Theatre and Physics –
Two part series by CBC Ideas features Canadian physicists — available now on CBCListen —
In November 2021, as part of its English Theatre program, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa staged a Theatre and Physics Symposium, a week long exploration of plays and particles. Each play was followed by a panel discussion inspired by the featured presentation.
IDEAS host Nahlah Ayed moderated three panels that included Canadian physicists discussing the issues spinning out of each of the three plays. Two CBC Ideas episodes were produced based on these panel discussions.
The first episode, aired on March 3, 2022, explores two plays in the series : Copenhagen and Entangled. Bohr’s concept of complementarity and Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle are at the core of Copenhagen, while Entangled explores the interactions of theoretical physicist Wolfgang Pauli and the pioneer of psychoanalysis Carl Jung.
The second episode, aired on March 9, 2022, explores the one-person play “Frequencies”. “Light is just these vibrating packets of energy and, depending on how fast they vibrate, it makes them whatever colour they are.”
Both IDEAS episodes are now available on CBCListen. See the details below.
Part One : The Nature of Uncertainty inspired by the play “Copenhagen”
plus Mind and Matter, inspired by the play “Entangled”
Featuring interviews with CAP member
Dr. Jason Holt, TRIUMF and
Bernie Petit, Education coordinator, Indigenous Programs, Canadian Light Source
The interactions of unimaginably small subatomic particles seem to be the stuff of science fiction — so bizarre and counterintuitive that even the world’s leading quantum physicists struggle to make sense of them. They would seem to have little to say about the interactions between humans. The Theatre and Physics symposium featured plays about some of the principles and towering figures of theoretical physics to show how quantum science can shed light on the equally mysterious world of human relationships.
Click here to listen to the episode.
Read More – What quantum physics can teach us about human relationships
Part Two : The “I” in Physics: The Inner Lives of Physicists, inspired
by the one-person play “Frequencies”.
Featuring interviews with CAP members
Dr. Shohini Ghose, Wilfrid Laurier University, and
Dr. Kevin Hewitt, Dalhousie University
Science isn’t just facts and theories about the universe. As Aaron Collier’s one-person play “Frequencies” shows, science is also experienced on an intimately personal level through our senses. Nahlah Ayed moderated a panel inspired by Frequencies at the National Arts Centre’s Theatre and Physics Symposium in November.
Click here to listen to the episode.
Read More – The “I” in Physics: How our experiences shape the study of physical phenomena