The laughter exploding from Wharton Center’s Great Hall Thursday didn’t sound like a typical physics lecture.
Brian Greene, a leading theoretical physicist, presented mirror symmetry and Albert Einstein’s general relativity theory in such a way to make the nearly full hall rattle with amusement.
The Columbia University professor of physics and mathematics had one suggestion for his audience.
“Perhaps there is some danger in large groups of people all getting together and simultaneously thinking about String Theory,” he said. “So for the safety of East Lansing, I would ask that in the next part of the talk, a few of you allow your minds to wander.”
Greene is the first of two visiting professors as part of the McPherson Professorship. The program was inaugurated in fall 2000 with an anonymous $2 million donation, directing MSU President M. Peter McPherson to use the money to enhance science at the university.
Ira Flatow, host of “Science Friday” on National Public Radio, will visit MSU in March.
“We are trying to figure out the truth of how it works,” Greene told the audience Thursday.
Greene labeled the universe a grand cosmic symphony. He presented theories that allowed the universe to be constructed not of three dimensions, but up to 10.
“Hey cool, ‘Star Trek,’” he said, is the response that follows his explanation.
Brittany Dugger, a Lyman Briggs freshman, said she was aware of Greene’s scholastic accomplishments and respects him because of the way he presents his speeches.
“I think that’s what makes somebody a genius,” she said. “To bring it down to somebody’s level to understand it, instead of talking over them all the time, because it’s really hard when people talk over your head when you’re trying to understand something. He’s on the verge of something big.”
Bill Vassas, a computer science freshman, said Greene’s ability to reach people adds to his popularity.
“It can work two ways,” he said. “If you’re really interested it, then it won’t really bother you, because it’s just like a friend talking to you. If you’re new to it, it’s great.”
Many of the topics in Greene’s speech can be found in his best-selling book, “The Elegant Universe.” The book explains that although these concepts have changed the science community, there still are many mysteries left unsolved.
“If someone leaves with a rough sense of where humanity has traveled and knowledge of the universe from the time of Einstein to the most recent discovery, that to me is what it’s about,” he said.
