Science Café in Potsdam broaches topic of physics this Wednesday

POTSDAM – "What is Physics? A Personal Perspective" will be discussed by Virginia Tech Physics Professor Royce K.P. Zia at the next Science Café at La Casbah, 6 Elm St., Wednesday, Oct. 13, at 7:15 p.m.

Unlike "What is 2+3?" there is no easy answer to the question "What is Physics?"

"Though it has given us advanced technologies, physics has yet to understand `the magic all around us,'" says Zia. Illustrating with equations such as 2+1=3, he will argue that physics is the easiest of sciences, and he will provide a bird's eye view of a piece of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, the challenging frontier that's been the topic of his interest during the last three decades.

Join Zia on an amusing and insightful exploration of this question, based on his life-long career experience, first as a theoretical particle physicist, then as a researcher in statistical physics.

Science Cafés bring together engineers, scientists and townspeople in a relaxed, informal setting, such as coffeehouses and pubs. The speaker makes a short presentation about a topic in his or her field, and then opens up the floor to discussion.