Existing comment:
"The right to search for truth implies also a duty; one must not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true."
-- Albert Einstein
The Einstein Memorial.
No more appropriate memorial could stand on the grounds of the National Academy of Sciences than one honoring Albert Einstein. It commemorates the centennial of the birth of a scientist whose work led to a new understanding of this world and the universe and a man who believed that the worldwide fame which came from his work was "a solemn trust to be used for the common good."
The memorial depicts Einstein resting on a semicircular three-step bench of white granite from Mount Airy, North Carolina. At his feet, much of the visible universe--Einstein's laboratory--is portrayed in a circular sky map. This 28-foot field of emerald pearl granite from Larvik, Norway, is embedded with more than 2,700 small metal studs.
These represent the planets, sun, moon, stars (to the sixth magnitude), and other celestial objects positioned as they were at noon on April 22, 1979, when the memorial was unveiled and dedicated at an Academy Convocation. At that dedication, Professor John Archibald Wheeler eulogized the status as "a monument to the man who united space and time into spacetime...a remembrance of the man who taught us...that the universe does not go on from everlasting to everlasting, but begins with a bang."
The figure of Einstein holds in its left hand a paper on which are shown the mathematical equations that summarize three of his most important scientific contributions: the photoelectric effect, the theory of general relativity, and the equivalence of energy and matter. Behind the status, at the back of the bench, are three quotations that reflect not only Einstein's integrity as a scientist but also his never-ending sense of wonder at the world and his passionate concern for social justice and ethical responsibility.
The memorial is situated in a grove of elm and holly trees on the southwest corner of the Academy grounds. It was financed by more than 5,000 contributions.
The sculptor was Robert Berks, who has created more than 300 portraits of individuals in public and private life. His works include statues of Enrico Fermi, Pablo Casals, Martin Luther King, Ernest Hemingway, Mary McLeod Bethune, and four presidents of the United States--Abraham Lincoln, Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson.
From the top of its head to the tip of its feet, the Einstein figure measures 21 feet; it weighs 7,000 pounds. The statue was cast in bronze in 19 sections and then welded into its final form. Ten months and the assistance of a crew of 25 were needed for its completion. The monument is supported by a subbase consisting of 3 concrete caissons sunk to bedrock at a depth of 23 to 25 feet. |