MEDIA CONTACT:  Lisa Freed

561-297-3022, lfreed@fau.edu

FAU Presents ‘Einstein and God’

BOCA RATON, FL (March 13, 2006) – Florida Atlantic University presents Dr. Nathan Dean, dean of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and professor of physics at FAU, who will present on the topic of “Einstein and God.” The presentation marks the final lecture in the Frontiers in Science Spring 2006 public lecture series, and will take place Thursday, March 16 at 3:30 p.m. in the Charles E. Schmidt Biomedical Center, room 126.

Albert Einstein, the greatest intellect of his age, was both a scientist and a humanist.  His scientific reputation invested credibility in his opinions on ethics, morality and society.  In this lecture, Dean will discuss Einstein’s own writings that are used to explore his views on the nature of God, and the conclusions he reached regarding science, religion and humankind.  Einstein’s devotion to relativism and determinism in science are contrasted with the religious philosophy he publicly supported, as well as with the ethical and social judgments of his later years. Although the tension between these two world views cannot be completely resolved, his own writings on the interaction between science and religion provide unique insight into the mind of Einstein.

Dean came to the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science in 2002, after serving as vice president for FAU’s Boca Raton campus and vice provost.  He will retire this summer and plans to spend part of next year at Churchill College and Cambridge University, where he has been invited as a visiting scholar at the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion.

The Frontiers in Science Spring 2006 Public Lecture Series is free and open to the public.  It is sponsored by the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, and supported by FAU’s Lifelong Learning Society Endowed Professorship.

For more information, contact Patsy Jones at 561-297-1307 or patsyj@fau.edu.

-FAU-