18-19 August 25

My astronomer/mathematical-physicist friend Jessica Crist had a birthday yesterday! I asked her to choose a tie and she asked for "Einstein with equations." When it is tied, several important equations are relatively obscured inside the knot, so I'm showing all of them in the detail photo. I'm also doing general outdoor work in our hyper-localized universe (our yard) today, so I'm wearing my special Einstein tee shirt.

27 September 23

Albert Einstein's publication on 27 September 1905 introduced the equation E=mc² to the world of physics. I call this day Energy Equivalence Day, or equivalently Mass Equivalence Day.

30 June 22

On this date 117 years ago, Albert Einstein's paper explaining the theory of special relativity appeared. At least that's when it happened in our own timespace. Special relativity accounts for how space and time get stretched out, or compressed, for different observers, when one of them is moving at close to the speed of light. Of course that isn't important for those of us who travel around at speeds from zero to (merely) thousands of miles per hour. But when we consider the motions of photons or electrons or other subatomic particles, their interactions with "us" or with anything moving more slowly than the speed of light depend on the principles of special relativity, not everyday mechanics. A photon entering my eye (to cause what I see as a color) experiences time differently -- our clocks never match up.

15 March 21

 Honoring the birthday (on 14 March) of Albert Einstein, 1879-1955.

3 August 20

My tie-honor for Jonathan Kleppinger's 32nd birthday (on Saturday) was delayed to today. He asked for the same tie I wore for him ten years ago . . . I'm happy to do it for him even though I wore it just five weeks ago!

30 June 20

On this date 115 years ago, Albert Einstein's paper explaining the theory of special relativity appeared. At least that's when it happened in our own timespace. Special relativity accounts for how space and time get stretched out, or compressed, for different observers, when one of them is moving at close to the speed of light. Of course that isn't important for those of us who travel around at speeds from zero to (merely) thousands of miles per hour. But when we consider the motions of photons or electrons or other subatomic particles, their interactions with "us" or with anything moving more slowly than the speed of light depend on the principles of special relativity, not everyday mechanics. A photon entering my eye (to cause what I see as a color) experiences time differently -- our clocks never match up.

9 November 18

On this date in 1921, Albert Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. But my tie is also very suitable for the National Collegiate Honors Council conference theme, "Learning to Transgress." Einstein stands out as someone who "broke all the rules" while creating the foundations for modern physics. My conference badge is turned backwards to reveal the card for Dr. Paula Kopacz, who invited me to take her place for a conference session, so I am breaking several rules at once! With me in the group photo are Dr. Gaby Bedetti, Dr. Melissa Vandenberg, Dr. Minh Nguyen, and our Kleppinger traveling bears Garnet and Little Bear.

27 September 17

Happy Mass-Energy Equivalence Day! On this date in 1905, Albert Einstein submitted his paper "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?" to Annalen der Physik. This paper explained the mathematical derivation of the famous equation E = mc², stating that the total energy of any object is equal to its mass times the square of the speed of light. Prior to Einstein's theories of relativity, the mass of an object was generally considered to be just solid stuff that interacted with other objects according to the mechanical principles of Newton's "laws of motion." But the basic concept from Einstein's most famous equation is that "mass is just a super-concentrated form of energy and, moreover, these things can turn from one form to the other and back again." And so began completely new understandings of our whole universe and how it holds together!

27 September 15

110 years ago today, Albert Einstein's paper including the equation E=mc² was published. 1905 became known as the "miracle year" for his four major publications on the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, special relativity and mass-energy equivalence.

30 June 14

Today is the 109th anniversary of Einstein's publication that introduced special relativity. One handy way to express this theory is that "space and time are joined into a unified four-dimensional continuum called spacetime" (Wikipedia). I just like the glorious color of our June bee balm!

30 June 13

Today marks Albert Einstein's publication in 1905 originating the theory of special relativity. Space and time were never the same again.

13 March 12

Tomorrow (March 14) is Albert Einstein's birthday. I have another special tie for 3-14, so I'm getting a little ahead of time here -- which Einstein thought was absolutely impossible. And he is still right about that (forever).

22 February 11

Whenever February 22 falls on a Tuesday, that 2/22 day should be known as TWOSDAY. I will celebrate somehow at 2:22:22 p.m. (although it would have been appropriate at 2:22 a.m., two). My son Ben suggested that I wear two ties two-day, so I picked two that have the number 2 on them, and tied them two-gether. (On the Einstein tie you can just barely see the 2 in E=mc².) On Facebook one of my cousins suggested combining a bow tie with a necktie, but I had no bow tie with which two do that.

1 August 10

It's Jonathan Albert Kleppinger's 22nd birthday! He selected this Einstein tie for me to wear today. And as Einstein was a pacifist, the dove-of-peace pendant from our church's weeklong mission trip suits the occasion well.

15 March 10

Yesterday was Albert Einstein's birthday, but I had my "pie tie" instead, so Albert gets today.

15 March 09

Yesterday (14 March) marked the 1879 birthday of Albert Einstein.

30 June 08

On this date in 1905, Albert Einstein published the article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", where he introduced special relativity (explaining how motion near the speed of light affects the perceptions of space and time for observers in different frames of reference). This was the third of four major papers from Einstein that year, all in Annalen der Physik; on Sept. 27 came the publication of the famous equation stating the fundamental equivalence of mass and energy, E = mc².