Albert Einstein Memorial
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Albert Einstein Memorial is a monumental bronze statue depicting Albert Einstein seated with manuscript papers in hand. It is located in central Washington, D.C., United States, in a grove of trees at the southwest corner of the grounds of the National Academy of Sciences on Constitution Avenue, near to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
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[edit] Statue
The statue was sculpted by Robert Berks in 19 sections and then welded together.(Bronzed in art foundery owned by Jeff Spring) It weighs 7,000 pounds (3.2 metric tons) and would stand 21 feet (6.4 m) high. The statue sits on a bench that is white granite from Mount Airy, North Carolina.
[edit] Platform
The statue and bench are at one side of a circular dais, 28 feet (8.5 m) in diameter, made from emerald-pearl granite from Larvik, Norway. Embedded in the dais are more than 2,700 metal studs representing the location of astronomical objects (Sun, Moon, planets, 4 asteroids, 5 galaxies, 10 quasars, and many stars) at noon on April 22, 1979 when the memorial was dedicated. The studs are different sizes to denote the apparent magnitude of the relevant object, and different studs denote binary stars, spectroscopic binaries, pulsars, globular clusters, open clusters, and quasars. To a visitor standing at the epicenter of the dais, Einstein appears to be making direct eye contact, and any spoken words are notably amplified.
[edit] Description
Engraved as though written on the papers held in the statue's left hand are three equations, summarising three of Einstein's important scientific advances:
(the photoelectric effect)
(the theory of general relativity)
(the equivalence of energy and matter)
Three quotes from Einstein are printed on nearby informational panels, and inscribed on the back of the granite bench:
- "As long as I have any choice in the matter, I shall live only in a country where civil liberty, tolerance, and equality of all citizens before the law prevail."
- "Joy and amazement of the beauty and grandeur of this world of which man can just form a faint notion …"
- "The right to search for truth implies also a duty; one must not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true."
The statue was filmed and subsequently used in the opening title sequence of Sesame Street during the show's 20th season.
[edit] References
- The Einstein Memorial at the National Academies — A Visitor's Guide
- National Academy of Sciences: The NAS Building: The Albert Einstein Memorial
