While we are waiting for the museum to open in a few years, feed your interest in all things Einstein by taking a walking tour, visiting the Historical Society of Princeton, or snapping a selfie by his bust at One Monument Drive, Princeton.
INTRODUCTION: Learn about Einstein’s life in Princeton including his work at the Institute for Advanced Study; his humor and philosophy; his home life; and more.
ALBERT EINSTEIN: CHAMPION OF RACIAL JUSTICE Visit this 2023 pop-up show about Einstein’s close friendships with African Americans in Princeton, and with national leaders such as Paul Robeson (left). Find background resources and the current location here.
INTERACTIVE SCIENCE EXHIBITS: Try cool hands-on experiments and learn more about Einstein’s scientific genius and his continuing impact on our lives. Enter a mini theater to visualize his theory of space-time.
TIME DILATION – AN OLDER/YOUNGER YOU: Project your face onto a pair of manikins to create two selves. Send one to travel at 95% of the speed of light. After 100 years, how does your space self look compared to the Earth-bound version?
ACTIVE ATOMS: ENERGY, BROWNIAN MOTION, AND THE BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATE: The existence of atoms was not yet proven in 1905 when Einstein proposed that random movements in water were atoms colliding. See how they behave at different temperatures down to several hundred billionths of a degree above absolute zero.
THE PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT: Explore the discovery for which Einstein received the 1922 Nobel Prize. Adjust wavelengths and metals to see how the effect changes.
Simulation by PhET Interactive Simulations, University of Colorado Boulder, licensed under CC-BY-4.0 (https://phet.colorado.edu).
QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT: THE GAME: Einstein called it “spooky action at a distance” and could never accept the idea, but quantum entanglement is real. To win this game, you must first entangle your particles, then compete to win. Can you figure out what to do?
BLACK HOLES, WORM HOLES, AND EVENT HORIZONS: Dive into a tiny wormhole before you’re crushed by a black hole’s gravity. Where will you emerge on the other side? Worm holes were predicted by Einstein as bridges to other dimensions, but are not yet proven to exist.
Digital art for NASA by Les Bossinas (Cortez III Service Corp.), 1998
ENERGY UNLIMITED – SPECIAL RELATIVITY and E=mc2: Calculate how much energy your body’s atoms contain. Spoiler alert – it’s a HUGE number!
Image courtesy of anankkml at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
THE SPEED OF LIGHT: Scientists have captured images of light moving at incredibly high speeds. Peek into a lab to see their latest achievements.
Photo credit: NASA
SPACE-TIME THEATER: See how Einstein’s theory of space-time was dramatically proven during a 1919 full solar eclipse. Look down and discover that your own mass influences space-time!
