Hebrew U, Smithsonian launch Einstein project on relativity theory’s centennial

The Smithsonian Institution and the Hebrew University are marking the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity by launching an initiative to make science more accessible to young people.

The project, joining the Science Education Center at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and the Albert Einstein Archive at Hebrew University, will “make science, technology, engineering and mathematics more accessible and appealing to a younger generation,” the American and Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University said in a statement Monday.

Einstein, a Hebrew University founder, bequeathed 80,000 of his scientific and non-scientific manuscripts to the Jerusalem school.

The Israeli ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, and David Skorton, the director of the Smithsonian Institution, a group of museums and research centers administered as a U.S. government agency, will attend the launch of the initiative at the Smithsonian Castle, on the National Mall, on Monday afternoon.

Centennial commemorations of Einstein’s groundbreaking theory were launched in November.