By a singular ruse, the author of this account, Roy Lisker, obtained entrance to the most exclusive party in the scientific world of the 20th century: The Einstein Centennial Symposium at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, on March 14 - 18, 1979.
Admission was denied to all but a hand-picked group of celebrities: Nobel Prize winners, surviving members of Einstein’s family, renowned Einstein scholars and historians, and journalists.
Unbeknownst to the organizers of the event, Mr. Lisker turned out to be the only journalist present with the scientific competence to cover the entirety of this unique event.
The result is a gripping and fascinating story that is both informed and humane, scientifically credible and politically aware.
Roy Lisker was born in 1938. In 1954 he entered the University of Pennsylvania to study mathematics; within two years he discovered that the call of arts and letters was stronger. He began writing fiction and non-fiction in 1958, returning to the University of Pennsylvania in 1962. He has been published in the United States, France, England, Canada, and Ireland. He has worked in fiction, science writing, math and physics research, criticism and journalism. Since 1980, he has been the author and editor of several privately subscribed newsletters, culminating in 1985 with Ferment, which existed for twenty years as a paper publication before going online as Ferment Magazine.