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"Einstein would side with opponents of the War on Terror” - says expert

Famous physicist Albert Einstein would stand "side by side" with those opposed to Bush and Blair's war on terror, according to the world's leading Einstein expert Professor John Stachel.

In a public lecture in honour of Einstein Year, being given at the Institute of Physics conference Physics 2005 at the University of Warwick on Wednesday 13th April, Professor John Stachel will explain how Einstein's experience as a witness to Germany's growing militarism during the First and Second World Wars led him to predict with "uncanny accuracy" the contemporary situation in the US and in Britain.

Professor Stachel, the Director of the Centre for Einstein Studies at Boston University, will say that Einstein's views on militarism would place him in total opposition to the recent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and to the US and UK's basically military response to terrorism.

Professor Stachel will say: "Einstein believed that the military mentality leads to preventive wars, the strict control of information, reliance on weaponry and security measures to solve international problems, detention of suspects without fair trial or even a hearing; and is incredibly dangerous because it ignores the human being, his desires and thoughts, the psychological factors."

"For those opposed to the invasion of Iraq and to the so-called "war on terror", Einstein stands by their side in the struggle".

Stachel will say that the strength of Einstein's moral example is a powerful one given recent events. Einstein wrote: "The general insecurity resulting from [the military mentality] results in the sacrifice of the citizen's civil rights to the alleged welfare of the state. Political witch-hunting and governmental controls of all sorts (such as control of teaching and research, of the press, and so forth) appear inevitable, and consequently do not encounter that popular resistance that, were it not for the military mentality, might serve to protect the population. A reappraisal of all traditional values gradually takes place and anything that does not clearly serve the utopian goal of militarism is regarded and treated as inferior."

In the quest to find a quantum theory of gravity, many scientists have abandoned what Professor Stachel regards as Einstein's most important legacy. In this lecture Professor Stachel will also describe Einstein's greatest contribution to science - a physical theory in which all aspects of space and time play a dynamical role - and whether his legacy can be preserved by theorists working on "loop theory" approach to quantum gravity.


Professor Stachel is available for interviews: Contact David Reid, Institute of Physics, 07946 321473 to arrange an interview.

Notes to editors:

The lecture "Einstein: A man for the millennium" is open to the public and is free of charge. It takes place at the Arts Centre in the University of Warwick at 6.30pm on Wednesday 13th April.

Physics 2005 takes place at the University of Warwick from 10th- 14th April 2005. It is the main academic conference for the UK physics community during Einstein Year and the largest gathering of physicists in the UK. At the meeting scientists will present exciting new research from emerging fields in physics.

For more information see: http://www.physics2005.iop.org

Contacts:

Institute of Physics Press Office
Tel: 020 7470 4815

Physics 2005 Newsroom
Tel: (024) 7657 2982 or (024) 7657 2983
E-mail: physics2005newsroom@iop.org
The Newsroom will be staffed from Sunday 10th 2pm - 5pm and daily from 8.30am until Thursday 14th April.

Physics 2005 Newsroom Team

David Reid, Mobile:, E-mail: david.reid@iop.org
Alex Seeley, Mobile: 07967 326646, E-mail: physics2005newsroom@iop.org

Einstein Year is a year-long celebration of physics and its relevance to all our lives. Marking the centenary of Einstein's three ground-breaking ideas it communicates the vital role physics plays in developing new technologies such as cancer screening equipment and mobile phones, whilst addressing big questions like how the Universe was created and how climate change can be addressed. Einstein Year will inspire and inform the next generation of physicists as well as those who are just curious about the world around them. Einstein Year is the UK and Ireland's contribution to International Year of Physics, a UN-sponsored project to promote physics in 2005.