of magnitude. One of the most widely seen short films of all time—at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum for decades and still widely used in schools around the world—Powers of Ten has influenced pop culture from The Simpsons to the rock band Coldplay, from Hummer commercials to the movie Men in Black. Discussion with D Graham Burnett (Historian of Science, Princeton University), and Eames Demetrios, grandson of the filmmakers, who is dedicated to communicating, preserving and extending their work. Co-sponsored by Science & the Arts and Cabinet magazine. Free, no reservations required. The Big Bang Theory Friday, October 29, 7:00 pm Proshansky Auditorium The Making of The Big Bang Theory -- How does the CBS television situation-comedy The Big Bang Theory keep its science references accurate? David Saltzberg (UCLA, Department of Physics), the series consultant, will explain the science behind the hit comedy. Saltzberg checks scripts and meets with the producers, writers, actors, set decorators, prop masters and costume designers to help ensure scientific accuracy. He also writes a blog The Big Blog Theory that explains the science in each episode. Free. Click to reserve your seat. Conference Friday, October 29 and Saturday, October 30 CUNY Graduate Center Science & the Arts will sponsor the conference Communicating Science to the Public through the Performing Arts, addressing science as depicted and disseminated through theatre, dance, music, film, TV, festivals and cafes. There is a modest registration fee. For registration information see the conference website. The Shaking Woman or A History of My Nerves Tuesday, September 28 6:00 pm Segal Theatre Siri Hustvedt, bestselling novelist and author of the memoir The Shaking Woman or A History of My Nerves, will offer a reading as well as a discussion of neuroscience, psychoanalysis and the novel. Introduction by Graduate Center President William P. Kelly. Rebecca Jordan-Young (Barnard College), author of Brain Storm: Flaws in the Science of Sex Differences, will serve as discussant. Hustvedt is also the author of the novels: The Sorrows of an American, What I Loved, and The Blindfold. “Siri Hustvedt, one of our finest novelists, has long been a brilliant explorer of brain and mind. Hustvedt’s erudite book deepens one’s wonder about the relation of body and mind.” — Oliver Sacks Co-sponsored by Science & the Arts, The Center for Women and Society, the Center for the Humanities and the Ph.D. Program in English. Free, no reservations required. Creation Wednesday, Oct. 20, 7:00 pm Elebash Recital Hall A screening of Creation, a film about Charles Darwin's struggles to come to terms with his emotions, intellect and faith. The screening will be preceded by a discussion with the eminent biologists Sean B Carroll and Cliff Tabin, moderated by science writer Carl Zimmer. Expected appearance by filmmaker Jon Amiel. Co-sponsored by Science & the Arts and the Imagine Science Film Festival. Free, no reservations required. Copenhagen Friday, November 12, 6:30 pm Elebash Recital Hall Copenhagen: A Reading and A Discussion. Join us for a reading of selections from the award-winning play Copenhagen, performed by Break A Leg Productions, and a discussion with scientists and historians. Free, no reservations required.