Einstein and religion radio programs

jjohnson@americanpublicmedia.org

www.americanpublicmedia.org

"Einstein and the Mind of God," Special Two-Part Series on
Speaking of Faith Examining Albert Einstein's Legacy
To Be Broadcast on Public Radio in December

(St. Paul, Minn.) December 1, 2005 - Speaking of Faith with Krista Tippett
-public radio's premiere national program about religion, meaning, and
ethics - will air a special two-part series: "Einstein and the Mind of
God," commemorating the centennial anniversary of some of the scientist's
most important discoveries. "Einstein and the Mind of God" will examine the
ideas of one of the world's greatest scientific geniuses, including his
thoughts on religion, his relationship to Judaism, and his belief that the
beauty of the cosmos ultimately reveals truths that the scientific mind
alone cannot penetrate. Speaking of Faith, acclaimed as a new paradigm for
discussing religion in American life, is produced and distributed by
American Public Media. The two hour-long programs, funded in part by the
National Endowment for the Humanities, will be broadcast the second and
third week of December (check local listings) and nationally on XM satellite
radio. Both programs will be accompanied by an extensive exclusive web
treatment at www.speakingoffaith.org

One hundred years ago, a 26-year-old examiner in the Swiss Patent office in
Bern turned mankind's notions of the universe inside out. That young
scientist, Albert Einstein, opened our eyes to the idea that time and space
were not fixed and absolute, but elastic and mutable, and that they exist in
relationship with unfolding life.

Einstein spent the rest of his years seeking to comprehend what he called
the order "deeply hidden behind everything" and to describe it
mathematically. He often spoke of this - half-seriously, half-whimsically -
as his longing to understand "what God was thinking".

"Many of us have heard of the famous Einstein quip that God does not play
dice with the universe,' says Speaking of Faith host Krista Tippett, "and
there are many possible ways to interpret that. I've wanted to know what
Einstein meant when he said it, as a physicist." Tippett adds that few
figures in modern history inspire as much fascination or wield as much
influence as Einstein. His spiritual perspective is especially intriguing
and relatively little-discussed.

The Speaking of Faith series draws liberally on Einstein's own words, as
documented in speeches and writings. Part one, "Einstein's God" takes
Einstein's science as a starting point for exploring his perspective on
ideas such as mystery, eternity, and the mind of God; part two, "Einstein's
Ethics" delves into Einstein's Jewish identity, his passionate engagement
around issues of war and race, and modern extensions of his ethical and
scientific perspectives.

Program interviews, on-air and online, include:
 
- Theoretical physicist and futurist Freeman Dyson, professor emeritus at
the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton where Einstein spent the last
two decades of his life. Dyson's books include Disturbing the Universe; and
The Sun, the Genome, and the Internet.
 
- Physicist, cosmologist and astrobiologist Paul Davies of the Australian
Centre for Astrobiology at Macquarie University. His research has ranged
from the origin of the universe to the origin of life, and includes the
properties of black holes, the nature of time and quantum field theory.
Davies won the Templeton Prize on progress in science and religion in 1995.
His books include The Mind of God and About Time: Einstein's Unfinished
Revolution.

- Science writer Tom Levenson of MIT. Levenson has authored several books
on science, technology and history, including the widely acclaimed biography
Einstein in Berlin. He produced the television documentary "Einstein
Revealed" for NOVA.
 
- Physicist Sylvester James Gates, Jr. of the University of Maryland.
Gates works in string theory - a modern extension and variant on the
unfinished work of Einstein's later life, towards a theory to unify all the
forces of nature.
 
- Theoretical astrophysicist Priyamvada Natarajan of Yale. Her work
involves cosmology, gravitational lensing, black holes and accretion
physics.

Speaking of Faith's treatment of Einstein is part of a larger, ongoing
exploration of the relationship between science and religion. Past programs
- all of which can be heard online at www.speakingoffaith.org include
"Science and Hope", with South African cosmologist George Ellis; "Quarks and
Creation", with physicist and theologian John Polkinghorne; and "Science and
Being", with biologist Carl Feit, computer scientist Anne Foerst, and
geneticist Lyndon Eaves.

"Einstein's God" will air on public radio stations nationwide from December
8 - December 14. "Einstein's Ethics" will air the following week, December
15 - December 21. Visit www.speakingoffaith.org and check your local
listings for a list of broadcast locations and times.

American Public Media(tm) is the nation's second-biggest producer of public
radio programs, reaching 14.1 million listeners nationwide each week.
National programs include A Prairie Home Companion(r), Weekend America(r),
Saint Paul Sunday(r), Marketplace(r), Marketplace Money(r), The Splendid
Table(r), Speaking of Faith(r) and special reports produced by its national
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Public Radio, belongs to a larger family of companies within American Public
Media Group, a national nonprofit organization whose purpose is to develop
resources, services and systems to support public media for public service.
A complete list of stations, programs and additional services can be
obtained at www.americanpublicmedia.org.

Source: Data are copyright Arbitron, Inc. Arbitron data are estimates only.

Fall 2004
Received on Wed Dec 14 11:14:09 2005