Mi hanno fatto una nuova intervista…e altre novità…

Questions/Interview/021.rs

1.We live in a time that can be marked by a sentence: “Suddenly one morning you are drowning in another life.” How did you, as a scientist and artist, experience this pandemic: until yesterday, time was worth more than uranium and drugs. Today – a clear head is worth anything.

I am very pleased with this question. When the pandemic began in late February 2020 in Italy, I went to take refuge in my home in Genoa, Liguria, a region on the sea, in the north of Italy. It was the perfect place, the place of rebirth. I believe that this pandemic, and all this pain it has brought with it, should be able to serve a purpose, for each of us. Otherwise all the pain has been useless. We have a duty to change, to experience change, to grow, to cement our values. I, in my home in Genoa, did exactly that. My scientific mentality (I am a physicist) allowed me to remain lucid in front of the data that came to us, and to interpret the numbers. I used common sense, to get out of the first moment of general daze. The confusion that reigned around was very tiring, but by isolating myself I was able to find a balance within myself. That’s what physics is all about after all: logic and common sense. And so I put into practice what I was already trained to do. It was a salvation for me.
And then I wrote my last book, which came out in September 2020 here in Italy (Mondadori publisher), about Schroedinger’s cat. A perfect metaphor for what we were experiencing.

2.Why Mileva Marić Einstein and not, for example, Marie Curie? Because of him – Albert, not Pierre?

The book “Einstein and I” is my third last book, I wrote it after long research in Bern, Zurich, Princeton. I decided to devote so much space to Mileva’s life because she represents something little known. Marie Curie is known by everyone, and she had Pierre on her side. Mileva, on the other hand, is still unknown to many people, and in the second part of his life Albert did not think of her anymore. So I thought about her. From the book I also created a play, which I perform around to theaters all over the world, and when I did it in San Francisco, in America, the Americans didn’t know who she was at all. So they interviewed me enthusiastically, they wanted to know his story. That’s why I persist in telling it to this day, in every place where they invite me. Mileva had an excellent scientific mentality, and in my story I am not interested in her contribution to relativity, this is not the heart of the matter, I am interested in the fact that she was not remembered by Einstein’s biographers (all men) for what she was, because in those days women had to be only wives and mothers. While she wanted to fulfill her dreams by being a physicist.

3.Why do you say, we are all Einstein? You give a compliment to humanity and most of them are mediocrity and fool, from America (Trump) to the Balkans (leaders of Southeast Europe), from Hungary (Orban) to Russia and Arab countries?

‘We are all Einstein’ is a phrase I use to encourage young people to pursue their passions without being held back by the society around us. When adults say “who do you think you are, do not overdo it” or say “get in line” kids have the right not to obey. To explode, you need to focus on yourself, wrestle with yourself.

4. “From the first questions you ask yourself, you can understand which will lead you to your dreams, which to your duties and which to your needs.” A powerful sentence, disturbing at the same time. Does that mean that a man is a the author of his happiness and misfortune, and not advertising, aggressive capitalism and consumer society?

The answer in this question lies in how alone we can be with ourselves. Solitude should be taught in schools.

5.Politic is frivolous and the equation is forever. But, we remember science only at a time like this. Science is suddenly more important than Kim and Kanye. Football players, who earn much more than scientists, are not important either. Politics, however, decides when we will get the vaccine, not the scientists. With this book – are your words, I am fighting against phrases that are the most dangerous stereotypes today.Is it possiblee to fight stereotypes?

It is only possible to fight stereotypes if you know how to identify them as such. And in order for people to identify them as such, there have to be storytellers like me who point them out. That’s what a book, a play, art, music are for. Today we have sharing as a weapon, social networks also serve to find the awareness of all this. It is enough to know how to select.

6.You are some kind of a renaissance person. What is the connection between your science and theater?

To bring the stories I write in my books to the theater, I studied. I figured out how to move, how to occupy spaces, how to use my voice, I studied from great actors and directors. I use theater to tell stories. And with stories you can reach anyone.

7.The structure of the book is amazing: formulas, wines, songs. How long it took you to structure it? You was some kind of the architect.

I am an artist. I create, I invent. The idea is to make things that you don’t see down around, to hit, to make a mark.
Mileva’s story, for me, was an impetus to create.
And her story isn’t over yet, I still need to add new chapters. I took my application to ETH Zurich for a posthumous degree, and on my second request they haven’t given a definitive answer yet, but the games are still open. When the pandemic is over, I have an appointment to go see them. I’ll get back to them on the proposal.

It’s how you are in the world that makes a difference. We make our dreams come true today partly because of her.
There is a whole section on my website dedicated to Mileva, which I will update as there is news: click here