A university is offered funding, but only if they’ll name a building for William Shockley, who won the Nobel Prize for his work on the transistor, but was infamous for his support of eugenics. What do they do?
Join us for a dramatic reading of Transistor Shock, a new play by Ivan K. Schuller and Adam Smith, performed by Break A Leg Productions. William Shockley was an American physicist and inventor. Along with two colleagues, Shockley co-invented the transistor, for which all three were awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics. Shockley’s commercial enterprises helped create California’s “Silicon Valley.” In his later years, Shockley espoused eugenics — the practice of selective breeding applied to humans. Following the performance, the playwrights will hold a discussion with the audience.
Wednesday, May 26, 6:30 PM
Elebash Recital Hall
No reservations. First come, first seated
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Oh Shockley …
I read up on him quite a bit while working on the transistor vid for MAKE.
Suffice it to say an interesting person, but to apply empirical logic unto all of humanity would require data even the most learned minds are not privy to. Best not to neglect one’s own subjectivity.
Downright eerie! Here in Auburn a local controversy has been in the papers for months over whether to accept the grant of some open space land for a park–that would require the park be named after Shockley. A lot of people came down on the side of taking him in his historical context, i.e. eugenics was regarded as a respectable scientific theory instead of a racist abomination when Shockley was around.
Oh Shockley …
I read up on him quite a bit while working on the transistor vid for MAKE.
Suffice it to say an interesting person, but to apply empirical logic unto all of humanity would require data even the most learned minds are not privy to. Best not to neglect one’s own subjectivity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi
Downright eerie! Here in Auburn a local controversy has been in the papers for months over whether to accept the grant of some open space land for a park–that would require the park be named after Shockley. A lot of people came down on the side of taking him in his historical context, i.e. eugenics was regarded as a respectable scientific theory instead of a racist abomination when Shockley was around.