FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-- JANUARY 10, 2005

Contacts

World Year of Physics 2005 Begins With Paris Conference

College Park, MD (January 10, 2005) -- The World Year of Physics 2005 (physics2005.org) will officially launch at the Physics for Tomorrow conference in Paris, January 13-15. Four American students have received scholarships from U.S. physics organizations to attend the historic meeting and help decide the future of physics and physicists.

The meeting features Nobel Laureates, eminent scientists, and outstanding young physics students from around the globe who will gather together to discuss the impact of physics on daily life and the importance of physics research for socio-economic development in the 21st century.

Five hundred young students from over eighty countries will attend the meeting, which is sponsored by UNESCO and a dozen international physics organizations. The students were selected from among the best physics students of their respective countries, including many veterans of International Physics Olympiads.

"These students represent the future of physics," said Dr. Bernard Khoury, executive officer of the American Association of Physics Teachers, "and we are proud to be joining the American Physical Society and the American Institute of Physics in sponsoring four U.S. Physics Olympiad alumni, who will be traveling to Paris for the launch of the World Year of Physics."

The World Year of Physics is an international celebration of physics, timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein's "miraculous year." In 1905, Einstein revolutionized much of science with three groundbreaking advances: he proved of the existence of the atoms and molecules, he validated the emerging field of quantum mechanics, and he developed the theory of special relativity - which led to the most famous equation ever written, E=mc².

The United Nations has officially declared 2005 the International Year of Physics, and more than thirty nations are participating in the year-long celebrations with public lectures, museum exhibits, and educational projects.