I recommend the glorious works of sculptor Alexander Calder who came from three generations of artists and trained originally as an engineer. His mobiles and stabiles from the mid forties are the exceptional jewels amongst his work. They are mesmerising conversations with Nature, humble and powerful in their economy, making visible the forces at play.
Theo Jansen
Wonderful and extraordinary creations by physicist/artist Theo Jansen.
Markus Kayser - Solar Sinter
When we were discussing plans for a new project last week, Physicist John Tisch introduced me to the very nice work of Markus Kayser.....
Testing Einstein's Theory of General Relativity
Francis Everitt gave an interesting talk yesterday at the departmental colloquium about the experimental mission - Gravity Probe B, which completed earlier this year, over forty years after its original conception. The aim of the mission was to verify Einstein's Theory of General Relativity, by investigating two extraordinary phenomena predicted by Einstein: the geodesic effect (warping of spacetime due to the Earth) and the frame dragging effect (the extent to which the earth drags its spacetime round with it). The project is a fantastic story of human vision, tenacity and imagination.