Monday, April 13, 2009

Fun Family Outing: Traveling to Spend Time with Theoretical Physicist Michio Kaku


Guess who the Forrest family saw on Saturday night?

The same extraordinarily witty guy we're going to see tonight.

Dr. Michio Kaku, theoretical physicist, author of our latest book acquisition, Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration Into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel.



Unlike me, a lot of people had apparently already heard of this guy and love his book:




He's like the Jedi master of String Theory, which I really don't understand, but I'm sure after tonight's talk, I will totally be able to explain it to you all.



Because Professor X and I are the coolest parents ever, we brought the younglings to Live Wire! this weekend. We heard a great band, Horsefeathers, and a fantastic poetry slam champion, Anis Mojgani. And of course, the Faces for Radio Theater troupe had us laughing our lips off as we listened to their sketches. I highly recommend subscribing to their podcast for my out of area friends.

We also heard from this very brilliant, very funny, very cute scientist. In addition to having a beautiful mane of long snow white hair, Dr. Michio Kaku is a theoretical physicist, best-selling author, and popularizer of science. He’s the co-founder of string field theory (a branch of string theory), and continues Einstein’s search to unite the four fundamental forces of nature into one unified theory. At least, that's what his website says. And the four Forrests can attest to the fact that he has a great sense of humour and he's not afraid to use it. These photos don't begin to capture his infectious enthusiasm. He makes science fun. Where was he when I was in school?!



So tonight we're off to the BEST BOOKSTORE EVER, where Dr. Kaku will amaze us further with his observations on alternate realities and time travel and other formerly-assumed-to-be-impossible-super-neato things.

Don't live within a short drive of Powell's in Portland, OR?
No worries. You can catch Dr. Kaku another way. Click on this graphic to go to his website.

8 comments:

Dave King said...

Sounds earth-shaking. Be sure to let us know what gave.

Karen Jensen said...

What fun! And I can't wait for your explanation of string theory.

Annie said...

Can't wait to hear the report. I have heard Dr. Kaku as a guest on a radio show but didn't know he had a show of his own. Thanks for the information. I'll tune in.

We have a local "string theory professor" here at Rice University.

La Belette Rouge said...

I wish I could go. I used to have a little crush on Brian Greene, the physicist, who wrote the Elegant Universe.

Kathy Amen said...

Book sounds neat and we've got it in the library, so it's on my to-read list. Thanks!

PS. to Annie, my husband and I are Rice grads, circa early '70s.

Becky said...

You guys ARE the fun parents! And thanks for the book rec--I think I'll get that for my hubs, 'cause he likes all that smart stuff.

Miss Healthypants said...

Time travel--possible?? Wow, I'm intrigued!! Would you recommend that I read his book? Maybe I can find it on half.com...

I am SO interested in the magic of the universe--I really believe that humans are capable of so much more than we think we are! :)

stephanie said...

You & your famdamily are so freaking cerebral; I'm still thinking about how darling young Sean McGrath was last time.

It's okay if you never invite us again.