The Daily Princetonian: February 25, 2022

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Friday February 25, 2022 vol. CXLVI no. 5

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100 years after the Nobel

Walking in Einstein’s footsteps CANDACE DO / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Letter

from the

Editor

100 years after the Nobel: Introducing a special issue inspired by Einstein’s legacy Marie-Rose Sheinerman Editor-In-Chief

O

n Oct. 18, 1933, The Daily Princetonian reported on the arrival of a new guest to campus: Albert Einstein. Six years before the outbreak of World War II, Einstein and his wife fled persecution in Nazi Germany, arriving to Princeton in secret on the night of Oct. 17. Einstein went on to become one of the inaugural faculty members at the Institute for Advanced Study. Perhaps everything that can be said of Einstein has been — by writers far more eloquent than myself. He’s the father of modern physics. He’s “the most renowned, and most recognizable, scientist of the twentieth century — and possibly of all time,” in the words of the description of a history course being offered this spring. “His ideas have inspired generations of physicists and mathematicians at Princeton and around the world,” as the University wrote in 2016. To this day, Einstein’s legacy lies at the bedrock of what it means to call yourself a Princetonian. My roommate, an Orange Key tour guide, reminds a new flock of aspiring students each week that if they were to successfully gain admission, they may one day find themselves sitting for a lecture in Frist Campus Center Room 302, restored to look precisely the way it did when Einstein taught from its lectern. My father, a scientist and Jewish immigrant himself, told me when he dropped me off freshman fall that he still couldn’t quite believe that each day I spent here, I would get to walk in the footsteps of thinkers like Einstein.

In the first special issue of the 146th Board, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the year Einstein received a Nobel Prize. In celebrating Einstein’s enduring legacy on campus, we highlight the historic number of Princetonaffiliated leaders who were awarded Nobel Prizes this past year and sit down with thinkers like Maria Ressa ’86 and chemistry professor David MacMillan; we dive deep into the myth-making around Einstein’s role in the growth of Jewish student life; we trace how the physicist is commemorated both around town and on campus; we tell the story of the sole Einstein museum in the country; and we spotlight some of the most significant scientific advances being made on campus today. In every section — from podcast and opinion to features and photo — the ‘Prince’ has come together not only to mark this centennial anniversary, but to use it a springboard for delving into the beautiful work of students, alumni, and faculty members in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. For more than 100 years, some Princetonians have stood at the forefront of scientific discovery. This week, we ask our readers to join us in celebrating their stories. Marie-Rose Sheinerman is the Editor-in-Chief of the ‘Prince’; this letter represents her views alone. She can be reached at eic@dailyprincetonian.com.

In the eye of the storm: Princeton professor’s research may hold the key to predicting hurricanes

Princeton researchers with the Dog Aging Project study how genes and the environment inf luence aging By Hope Perry

News Contributor

PHOTO CREDIT: NASA / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Satellite image of Hurricane Florence.

By Bailey Glenetske

Assistant News Editor

A puzzling dip in hurricane frequency and severity in the 1960s to 1980s has stumped climate scientists for decades. Now, a researcher at the University believes he may hold the explanation behind this curious anomaly, which has implications for future hurricanemodeling.

As greenhouse gas emissions continue to accelerate climate change, predicting hurricanes accurately has become increasingly important to scientists and governments hoping to mitigate its worst effects. The rise in potential for devastating hurricanes is projected to affect millions along the American east coast as these storms reach further inland and increase

the chance of dangerous storm surges. Dr. Gabriel A. Vecchi, a professor in the Department of Geosciences at the University, recently published research based on a new modeling of hurricane frequency in the North Atlantic. In his research, he details an argument that the abnormal decrease in North Atlantic hurricane frequency See STORMS page 7

Researchers at the University and other institutions are investigating the human aging process by studying dogs. Professor Joshua Akey of the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics is a member of the team of scientists behind the Dog Aging Project (DAP). The project is a long-term multi-institutional research endeavor meant to, in Akey’s words, “better understand the genetic determinants of aging and how genes and the environment interact to influence aging.” Akey told The Daily Princetonian that the Project originally got started at the University of Washington, when his lab was there. Many of the people who run the DAP are still based there — but the team itself represents a collaboration between 27 institutions from around the world. William Thistlethwaite, a third year PhD candidate in the quantitative and computational biology program at Princeton, explained that studying dogs opens up opportunities to examine certain aspects of human diseases and aging processes. Thistlethwaite stressed that just because there are similarities between humans and dogs doesn’t mean that the group’s results will necessarily apply to humans. “But because of things I mentioned,” he continued, “we are confident, hopeful and optimistic, that, you know, the results we

find will be applicable.” DAP is working to collect genetic information from more than 10,000 dogs for a variety of studies. Akey told the ‘Prince’ that one part of the project will focus on a “whole-genome sequencing data to study the genetic basis of many different age-related diseases,” while another “will identify dogs with exceptional longevity and try to understand what aspects of their DNA contributed to their long life.” Dog owners can submit their pets to be considered as a part of the Dog Aging Project Pack online. In order to sign up, owners have to fill out a survey that asks for various information, such as their pet’s diet and location. Thistlethwaite explained that the project can control for such differences in dog environments, and emphasized that they’re a positive aspect of the research. “[W]e kind of can ask some really interesting questions because we have that information,” he said. “I think [it] is a very positive thing to have that diversity of environment, and breed background and all of those things. [H]aving that diversity is actually a really good thing.” Hope Perry is a News contributor, as well as the Head Podcast Editor at the ‘Prince’ who has covered USG, University COVID-19 policies, and US politics. She can be reached at hperry@princeton.edu or on Twitter @ hopemperry.

The Daily Princetonian

Friday February 25, 2022

U. astrophysics researchers find new way to detect coronal mass ejections

By Mesonma Alexis Anwasi News Contributor

Stephen Majeski, a graduate student in the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, and Professor Hantao Ji, a professor in the astrophysics department, have made a new discovery that allows them to detect potential coronal mass ejections and learn more about their behaviors to prevent them before they reach Earth. Their research takes a novel, ana-

lytical approach to understanding plasmoid behavior — a tedious yet effective task due to the variance of plasmoid occurrence. A plasmoid is a “cylindrical tube [of plasma] embedded in … a current sheet or magnetic field,” Majeski said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian. “Magnetic field lines, they have tension,” Majeski explained. “Sort of how if you pull a string tight and you flick it, it’s going to bounce

“Coronal mass ejection (CME) May 2013” by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center / CC BY 2.0

back and forth. If you were to twist up a rubber band a bunch and let go, it’d unravel. But it’ll do that kind of slowly.” Magnetic field lines unraveling is a process more commonly referred to as diffusion. When the lines diffuse, they can reach earth and, along with plasma, cause devastating effects on our electrical systems and power sources. “It’s like knowing how big of a bullet was just fired at earth,” Majeski noted about his work. In their research, Majeski and Ji created a model as a way to measure the effects caused by small and large plasmoids alike, as well as the differences between groups of plasmoids. According to Majeski, this is difficult to accomplish, given that every scenario of plasmoids is different because every possible position of the sun from which they could emerge is distinct. Ji used an analogy involving the different heights of human beings to help explain the reason for wanting to be able to calculate the effects of a range of plasmoid sizes — not just a single one. “You have people that are very tall and people that are very short, but the average is just one [height]. Spreading

is also important, not just the average,” he said. He explained that their research makes use of a newly discovered process emulating a faster derivative of a well-known activity called reconnection. “The basic idea of reconnection is you have one pair of scissors with your rope, and you can only cut at one place at a time,” Majeski added. “But we were looking at this version of reconnection called plasmoid reconnection. If there were 20 people working on the same tangle and they all had scissors, they could cut [the magnetic field] up … and glue it back together … It’s a way to speed up the process.” Majeski states that scientists have predicted that cutting with “one pair of scissors” is a process that would take a very long time. But solar flares can occur within just 15 minutes. This means that there is a missing step between our understanding of reconnection in plasmoids and how they actually work. Majeski’s work offers an analytical explanation that helps confirm the concept of plasmoid reconnection by showing that it is feasible that a variety of plasmoids could all be cutting a spot of

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the magnetic field line at the same time. This would mean more hands on deck, and would enable a faster loosening and binding process. Majeski, who was born in Princeton, worked on the project on his own at home after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, meeting instead with Ji on Zoom to discuss the math and analytics of the research. The researchers initially planned to build the experiment and simulate a related problem within the lab, creating a miniature version of these effects. Instead, he was able to construct a model that can be used to understand effects of a spread of plasmoids and not just address a single one, as a set-up experiment or computational analysis would. Ji remarked that the work is “exciting”, yet he stated that he remains “nervous because nobody has done it.” When asked about the possibility that other scientists would find that adjustments to the research would need to be made, Ji laughed and added, “If [the research] doesn’t work, we’ll go back to the drawing board.” Mesonma Alexis Anwasi is a news contributor at the ‘Prince.’ She can be contacted at manwasi@princeton.edu.

Prof. Bassler wins Wolf Prize in Chemistry By Mahya Fazel-Zarandi Staff News Writer

On Feb. 9, Molecular Biology professor and department chair Bonnie Bassler was awarded the 2022 Wolf Prize in Chemistry. The $100,000 award is given annually by the Wolf Foundation in Israel to scientists and artists “for their achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations amongst peoples.” The scientific categories of the prize include agriculture, chemistry, mathematics, medicine, and physics. The chemistry prize is often considered to be the most prestigious in the field, after the Nobel Prize. Bassler, who also serves as an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, was awarded the prize along with Carolyn Bertozzi of Stanford University and Benjamin F. Cravatt III of the Scripps Research Institute. They were honored for their “seminal contributions to understanding the chemistry of cellular communication” and for creating new methods to study these processes. Bassler and Bertozzi are the second and third women ever to receive the chemistry prize since its establishment in 1978. The first was Ada Yonath of the Weizmann Institute of Science, who won in 2006 for her research on the structure and function of ribosomes. Yonath later went on to receive the 2009 Nobel Prize in chemistry. “I’m delighted to receive the Wolf Prize this year,” Bassler said in an interview with The Daily Princetonian. “[It] was a big surprise to me because I’m not a chemist, but I certainly do biology to understand the chemistry that bacteria communicate with. It was a delight to win in chemistry, because it meant that that aspect of our work was being recognized.” Bassler’s team focuses primarily on communication among bacteria and how group behavior evolved from bacteria earlier in our planet’s history. “What my team wants to understand,” she said, “is how bacteria can give us life or kill us, despite being so tiny.”

To do this, Bassler’s team studies how bacterial organisms communicate with each other through chemicals and then act in groups to carry out tasks that they could not accomplish as individual organisms, a communication strategy known as quorum sensing. Quorum sensing occurs when bacteria grow and divide through binary fission: one cell becomes two, which becomes four, which becomes eight. As cells divide, they produce and release small molecules called autoinducers, which are akin to hormones. As the cells grow and divide, more and more molecules are created. When the autoinducer numbers reach a particular threshold, they are detected by bacteria, which sense that there must be neighboring bacterial organisms nearby. In response, the bacteria act in unison to change their gene expression. (Despite this complex event, the bacteria are not truly “aware” of how many cells are around — they simply measure the concentration of these chemicals as a proxy for cell number.) “We know that [quorum sensing] is true now, because we’ve discovered the molecules that are involved,” Bassler said. “In fact, we can make the molecules synthetically and just squirt them on individual cells, and they’ll do all the tricks. They really use the molecules to know if there are other cells around them.” The behaviors of groups of bacteria help determine certain biological traits. One such trait is virulence, defined by biologists as the degree of damage caused by a microbe to the host. A bacterium with a low degree of virulence starts releasing toxins as soon as it enters the human body, which is often an ineffective strategy, because the human immune system will be able to immediately detect the bacterium and destroy it. Alternatively, some bacteria have evolved to wait to release toxins after entering the body, so that they may reproduce and spread undetected. At the right moment, all the bacteria release their toxins together, allowing

them to overpower the host’s immune system. Bassler’s ongoing research on quorum sensing has practical applications in medicine by preventing this second strategy. “If you can make bacteria that can’t talk or can’t hear, employing strategies to interrupt communication, you can have new kinds of medicines,” Bassler said. “And that’s what we’re doing right now.” Despite her success in the field, Bassler’s career path to becoming a molecular biologist was not linear. At the start of her undergraduate studies at the University of California, Davis, Bassler planned to become a veterinarian. Instead, she became interested in Molecular Biology — and specifically bacteria — after joining the lab of Fredric Troy. Near the end of her graduate studies at Johns Hopkins University, Bassler attended a talk by Michael Silverman during which she became “mesmerized” by how certain bacteria with bioluminescent traits act as a group to emit light. Following her transition from graduate student to full-time researcher,

Bassler’s years of working in the field have not been without hurdles. At the start of her career, most people did not believe bacteria could communicate or exhibit group behaviors, considered “higher organism traits.” Once that idea became accepted, others challenged her assertion that bacterial communication could be considered language. “This idea received a lot of skepticism,” Bassler said, “which slowed us down, but eventually others started to recognize our work.” In her interview with the ‘Prince,’ Bassler spoke highly of her research team. “What is most significant to me about winning [the Wolf Prize] is that it is an amazing validation of the creativity, ingenuity, and tenacity of my gang,” Bassler said. “I am very proud of and happy with my group.” Bassler’s students echoed a similar sentiment. “Bonnie is a fantastic mentor. She just cares so much,” said Isabelle Taylor, a postdoctoral fellow at Bassler’s lab. “I think every person I’ve worked with has cared very deeply about the science that

I’ve worked on. But Bonnie doesn’t only care about the science, she cares about the people doing the science as well. That’s apparent in everything she does, and every interaction I have with her. She wants me to be the best person and scientist I possibly can be,” Taylor added. Taylor also reflected on her time spent as a woman in a lab led by a female professor. “I’ve always worked for men and they’ve been great mentors, and I just never thought that there was anything that would be particularly different about working for a woman,” Taylor said. “Now, after having done my postdoc, I think Bonnie’s been able to lead by such a wonderful example in her lab... I feel empowered.” “When she won the prize, the first thing she said to all of us was, this is your prize,” Taylor added. “In fact, she wins prizes pretty frequently. And that’s always what she says.” Mahya Fazel-Zarandi is a staff writer for the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached by email at mahyaf@princeton.edu or on Twitter @MahyaFazel.

VIA FLICKR/CC 2.0

Professor Bonnie Bassler

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The Daily Princetonian

Friday February 25, 2022

‘We’re creating what the world is’: Q&A with Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa ’86 By Katherine Dailey Head News Editor

Maria Ressa ’86 is the CEO of Rappler, a news organization in the Philippines that has been lauded by journalists across the world for its incisive and critical reporting on the corruption of the President Rodrigo Duterte administration. Ressa has endured continued persecution in the Philippines, including currently facing seven counts of cyber libel. In 2021, she was the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. On Saturday, Feb. 19, she was honored at Princeton Alumni Day with the Woodrow Wilson Award, the highest award an undergraduate alumni can receive. She had previously been nearly prevented from arriving to campus to receive the award by a court order in the Philippines. On Feb. 18, the day prior to the ceremony, Ressa took a trip to her former high school, Toms River High School North, in a visit coordinated by the University Office of Communications. A reporter for The Daily Princetonian accompanied her during the visit and sat down with her for an interview in the car ride back to Princeton. This interview has been edited for clarity and concision. The Daily Princetonian: What does it mean to you to speak at your former high school and have the auditorium named after you in a few months? Maria Ressa: It’s surreal — I like going back to Princeton because you walk in the steps of your old self. So this is a much younger, more insecure person whose shoes that I walked into. When I was trying to decide what I was going to do — I was tired of breaking news — I went back for a Ferris [Professor of Journalism position]. So coming back to high school was like stepping in the shoes of my high school self, when I was trying to figure out what to do with my life, and now coming back at 58 is kind of cool. DP: Coming back to Princeton, and the Woodrow Wilson award... what does it mean to you to be back for Alumni Day? MR: The Woodrow Wilson Award is better than a Nobel, for Princeton. But I fought really hard to come because of these two experiences. And [University Spokesperson] Ben [Chang] actually was the one who thought about my high school. I just wanted to come back to Princeton. I wanted to come back, and I really had to fight because we had to file for court approval. I have seven charges, and I knew it was going to go to the last minute. I was supposed to leave on a Wednesday. On the Monday, I’m going, “I don’t know whether I can go or not.” This is where the process is the torture. My friends were asking me, “Are you going?” Princeton was already acting like I was a done deal. And I said, “I don’t have the last approval yet.” And then Wednesday, I get a court order that is a non-denial denial. Immediately, I filed a motion for reconsideration, and then thankfully, they granted it the next day. So it was like you can give up, which is what everyone thought — no one thought I’d be able to come. But we had a Zoom trial. And the Office of the Solicitor General was nasty, but my lawyer argued really well. And then at 5 p.m. — like 10 minutes before five, before the courts close — I get it granted. The flight leaves at like seven; I had an hour to pack and an hour to get to the airport. And I got on the plane. I really wanted to come. But then the other part is I’m still running a company. And we’re 80 days before elections, and we’re rolling out tech. So I was working when I was on the plane. DP: Do you ever take a break? MR: This is a wonderful

break. My life is like a roller coaster. Really, really high highs and really low lows. Nobel Prize, getting jailed, getting arrested, and then losing your freedom ... it could be worse. So I shouldn’t complain. But it was incredible. This is worth it. DP: What inspired you to get started as a journalist all those years ago? MR: I went home and after college, I applied to jobs — most of my classmates became consultants or bankers, and I went and got a fellowship back to the Philippines. And I did that for a year. I never moved back to the States. So I fell into journalism because I wanted to learn about the Philippines. And it was an incredible time to be in the Philippines; it was right after the People Power Revolt. And then slowly, you realize you’re not really formed. Even though we have a senior thesis, we’re still growing up and you don’t know who you are. You live your way into the answers. And being a journalist was the best way that I learned because I was constantly learning. And I love that I can ask anyone questions and they answer. DP: You said in your Nobel speech that hate and fear and misinformation is what’s profitable right now. So how can journalists both work against that and work within that kind of framework and still put out meaningful, quality journalism? MR: First, before I answer: when you are rewarded for bad behavior, when you are rewarded for splintering people apart, for creating “us against them,” what kind of leadership are you creating? That’s the incentive scheme for leadership today. And so how do journalists work in this environment? I

COURTESY OF BEN CHANG

Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa ’86 (right) discusses her work with Head News Editor Katherine Dailey ’24 (left).

redefine what engagement is?” You’ve heard the phrase, “code is opinion.” It’s like a dictator has come and changed the entire world’s incentive scheme — and it is the entire world. It goes all the way to governance. How does your generation think? It’s harder to think; it is harder to find meaning. DP: What message do you think was sent to both fellow journalists and to governments around the world who are suppressing free press by you receiving the Nobel Peace Prize? MR: That we’re not alone. For journalists globally, it really was a lift. For the Philippines and for Rappler, it’s vindication because we’ve been lambasted so much. Really, we’ve weathered a lot of attacks. For me, I wouldn’t call it vindication as much as it was a global acknowledgement that there’s something fundamentally wrong with our informa-

will come out with, “This is how you’re being manipulated this week.” We’re calling it #BreakTheTrend. The fourth layer is law — that’s long been absent, right? The biggest thing wrong with the internet today is the impunity on the internet, the lack of rule of law. So that’s what the fourth layer is, strategic litigation and tactical litigation. Our fact checkers need help. Some of them are already getting subpoenaed. Volunteer lawyers are helping and the lawyers go from the left to the right — from corporate law, the Philippine Bar Association, the integrated bar in the Philippines, to the free legal assistance group. So, that’s how we’re going to try to protect the facts. Will it work? Who knows. Should we try? Of course. Our democracy is at stake. It’s an existential moment. DP: How as your status as

“When you are rewarded for bad behavior, when you are rewarded for splintering people apart, for creating ‘us against them,’ what kind of leadership are you creating? That’s the incentive scheme for leadership today.” - Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa ’86 think the commoditization of news began with the internet, when you began to give rewards for page views. A really good investigative piece doesn’t get read as much as the crappiest sensationalist piece, or the conspiracy theory that you heard and you can bolster it. So here’s the other part: the person is never objective. One person sees the world from where they sit, so all of our views are different, but what makes the journalism objective is the process of a newsroom that makes sure that it is comprehensive and objective — there should be a new word. It’s not objective, but that process is expensive, and that’s the part that’s getting killed by social media’s model. So what does that do? Bad journalism is rewarded. That’s what spreads fastest on social media. The mission of journalism, I think, has been eroded because the incentive schemes are wrong, just like the incentive schemes for leadership. DP: How do you think we can use social media for good? Is there a way to use social media algorithms for good? MR: Yes, you can, but it has to be completely redesigned. Right now, the design of social media rewards the incentives because they make money from it. So it’s, “how long can they keep you scrolling?” instead of “what if you reward explanations, or connections, or real engagement:

tion ecosystem. And then, when I looked and saw that the last time a journalist got it was Norman Angell, and he was in a concentration camp, I was like, “Oh, my God, the parallels are too big.” I had friends calling me, journalists, who were crying because it’s been so hard. Fighting for the facts and for the truth is not just the journalist’s job. You can’t leave us alone. If this matters to you, you need to jump in. I hope that’s the message. DP: How do you stay so hopeful and so driven in the face of such adversity and fear? MR: Because we’re creating what the world is and what it can become now. What we did in the Philippines was form a pyramid, right — four layers of how we’re going to protect the facts. And keep in mind, facts don’t spread on social media. Layer one is fact checkers. So for the first time, 14 or 15 news organizations are working together, doing fact checks that can be repurposed by every news group, and then sharing each other’s content on social media. The second layer, we call it the “mesh.” That’s civil society, NGOs, church, [and] business groups. We have a tech platform cutting through, so the data goes through all four layers. The third layer was patterned after the election integrity partnership in the U.S. but these are research groups — seven research groups that every week

a woman impacted both how you grew as a journalist and how you handle all of this adversity and oppression? MR: I think it’s about how you think of strength. What is strength? It’s the oak versus the bamboo. So the oak looks so sturdy and strong. And then the bamboo looks flimsy and sways with each wind. But when you have a cyclone or a typhoon, [the oak’s] roots aren’t as strong. And so when a good cyclone comes, it’s ripped out. The bamboo has an extensive root system and sways with the wind. And it looks like it’s about to break, but it doesn’t break. And it just goes with the wind and springs right back up. I think about that sometimes as American and Asian. I mean, because the American idea of strength is like standing up in a forceful manner. But in countries like ours, it’s funny, I haven’t been aggressively pushing. I’ve just been claiming our rights and been holding the line. So I’m kind of like bamboo. I think it’s because I’m a woman. I think it’s because I’m Asian. For me as a leader, it’s more about making everyone in your team feel like they are making the same decisions. Like here’s our North Star, and everyone will find their way to it. So to me, it’s about power. So being a woman is part of it. Like people think it’s a position of weakness, [and] it isn’t. It’s actually a great position of strength because empathy

is everything. And I think it goes to these ideas that being a woman is a powerful gender — I think more powerful. DP: Where have you experienced gendered violence [or] gendered discrimination in your work? MR: Online. UNESCO came out with a report called “The Chilling” last year where they did a big data study. I really was relentlessly attacked, like 90 hate messages per hour. You either let it get to you, or you analyze it, and I analyze it; that was my way of coping with it. So it is gendered disinformation at scale, in a way that you cannot humanly deal with. And I’m not alone. Carole Cadwalladr is under extreme attack in the U.K. because she broke the Cambridge Analytica story [and] because she challenges power. So it’s a setback [for] women journalists, women politicians. Madeleine Albright at the [National Democratic Institute] six years ago was pointing out that women politicians in the United States were getting attacked so much that they were opting out. So you’re losing female journalists, you’re losing female politicians, because of social media. Here’s the other part: because of the incentive structures of social media, it brings out the worst of human nature including sexism, racism, misogyny. That is not normal, but it is encouraged. It is like throwing fuel to the fire. So your generation has your work cut out for you. DP: What advice would you have for student journalists right now? MR: Your advantage over the old journalists like me is that you’re digital natives. You have to learn. You have to understand that and look at the best of what it can be and then avoid the worst. Your challenge is going to be to stick to the standards of ethics of journalism, to the mission. Journalists need to learn technology; it needs to go hand in hand. This is one of my biggest challenges even inside Rappler. If news organizations were able to do half of the stuff that [tech platforms] could, we would do it better because at least we’d have standards — we wouldn’t allow the lies. Our greed wouldn’t be as large as the tech platforms. The challenge is there. But you know, crisis is opportunity. Journalists have a great opportunity to rise to this challenge. I hate it when people call us content creators because the key trait of a journalist is courage. The mission is to hold power to account. And power doesn’t just smile when you ask them questions they don’t like. That’s why I think journalists are special. Katherine Dailey is a Head News Editor who often covers breaking news, politics, and University affairs. She can be reached at kdailey@princeton.edu or on Twitter at @kmdailey7.

Friday February 25, 2022

The Daily Princetonian

page 5

Q&A with 2021 Nobel Laureate, chemistry professor David MacMillan By Mahya Fazel-Zarandi Staff News Writer

In 2021, Princeton University had a record-high number of University-affiliated Nobel Prize winners, claiming five of the year’s 13 laureates. Princeton professor David MacMillan shared the Chemistry prize with Benjamin List of the Max Planck Institute for Coal Research in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany, “for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis.” MacMillan sat for an interview with The Daily Princetonian to discuss his upbringing, research, and Princeton influence. The following transcript has been edited for clarity and concision. The Daily Princetonian: Would you please walk me through how you found out that you were awarded the Nobel Prize? What was your immediate reaction? David MacMillan: So basically, I was laying in bed and my phone started buzzing. My wife got annoyed because it woke her up. So she got up and moved my phone away from our bed. [My phone] kept buzzing and buzzing. So I groggily went over and picked it up and looked at it. And there was a message from someone from the Swedish Academy, and it spelled my name wrong. And it said, please call us back. Then there was another one from the other winner Ben List that said, “Dave, wake up, and please call me.” So I called Ben and said, “What’s going on?” He said, “Oh, we just won the Nobel Prize!” And I was like, no, that’s not true. I’ve always had a big group, and they’ve always been pretty mischievous and up to no good. So I was pretty convinced that they were sort of pulling a fast one because we have people who are back in Switzerland and Sweden. So they would absolutely be up to the idea of calling me up at that time in the morning to try and sort of prank me. So I basically told Ben that I didn’t think this was happening. And I said, I’m going back to sleep. But my phone kept buzzing and buzzing. And so I was trying to figure out what was going on. So I went downstairs to our kitchen counter to a laptop and opened up the laptop to see who’d won the chemistry Nobel Prize. I went to the New York Times front page, and there was my picture with Ben List. It was probably, and still is, one of the most surreal moments of my entire life. I mean, it was just the bizarrest, bizarrest feeling. So then I went back upstairs and told my wife, and she didn’t believe me at first. But eventually she got up, and it was pretty fun. We woke up my 16-year-old daughter, which is not easy at six o’clock in the morning, and managed to get her to come downstairs. Then we all did a little dance in the kitchen together. It was pretty funny. DP: You grew up in Scotland and later moved to the U.S. for your graduate studies. What was your upbringing like and what role do you think that upbringing has played in shaping who you are as a scientist today? DM: I mean, Scotland is an amazing place. We were very working class, but I grew up in this culture where it’s all about enjoying yourself and having fun and teasing each other. Also, as a country, [Scotland] has a fantastic education system for being a

working class place. So I got an amazingly good education, but also grew up learning how to be reasonably fast on my feet, telling jokes and other kinds of things. Both of those things were instrumental in enabling me to become, I think, a pretty good scientist, because in sciences, as you know, you have to be able to convey information, and be able to take the audience along with you when you’re trying to get through sometimes some pretty complicated systems or complicated ideas. I certainly learned how to do that in Scotland based upon my education and based upon the culture there. That was absolutely foundational to who I became as a scientist. DP: What sparked your interest in chemistry in the first place? DM: No one I knew had gone to u n iversit y except for my brother, which was a kind of shock to everyone. People tried to convince him not to go but he went. Then when he got a job, he actually made more money than my dad who was a steel worker. So as soon as he started making more money, my family said, alright, you have to go to university. But he went to university to do physics … so I went to do physics. I would go in there, and it was a really cold freezing lecture theater, and when it rained, the rain would actually come through the roof and leak. However, in chemistry, which was an hour later, it was really nice and warm. It was this really nice lecture theater, so it was much more comfortable. At that stage, I started to think, you know, this chemistry thing is actually pretty good. Probably when I was a sophomore, I started doing organic chemistry, and organic chemistry was just fantastic. I mean, that was the first time in my life that I was like, yeah, this is really cool, I really kind of get this, It makes an awful lot of sense to me. So that’s why I basically ended up doing organic chemistry. DP: You were awarded the Nobel Prize for your work on the development of asymmetric organocatalysis. Would you please explain this for an audience that may not be necessarily familiar with the bits and pieces of chemistry? DM: I’ll break that down into two quick parts. The first part is asymmetric and what that means is to make one molecule, but you make one mirror image of that molecule and not the other mirror image. Why that’s important is because there are so many molecules that the structure of them can look like they’re identical to each other. But they can exist as mirror images of each other. You may think, well, why is that important? Why would we care about this? But it turns out that our body and life is made up of one mirror image of molecules combined, and not the other mirror image, which is a sort of interesting question in and of itself, why is life based on one of these mirror images. But the reason why that’s important is, for example, drugs of one mirror image

will interact with you in a positive way. Sometimes the other mirror image can actually interact with you in a negative way, or not do anything, which is also dangerous to put molecules in your body that are not doing anything, and there’s many, many cases of this. So to be able to determine among two molecules which one is which mirror image can take you hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of instruments to figure out which one is which. So sometimes I did this with the undergraduates that I’ve taught in the past. I would give these molecules to them, and say smell one or smell the other — and just by smelling them, they could tell the

pletely recyclable as part of their life cycle. So that was the idea. We actually combined those two ideas. We had the asymmetric part, but we also came up with the organo part, which is using organic molecules to be catalysts instead of using metals. DP: Have you had any challenges throughout your research career? If so, how did you overcome those challenges? DM: Oh, boy, I think in almost all research, you have more challenges than you ever have successes. But the challenges are fine, right? There’s two different types of challenges you can face as an academic. The first one is the project itself. You know, can you make this thing work? And one of the biggest issues I would say is that not everyone knows what the big questions are, and I would argue that most people don’t even know or haven’t thought about what are the best - Nobel Laureate David MacMillan q u e s t i o n s to be going after. So the difference. So your nose can number one challenge is tell the difference, whereas coming up with a question all these instruments can’t. of, “would it be possible to That’s because your body do this?” can recognize one of these The second challenge mirror images. That’s the is once you’ve done someasymmetric part. thing that you think is So being able to make important or interesting, drugs or molecules, where how do you convince the you’re making one of those community that that’s true. mirror images and not the Sometimes it can take you a other is really really impor- year, two years, or even five tant, but then the second years to get people to realthing is what can a catalyst ize, you know, “holy moly, use? Before we came along, that’s really important.” So the central way that you that’s all about how to sort would do catalysis was to of communicate the work use metals. Metals in many such that people really becases are fine, but in many gin to understand what’s other cases are problem- been accomplished. This atic, because they can be whole idea of taking the toxic, they can be non re- audience with you is really cyclable, and [they] can be really important. very, very difficult to work DP: What’s the environwith and very precious in ment of your lab like and ways where they’re very re- how do you make sure you active and so it’s difficult have an innovative and creto actually use them. What ative environment? we came up with was this DM: People think that idea of why don’t we come creativity is an innate skill up with catalysts that are set, and I don’t agree with based upon organic mol- that. I think creativity is ecules instead of metals? something that you can Because as you and I know, train someone to have. It is we are just combinations of just how do you sort of put organic molecules. Human them in a position where beings, animals are just or- you say, okay, go solve this ganic molecules and we ex- problem, and you have, I ist out in the environment don’t know, three, four days just fine in the presence of to think about it. And if air, no problem. Also we’re someone has only got four biodegradable, which is a days to think about it, they weird concept. But as such suddenly become really if you can come up with cat- creative and they start to alysts that are just organic, come up with really good they should be usable in ideas. Human beings are the environment and com- just really good at it. So I

“I went to the New York Times front page, and there was my picture with Ben List. It was probably, and still is, one of the most surreal moments of my entire life. I mean, it was just the bizarrest, bizarrest feeling. ”

think for us, it’s really this idea of pushing ourselves to do things which, at least on paper at the beginning, look effectively impossible. And that’s how you keep that innovation really really high. DP: Do you have any advice for Princeton students who are specifically interested in science on how to be more innovative and how to succeed in the field? DM: The only things I would say are the things I would have said beforehand. Number one, you’ve got to have fun. If you don’t have fun doing something, just don’t do it. When you find that fun component to the research or the career direction you’re taking, it’s no longer a job. It’s a full time hobby that you just love to do. You jump out of your bed in the morning and go do this thing because it’s so cool to go do it. In my lab, we have a great time. We socialize, we go out, we have fun, we do lots of things together. And we make sure we’re enjoying ourselves. Number two is being able to be satisfied at the end of the day with what you’re doing. If you’re doing something, and even if you’re having fun, but you think this is not really meaningful and you don’t think it is really having an impact, then don’t do it. Go find something that has impact. And I would say just keep following your compass toward where you believe that you’re going to have an impact, and you go to bed at night really satisfied. You’re thinking yeah, I did that today. So I think those are the two bits of advice I’d probably give. DP: I think it’s been about three months since you won the Nobel Prize. How does this Nobel life feel like? DM: Oh, it’s completely exhausting. It’s bizarre. It’s strange. It’s fantastic. It’s exhilarating. I think the part which I find slightly strange is people always say to you, are you going to become a different person? And you suddenly realize you’re not really going to become a different person. But you do start to notice that people treat you differently. That’s the really strange thing. And sometimes that’s fun, you know. But when your friends who have known your whole life treat you differently, you have to tell them, hey, cut it out. I think one of the main things is just being sort of grounded through the whole thing. But it is a wild ride. And it has definitely been an adventure, and I’m certainly enjoying it. Mahya Fazel-Zarandi is a staff writer for the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached by email at mahyaf@princeton.edu or on Twitter @MahyaFazel.

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The Daily Princetonian

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Both small town resident and global citizen: A Q&A with Prof. Michael Gordin on Albert Einstein

By Hope Perry

Head Podcast Editor

Michael Gordin is the Rosengarten Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at the University and the Director of the Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts. This spring, Gordin is teaching a class on “The Einstein Era,” centered around “the most renowned, and most recognizable, scientist of the twentieth century,” according to the course description. The Daily Princetonian sat down with Gordin to discuss the history of science as a discipline, Einstein’s legacy at Princeton, and the experience of teaching about the scientist. This interview has been edited for clarity and concision. The Daily Princetonian: Can you talk a little bit about the Einstein course you’re teaching? What does it focus on? Michael Gordin: So the course is History 398. It’s called The Einstein Era. This is the first time it’s being offered. I had offered a freshman seminar about Einstein, I would guess over a decade ago. And I’ve always wanted to make it a more expansive class for more students. And the course is about Einstein … but it’s really technically about the Einstein era. We use Einstein as a vehicle to talk about a bunch of different things. Of course, relativity and quantum theory and the scientific developments are part of that. But the purpose of it is to try and see how this one person’s life can help us understand an extremely turbulent period of world history in which he happened. Because he was so famous and situated in particular places at particular times, he managed to touch upon and influence a large number of different intellectual, political, and scientific movements. DP: So can you talk a little bit about Einstein’s time in

Princeton? We have, for instance, an Einstein House here in Princeton, and there’s the Einstein classroom in Frist. But what really was Einstein’s role in his time here in Princeton specifically? MG: So Einstein had come to Princeton before 1933, which is when he moved here, he came and lectured here in 1921. And he had extensive correspondence with faculty members of Princeton going back from that period until he moved here in ’33. When he became one of the inaugural faculty members at the Institute for Advanced Study, across town, of course — then it didn’t exist because they hadn’t built the building yet — so he was here on Princeton’s campus until that happened. So he first lived in the small rental house on Library Place for a year while waiting to find the actual house. That house that Einstein lived in, is on Mercer Street. He also did quite a bit of political work in the 1930s. He was a touchstone for refugee politics, trying to get a lot of people out of Europe, if he could, and to raise awareness about the dangers of Nazi Germany. And then he stayed here until 1955, when he died. He engaged with some student groups occasionally, especially those related to world peace. He was quite supportive of civil rights for African Americans. That is an important part of the history of Princeton, that it was a town with a large African American community — still is — and he was concerned about civil rights issues which in some ways he analogized to the treatments of Jews in Europe. And then there’s just a lot of other stuff. He was one of the most famous people in the world and probably the most famous American in the 1940s and 1950s. He became an American citizen in 1940. He was both a resident of a rea-

sonably small town and also a global citizen — and all of that was factored in through living on Mercer Street. DP: So another thing that I’m interested in that you touched on before when you were introducing the class was Einstein’s role in the world of physics at large. What about his role in the history of science? Where does he fit into that greater story? I think it’d be great if we could focus it on the on the Princeton period. MG: So the legendary status is usually associated with Bern in 1905. When he’s a patent clerk, he publishes three extremely important papers on Brownian motion, on the photoelectric effect — which is the origins of quantum theory and special relativity — in a very short period of time. A decade later, he publishes his theory of gravity: general relativity. And then in 1933, when he moves here, he’s working on a number of different projects. I’ll just highlight two of them. And they both end not necessarily in the way people usually like to think of Einstein in that he ends up on the losing end of both of these particular developments. So the first of these is quantum theory. Einstein was one of the people who launched the quantum revolution in the sciences in 1905. And he was actively involved in it through the 1920s. He was engaged in an active debate through the mid-30s, and into the late 30s, about what the proper way of understanding the microworld was. Quantum mechanics was a brand new theory from 1925, and it has a disturbingly relaxed attitude towards causal relationships— that is, A causes B in a deterministic way. For Einstein, that was pretty much the definition of science. So trying to understand how this incredibly accurate theory could yet somehow be delinked from what every-

body had assumed was the nature of physics was an important philosophical question, but it was also an important physics question, and he was involved in those debates. Generally speaking, the physics community decided that Einstein’s interpretation was less favorable than the interpretation associated with Niels Bohr from Copenhagen. So by the late 30s, Einstein is seen as having ... “lost” those debates. So that’s thing one. The second thing in the history of science that he was involved with was a decade’s long quest to create a unified field theory, a theory that unified for him gravity, which is what he did in general relativity, with electromagnetism, which is what special relativity was mostly focused on. And he wanted to create a unified field theory that explained both of those phenomena. And it didn’t work for two reasons. [First,] it’s not compatible with quantum theory. Neither is general relativity, but we still use that. The second reason is he thought there were only two fundamental forces of nature, gravity and electromagnetism. That’s what everybody thought then. The world discovered that there are actually two other fundamental forces of nature, the strong force that holds the nucleus together, and the weak force, which is responsible for certain aspects of new atomic decay, and nuclear decay. And without those two forces, there’s no way you can come up with a unified field theory — no one has yet but we’re closer than Einstein was. So his second big project where he devoted most of his time in Princeton to ended up not yielding results. DP: So you just spoke a little bit about how a lot of the class is focused on biographical information — sort of using Einstein as a way to look at this larger period of history in which he lived that was really turbulent. I’m wondering though, what is something that you really particularly enjoy teaching from his life — maybe a story or an anecdote, or a particular concept? MG: So I guess the thing I most enjoyed teaching about it is his very distinctive voice. There are a bunch of things that are unique about Einstein. The fact that he is as famous as he is, is unprecedented, and still pretty unusual. Children today know what his face looks like, that’s kind

of surprising. But he wrote a great deal. We have preserved a lot of his letters, his public writings, obviously, they’re published, but a lot of his private writings, too. And I find actually reading in detail, his, his voice, his uniquely personal voice, which has a particular sense of humor. It’s not always to everyone’s taste, but it is funny sometimes. And it has a very distinctive approach to how he reasons and how he interacts with others. I find discussing with students the human aspect that’s behind this highly mythified figure, that’s the part I really like doing the most. That resonates whether you’re talking about his, his interest in involvement with the Zionist movement, his interest and involvement with physics, civil rights, pacifism, you can always hear that voice in the documents. And that’s one of the things I find most exciting about working with him. DP: What is one thing that you really want to make sure that people know about Einstein or about this class in general? MG: So, I guess two things. The first, which I think everybody who reads the special issue in the ‘Prince’: No, Einstein was not a faculty member of Princeton, he was a faculty member at the Institute for Advanced Study, and those things are different. This is just a little hobbyhorse, because it’s very weird to have to explain this to a lot of people. The second thing is we have about 50 percent of Einstein’s archive in Firestone Library. It’s a copy of half of what exists now in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, but also a bunch of original documents that are just specific to here. And anybody on campus can go and look at those and you can have your firsthand contact with documents or pictures that associate Einstein specifically with this place: him sailing on Lake Carnegie, him walking through campus, and that’s kind of a wonderful opportunity, which people who are on Princeton’s campus have access to that I wish more people knew about. Hope Perry is the Head Podcast Editor at the ‘Prince’ who has covered USG, University COVID-19 policies, and US politics. She can be reached at hperry@princeton. edu or on Twitter @hopemperry.

THE MINI CROSSWORD By Anna Solzhenitsyn | Contributing Constructor

MINI #1

1 6 7 8 9

ACROSS Group of top celebrities Before eleventh but after ninth Metric unit of measurement Concur Where Sally sells sea shells

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DOWN Titan who holds up the sky “Psycho” Actress Janet First paragraph, for short Maneuver a car Number of Stooges

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Friday February 25, 2022

Vecchi’s research on hurricanes centers on the phenomenon of aerosol forcing STORMS Continued from page 2

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in the late-20th century could be attributed to a phenomenon called aerosol forcing. “We think that [this decrease in hurricane activity] is the masking effect of aerosols, tiny particles in the atmosphere that absorb and reflect sunlight and affect cloud formation; in doing so, [this aerosol-forcing] tends to cool the ocean below, dampening hurricane activity,” Vecchi said in a lecture on campus. Vecchi explained that while clean-air regulations instituted in the 1970s have significantly decreased aerosol particle concentrations over the Atlantic Ocean, the concentration there today remains above preindustrial levels, as aerosol particle dissipation in the atmosphere takes decades to occur. However, this concentration is expected to continually drop and eventually reach a state where it does not affect warming or hurricane events. This expectation is supported by data showing that hurricane activity is now much closer to predicted levels, based on greenhouse gas atmospheric concentrations alone. Vecchi also discussed his research’s implications for predicting and modeling hurricanes. “The North Atlantic is one of the most studied [tropical cyclone] basins in the world,” he said. “The hurricanes here are classified by their location, as well as their intensity.” Vecchi explained that major hurricanes cause a disproportionate amount of damage to U.S. coastal regions. With the results of his research, he hopes to help scientists understand when and where to expect these storms to cause significant damage, allowing citizens and governments to prepare accordingly. “We expect, at the end of the 21st century, [the frequency of] major hurricanes making land-fall to increase along the East and Gulf coasts of the United States and in the Caribbean Islands,” he said. “These major hurricanes will also exist much longer over coastal regions before they dissipate, [increasing the

damage to] property and land.” In his paper, Vecchi also explored a historical record of hurricanes in the United States since 1851, with the understanding that this record was negatively affected by the irregular and often inaccurate recording of these storm events. “[Looking at this observed data], the total number of major hurricanes recorded in the Atlantic has shown a large increase, doubling to tripling, which is even higher than the predicted trend,” he said. “[Even so,] these are the just the recorded hurricanes over the 20th century. Our observing system has fundamentally changed over the last century.” Vecchi went on to explain how his team worked to create a more accurate historical record of North Atlantic hurricanes by contrasting satellite-recorded hurricanes with earlier ship track data (which recorded hurricanes based on wind speed) over several time periods in the 20th and early 21st centuries. They found that prior to the satellite-era, “there tends to be an under-sampling in the eastern basin region, where many of these hurricanes happen.” This under-sampling is likely due to the fact that most ship routes during this time period did not run through the eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean, and thus would not have seen or experienced hurricanes in the area. “Based on this [research], we should have much more confidence in the projections that show a future increase in hurricane frequency and severity,” Vecchi said. While no distinct trend in observed hurricane frequency over the last few decades exists, Vecchi finds his research encouraging. He noted that the observed data following the decrease in aerosol pollution indicates that modern climate models are “getting it right” in their predictions of future hurricane activity. Bailey Glenetske is an Assistant News Editor who often covers current University affairs and politics. She can be reached at bailey. glenetske@pr inceton.edu or on Instagram @bailey. glenetske.

The Daily Princetonian

FROM THE

ARCHIVES

OCT. 18, 1933

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The Daily Princetonian

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Friday February 25, 2022

On the importance of taking academic risks and the role of Einstein memorabilia By Clara McWeeny | Staff Writer Each morning, whether I’m sprinting to my 8:30 a.m. Writing Seminar or strolling leisurely to my 10:00 a.m. lecture (I can assure you, the difference this hour-anda-half makes is monumental), I cross through an arch known as “Einstein Walk.” I noticed this when I first moved in, but since then, the fading plaque has become just another peripheral blur on my morning sprints to class. On weekends, when I get the chance to slow down a bit, I find that Einstein’s legacy has left its mark around town: Mercer Street, a mere five minutes away from the center of Princeton’s campus, was home to Albert Einstein from 1935 until his death in 1955. And in 2003, the Princeton Historical Society was the recipient of 65 pieces of Einstein’s furniture. Although never actually a member of the University’s faculty, Einstein called Princeton home for more than 20 years, contributing revolutionary work to the Institute of Advanced Study in an office in Fine Hall provided by the University. These celebrations of Einstein and his time in Princeton are quite visible, displayed on street corners or carved on plaques. The most notable of these commemorations, though, was also probably the most discrete: Einstein found a home among wool sweaters and blue jeans. Starting in the early ’90s, tucked into the corner of Nassau Street and Dohm Alley, Landau’s — a clothing store that boasted “The World’s Most Beautiful Wool” — was once home to the only Albert Einstein Museum in the world. Past Princeton students and residents on the hunt for the perfect autumnal sweater would have stumbled upon various memorabilia and posters depicting the man who called Princeton home for the last years of his life — an important, if not slightly out of place, reminder of Einstein’s impact on both the University and the town. Passed down through three generations of Landau family members, the store was most recently under the ownership of Henry and Robert, the grandsons of Henry Landau, the original owner. Prompted by the filming of “I.Q.” here in town, the brothers established the Einstein museum within their store. “I.Q.,” a 1994 romantic comedy starring Meg Ryan and Tim Robbins, tells the story of a Princeton graduate student who finds love, aided by her uncle, Albert Einstein — highlighting Einstein’s omnipresence in Princeton while also providing hope for lonely grad students everywhere. In hopes of attracting actors and film crew to shop in the store, Landau’s asked their patrons to bring in 50’s-in-

spired clothing: “One lady brought in one Harris Tweed overcoat. So we went to Plan B, which was ‘Bring in your Einstein memorabilia.’ And that was like we opened up the floodgates,” said Robert Landau in a 2020 interview. Until its closing in 2020, the store served as a reminder of Einstein’s legacy, even finding its way into a 2017 Jeopardy Question: “Oddly the only museum devoted to this physicist is tucked inside a woolen shop in Princeton NJ.” The town’s devotion to the great physicist is clear, whether evident through shiny plaques or memorabilia that stood among wool sweaters. Einstein’s legacy spills out beyond the town of Princeton, onto the campus as well. His style of thinking is a kind Princeton seems to celebrate — Frist Campus Center houses the “Einstein Classroom” — preserved through the building’s renovation. And after his death in 1955, the ‘Prince’ published

CLARA MCWEENY / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

two issues dedicated to celebrating his life. In Princeton, whether you’re dashing to French class or searching for that perfect autumnal sweater, Einstein is by your side. In May of 1921, Einstein took the stage in McCosh 50 with the goal of explaining the theory of relative motion to 400 onlookers (perhaps this fact will serve as inspiration the next time you’re struggling through an Economics exam in McCosh — Einstein could have sat right where you are sitting now). Just hours earlier, the University had given Einstein an honorary degree. He spoke in German, though the speech was then translated into English and delivered again orally by Princeton physics professor Edwin Adams. The speech was the first in a five part series of “Stafford Little Lectures.” Einstein would deliver these lectures across five consecutive days. By his third lecture, though, as his theories became more and more complex, the once vast crowd began to dwindle. His third lecture was held in a small classroom, a de-

parture from McCosh 50, Princeton’s largest lecture hall. As a prospective English major, whose goal (admittedly) is to make it through Princeton without ever coming near a problem set, I’m certain I, too, would’ve fled the room at the first mention of inertia. Perhaps surprisingly, though, even some of Einstein’s (non-English major) colleagues would’ve fled with me: by the time he gave these lectures in Princeton, much of his most famous work was behind him. As his work progressed and reached higher levels, his theories began to be incomprehensible even to his colleagues and peers, let alone a 400-person audience of non-mathematicians. Still, Einstein’s ambitions helped earn him the plaques and commemorations sprinkled throughout the campus and town — it was his unwillingness to conform to standard ideas of thinking that helped open the door to his success. As someone who feels most at home — though also most confused — when surrounded by fantastical worlds, abstract narrative theory, and metaphysical ponderings, there’s something remarkable about the nearincomprehensibility of Einstein’s work. At Princeton, it often seems like complete understanding is the ultimate goal, whether you’re tackling an economics problem set or struggling through a paper on Plato — a drive towards closure and comprehension. I worry when my paper doesn’t have a clear thesis, or when I don’t fully understand the material I’m writing on. These are legitimate concerns, and ones that I should probably pay closer attention to, according to my Writing Seminar professor. Still, though, as I’ve begun to notice the reminders of Einstein and his work here that are sprinkled throughout town and campus, I take comfort in the fact that even he reached past the bounds of lucidity, unafraid to make leaps in the name of high-level theory. To be clear, this is not to compare my muddled works to that of Einstein (I’m not certain he would be entirely thrilled with my no-problem-set approach to Princeton), but I do think there’s something to be said about embracing slightly arcane methods of thinking. May the plaques, houses, and posters that stood among wool sweaters celebrating Einstein serve as reminders of the importance of taking academic chances, even if it means that your R1 is missing a fully coherent thesis — who knows, maybe you’re on your way to the next theory of general relativity. Clara McWeeny is a Staff Writer for The Prospect at the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at claramcweeny@princeton.edu, or on social media @claramcweeny.

The path to science: In the voices of ‘Prince’ staffers How did you become interested in science and technology? In my country, we used to have a really popular weekly science magazine for kids that was called “Bilim Çocuk,” of which I was an avid reader. It featured stories of scientists from various backgrounds and their journeys to make some of the most groundbreaking discoveries happen (and themed trading cards such as geological shapes, and stars!) Afterwards, among my high school classes, the one I enjoyed the most became physics. - Inci Karaaslan (Head Cartoon Editor, Physics) I actually came into Princeton under a social science concentration, but since then I wanted to be able to someday evaluate phenomena of the brain in a more quantitative/analytical way. I feel that under neuroscience you really get to bridge the gap between the social sciences (psychology, sociology) and the more STEM-centric fields (molecular biology, physics, and chemistry). - Angel Kuo (Associate Photo Editor, Neuroscience) I have always preferred the quantitative aspects of science to the more subjective nature of the humanities. - Owen Travis (Head Puzzles Editor, Computer Science) My organic chemistry class in freshman year convinced me to concentrate in chemistry. There was so much order in the reactions that we studied in that class, and I loved being able to predict them and think about the mechanisms by which certain molecules that are a part of our everyday lives, including medicines, were made. - Sandeep Mangat (Associate News Editor, Chemistry) I find great interest in learning about the ways that different biochemical processes are connected and the science behind dis-

eases. The way that billions, if not trillions, of processes occur simultaneously every second of every day to keep us alive and well. I believe that science is one of many fields that serves the community, a very important part of one’s career choice. - Senna Aldoubosh (Assistant Podcast Editor, Molecular Biology) Science, whether fundamental or applied, allows me to connect with my innate curiosity about how things work and my drive to contribute to solutions to global problems. I first got exposed to STEM through exploring the natural world outside my own home, and that quickly translated into a deep interest in the molecular and cellular world and ways we might be able to tackle human health issues through engineering. - Meryl Liu (Assistant Instagram Editor, Chemical and Biological Engineering) I fell in love with biology freshman year of high school because of the passion my teacher displayed and encouraged her students [to share]. Topics like DNA, protein folding, and anatomy struck my interest, and I decided to apply to Princeton as a student in Molecular Biology (MOL). I’ve since made the shift to Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) after taking EEB 211, and my love for biology has developed immensely since taking classes in that department. Katherine Sullivan and her lab staff, including Mary and Heather have imparted on me a thrill for the science that I am proud to say I’m a part of. - Andrew Somerville (Head News Editor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) I’ve always loved solving mysteries and exercising my creative side, and computer science lets me do both of those things on the daily. - Anika Maskara (Head Web Design Editor, Computer Science)

2022 marks the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein receiving his Nobel Prize, awarded for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect. Even when considered separately from Einstein’s other contributions, the discovery was a revolution in science (launching quantum mechanics) and in technology (laying the groundwork for solar cells, lasers and even the internet). We asked STEM majors at the ‘Prince’ what drew them to the study of science and for their predictions of the next revolutions in science and technology.

What are the biggest discoveries and next frontiers in science that excite you? The most recent one that a lot of people know of is, of course, the successful launch of the James Webb Space Telescope. One of the other discoveries I was excited about was Fermilab’s possible evidence of a new particle through using muons and finding a significant deviation from the Standard Model with the muon G-2 experiment. - Inci Karaaslan (Head Cartoon Editor, Physics) Some of the scientific advances I’ve been hearing about a lot lately are related to the exploration of Mars, which I’ve always been extremely interested in. Exploration of the unknown is what makes space travel, and science in general, so fascinating to me. - Spencer Bauman (Associate Satire Editor, Chemical and Biological Engineering) I’m really excited by all the present and upcoming advances in quantum computing. There are so many problems out there that today’s fastest supercomputers would take years to solve but that quantum computers could solve nearly instantaneously. That level of computing power will revolutionize so many industries, and it’s exciting to be part of the field as that happens. - Anika Maskara (Head Web Design and Development Editor, Computer Science) I’m excited about what advancements in chemistry hold for the future of drug development — figuring out ways to optimize biochemical reactions in the lab can allow scientists

to design drugs that work more efficiently in the body. This even holds promise for the development of drugs tailored to individual patients. - Sandeep Mangat (Associate News Editor, Chemistry) I’m really excited by the advances in microbiome research and immunotherapy. I’m also excited to see the new developments of mRNA technology and how it will treat a variety of viruses affecting many lives today. - Senna Aldoubosh (Assistant Podcast Editor, Molecular Biology) As someone interested in bioengineering, I’m super excited to see the development of new techniques such as optogenetics that would both allow us to study biological systems at a deeper level and translate to potential therapies for neurodegenerative and optical diseases. I’m also interested in the prospect of “big data” and the “omics” — developing computational tools that would allow us to make inferences about genetics and the proteome at a level never seen before. - Meryl Liu (Assistant Instagram Editor, Chemical and Biological Engineering) It’s hard to say what I’m excited for because the excitement of discovery comes from the unexpectedness of it. As a whole, I think I’m just excited to see what new things we find everyday and how we can use these discoveries in a practical way in our everyday lives. - Angel Kuo (Associate Photo Editor, Neuroscience)

Compiled by Community Opinion Editor Rohit A. Narayanan (Electrical and Computer Engineering).

The Daily Princetonian

Friday February 25, 2022

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A room in the back of a sweater store: Making space for commemorating Einstein in town By Rachel Posner and Sejal Goud

Senior Sports Writer and Features Staff Writer

Behind every great figure is a museum to preserve their legacy. The Elvis Presley Museum in Memphis. The Thomas Edison Center in North Jersey. The Albert Einstein Museum in Princeton. Well, not exactly. Nobel Prize-winning physicist Albert Einstein grew up in Germany, ultimately immigrating to Princeton, N.J. in 1933. He became an integral part of the town: Einstein and his family bought a house on Mercer Street, and he worked at the Institute for Advanced Study until his passing in 1955. Einstein also regularly lectured at Princeton University — you may even hear student tour guides referencing his frequent lecture hall in what used to be Palmer Physical Laboratory (now home to the Frist Campus Center). Although Einstein was revered during his life and continues to be long after his death, there was no standing museum in North America dedicated to his work and impact. That is, until a small store in Princeton accepted the charge. The Landau family moved their wool clothing business to Princeton in 1955, after union activity in Brooklyn, N.Y. proved difficult to manage. They landed in a quaint storefront on Nassau Street. In the early 1970s, Robert and Henry Landau, after returning from college, joined their parents in the family business. As Robert Landau put it, their store, Landau, has grown into a Princeton “institution.” In the small town of Princeton, the Landaus had the opportunity to interact with many local residents over the years, including those intimately acquainted with Albert Einstein himself. Although Einstein died the year of the Landau store opening, the Landaus grew acquainted with Einstein’s secretary who documented some of his work posthumously. “There’s this sort of very informal and very casual link between us and Einstein,” Landau said. This link solidified in the late 1990s when a movie about Einstein, “I.Q.,” began filming in Princeton. In a bid to take advantage of the extra traffic from the movie filming, the Landaus ran ads in local newspapers asking cus-

tomers to bring era-appropriate clothing purchased from Landau that could be used in the movie’s filming. “It was a bust,” said Landau, referring to both the movie and the attempted business project. Undeterred, the Landaus pivoted to a different publicity tactic in an effort to drum up business. “We decided we would try to ask people to bring in their Einstein personal memorabilia. And that was like we opened the dam,” Landau added. Princeton residents and visitors brought anything and everything Einstein. Items ranged from a wax statue of Einstein made by his daughter to an Einstein stamp collection. Many of these were never before seen. “People just kept bringing stuff and bringing stuff and bringing stuff. And it was fascinating stuff,” Landau said. The store dedicated one window to display their evergrowing Einstein collection. Soon, the display drew national attention. “The exhibit was sort of overwhelming and did what we had hoped it would do, which was attract a lot of attention and coverage, pretty much from the East Coast all the way to Los Angeles,” Landau said. The small display soon garnered the attention of the Princeton Historical Society which, according to Landau, “said they had never seen a reaction to an exhibit like they had seen to our exhibit.” The Historical Society wanted to have a professionally curated Einstein exhibit with some of the materials that the Landau store had procured. This new exhibit, however, was eventually disassembled, leaving another void in Princeton’s Einstein scene. Landau once again answered the call. At the suggestion of Gillett Griffin, curator emeritus at the Princeton University Art Museum, and with funding from Stanley Levy ’47, the Landaus took advantage of the store’s unique six corner layout. For his part, Griffin lent them some of the Einstein memorabilia he had bought at the auction after the scientist’s death — objects such as Einstein’s pipe and the

silver compass he was gifted by his mother, which reportedly played a crucial role in his early interest in science. With this support, the Landaus ultimately relaunched the exhibit in the form of a dorm-sized “mini museum” that would come to define the store. “It became part of us,” Landau said. “I know that sounds silly, but it became more than a marketing tool.” Landau noted that the museum was cherished by individuals ranging from visiting families to renowned mathematician John F. Nash — another famed Princeton-affiliated Nobel laureate — as a space to “spend time with Einstein.” With the closure of Landau upon its owners’ retirement in 2020, the town was once again left without a museum dedicated to Einstein. However, efforts to establish a new Princeton Einstein Museum of Science (PEMS) are underway. Having spent her youth in the Princeton area, PEMS founder Elizabeth Romanaux fondly recalls stories shared by her father and other community members who shared the town with Einstein. “In my mind’s eye, I can still see Einstein in town, see him walking around doing whatever,” Romanaux said. “But I feel like, as a town, we’re sort of losing that close connection as my parents’ generation dies off. My generation, we’re, you know, [sharing] secondhand stories about Einstein.” With extensive experience in the museum industry and a deep passion for science education honed through her time at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J., Romanaux said she hopes to showcase Einstein as “so much more than a scientist.” “He was a humanitarian. He was an anti-racist,” she continued, in reference to his friendship with Marian Anderson and visit to HBCU Lincoln University. “So he was publicly demonstrating the way to act, I think,” Romanaux said. “And I think these days, people could use a little dose of seeing how the most brilliant man in the world treated other people. It’s an important role model for people.” In order to communicate

these aspects of Einstein’s persona, PEMS is slated to include an entrance gallery that will provide historical context while also encouraging guests to visit other cultural sites including the Marian Anderson Museum in Philadelphia, P.A. and the Paul Robeson House in Princeton, N.J. The museum will also serve as an accessible education center for local students while creating a community gathering point with facilities aimed at encouraging visitors to explore the greater Princeton area. Though PEMS will undoubtedly remain centered around Einstein, its approach differs from that of the Landau mini museum. Rather than displaying historical artifacts, its goal of interactivity will be expressed through features that make the physicist’s life work tangible, such as a “walk-in video immersion theater” and problemsolving exhibit. “I think that’s another thing we could really use in this country, is having people understand how to think through a problem. So in this little museum, I’m trying to cram in a lot of stuff,” Romanaux explained. The museum is expected to take shape at 138 Nassau Street in the space recently occupied by Triumph Brewing Company, which is set to move to a new location in Palmer Square. “There are some Einstein museums in Europe that put me off because they’re very elaborate. And one thing Einstein was not was an elaborate, pretentious person. He was not by any means modest. But he did keep things down to the fundamentals,” said PEMS advocate Dr. James Peebles GS ’62, who is the Albert Einstein Professor of Science, Emeritus, and received the Nobel Prize in physics in 2019. For Peebles, the Triumph Brewery space is “right and appropriate” as the venue for a museum to commemorate Einstein. “It’s a modest space for a person who — although he was by no means modest — lived a sensible, compact life,” Peebles said. “It’ll be fun.” As part of a shared vision between Romanaux and University Chair of the Department of Art and Archaeology Rachael DeLue, the unique peaked

roof of the building will enable rotating displays from celebrated painters and students alike with the purpose of interpreting Einstein’s work as art, “so that people who sort of feel like they don’t like science and don’t get it, at least come to perhaps a creative understanding of what we’re talking about,” Romanaux said. In an interview with the ‘Prince,’ Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist and James S. McDonell Distinguished University Professor in Physics Joseph Taylor shared his support for PEMS. As a longtime friend of Romanaux, whom he calls “the leading light of the effort,” Taylor said he encouraged her to take action on what he believes is an oversight of the town. With the support of Princeton Mayor Mark Freda and many others in the town and the University, PEMS’s mission of continuing to share Einstein with the world is nearing reality. For Romanaux, this effort to memorialize Einstein is in honor of both his work as a physicist and his legacy as a beloved town resident. “I just love the fact that he was so accessible, so interested in other people, and so willing to share himself with people just as a townsperson,” she said. For Landau, this is also a project that can unify a community. According to him, even when Einstein’s legacy in Princeton was relegated to the back corner of the wool store, people came. “Everybody was basically interested in it … it went from 5-year-old kids to 98-year-old people. And everybody in between,” Landau said. “It seemed like everybody knew him. Everybody recognized him. And I guess that’s why 70 years after he died we’re still talking about him.” Rachel Posner is a senior writer for the ‘Prince’ sports section who typically covers sports features. She is also a contributing writer for the Features section. She can be reached at rposner@princeton.edu. Sejal Goud is a Features staff writer for the ‘prince.’ She can be reached at sejalgoud@princeton.edu.

ZOE BERMAN / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

‘Einstein’s Table’ — a kinetic sculpture found outside the Lewis Center for the Arts.

The Daily Princetonian

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Friday February 25, 2022

The truth behind Einstein ‘folklore’

COURTESY OF ETHAN STERENFELD / PRINCETON ALUMNI WEEKLY

Joe Schein ’37 is the University’s oldest living alum. With the help of his voice, we tell the story of origins of Jewish student life on campus.

Uncovering the origins of Jewish community on campus By Alex Graja, Julie Levey, and Ellen Battaglia Head News Editor, Assistant Features Editor, and Features Writer

On Jan. 13, 1947, an article ran on the front page of The Daily Princetonian entitled “Einstein Attends First Campus Jewish Service.” It described a Friday night of “discussions” led by Professor Albert Einstein — “the first opportunity for students of the Hebrew faith to worship on Campus.” Thanks to this article, Einstein became known as one of the founders of Jewish student life on Princeton’s campus. Abby Klionsky ’14, who wrote her thesis on Jewish student life on campus in the 20th century, remembered: “The sort of story that I heard and that I’d adopted as the narrative — until I started doing my thesis research and doing a bit of digging — was that Jewish student life began with Einstein in the 40s. That was what the folklore was.” But the folklore was wrong. As Klionsky would soon discover in her thesis research, Jewish student life began on campus three decades prior to the publication of that article in 1947. It began with students such as Marcus Lester Aaron class of 1920 and developed with the efforts of students like Dr. Joseph Schein ’37, the oldest living Princetonian. Contrary to the widely accepted narrative, the story of the creation of a Jewish community is not Einstein’s. Here, we tell the story of these students, of their repeated efforts to create a religious and social community on campus despite small numbers and a continued lack of institutional support. This is a story about the challenges of creating institutional memory when generations of students strive to make change for four years — and then graduate. And, this is a story about Klionsky and the process of uncovering a history over 100 years in the making.

*** During her sophomore year, Abby Klionsky received an email from a friend whose grandmother had discovered a box of letters from her father, the friend’s greatgrandfather, to his family. The letters’ contents described his life when he was a student at Princeton in the late 1910s, specifically his experiences as a Jewish student during that time. Klionsky’s friend was curious whether the Center for Jewish Life (CJL) might be interested in the letters. As a prospective history major, Klionsky was interested in the letters herself. Recalling her reaction to that email, Klionsky said, “How many people get to do history research on things that have literally not seen the light of day in 100 years?”

ty’s first-year class — the highest number of Jewish students in one class the University had recorded up until that point. The roughly 50 Jewish students on campus in 1915 was significant enough for the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) to send Rabbi Harry K. Jacobs to make monthly visits from Trenton to meet with Jewish students on campus. Despite Rabbi Jacobs and the UAHC’s efforts, Aaron’s letters revealed he was unaware of the meetings of Jewish students that occurred during his early years at Princeton. By the fall of 1919, Aaron began to organize his own meetings of Jewish students for worship and other religious purposes. What began as weekly gatherings of a few Jewish students over the winter of 1919 be-

not been an opportunity to substitute Jewish religious services for chapel service attendance — they were simply exempt from the requirement. Following the official University recognition of the JSC, Jewish students were now required to attend services at either the JSC or in the Chapel rather than be excused from services. Just as these new developments began to strengthen Jewish community on campus, the University presented a new challenge. According to Klionsky’s research and other sources, in 1924, Princeton set an under-the-table Jewish quota for admission at roughly three percent. After the quota, Jewish enrollment at Princeton fell dramatically. Klionsky also found in her research that notices for Jewish services in the

“Institutional memory is short. One generation of students has no idea what the previous generation of students did, or tried to do, or was on the verge of organizing.” - Abby Klionsky ’14, whose senior thesis centered the origins of Jewish student life at Princeton The great-grandfather’s name was Marcus Lester Aaron ’20. His letters have since been donated to the University archives and are available to the public. Although Aaron’s letters touched on Jewish student life at Princeton from 1915-1920, with him, a thesis topic spanning decades was born. In “In the Tiger’s Lair: The Development of Jewish Student Life at Princeton University, 1915-1972,” Klionsky details a story of Jewish student life from its beginnings in the fall of 1915. According to her research, that September, 19 Jewish students enrolled in the Universi-

came the official University Jewish Student Congregation (JSC) in March 1921. University recognition of the JSC mainly had an impact on one crucial aspect of Princeton student life: the chapel requirement. A fixture on campus from 1746-1964, chapel service required Princeton undergraduates to participate in non-denominational Christian services in the Chapel on campus. If the student did not attend regularly, they would receive punishments as grave as suspension. Prior to 1921, there had

‘Prince’ fell, too: one notice per semester in the 1923–1924 academic year, then no notice published for three years after October 1925, and then the next notice another three years after that. *** Despite the lack of advertisement, Jewish services continued — in part because they still fulfilled the necessary chapel attendance required of Jewish freshmen and sophomores. By the mid1930s, information about Jewish services became more regular again in the pages of the ‘Prince.’

However, knowledge about Jewish services on campus was still scarce. When Joseph Schein matriculated to Princeton in 1933, he was unaware of the efforts of former Jewish students to organize these services. Today, on Feb. 23 — his 107th birthday — Schein is the oldest living Princeton alum. Back in 1933 when he began his studies at the University, he was one of just 11 Jewish undergraduates. Rather than by fellow Jewish students, Schein was invited to get involved in Jewish services by Dean of the College Christian Gauss — whom he met as the result of a series of events initiated by a practical joke. “I was registered in the ROTC as a prank by a good friend of mine,” recalled Schein. He enlisted, but eventually the aspiring doctor realized he would not be able to complete all of his premedical requirements if he were to continue with the ROTC. Schein contacted Gauss to get assistance leaving the ROTC. Through the difficult release process, Schein and Gauss developed a close relationship, often conversing in the Joseph Henry House. Schein’s son, Dr. Oliver Schein ’76, explained that the two also got to know each other through language classes, as Dean Gauss served as chairman of the Department of Modern Languages. “My dad was unusual in that he was interested in eventually becoming a physician, but he majored in romance languages — and basically spent [his undergraduate years] not so much in literature, but in history,” Oliver Schein reflected. “And I think it was through those kinds of courses that he met Dean Gauss.” “We became fast friends to the point that long after I graduated I would come to Princeton and visit him,” the elder Schein reflected. During one of their conversations, the topic of compulsory chapel came up. “‘Joseph, don’t

Friday February 25, 2022

The Daily Princetonian

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all,” he remembered. “I believe he had a flashlight. The fantasy that it was a candle is stronger than the knowledge that it was a flashlight.” ***

COURTESY OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

Einstein’s meeting with Jewish student in 1947.

you think it would be a good idea for the Jewish people to have their own chapel?’” Schein remembers Gauss asking him. Presumably, neither knew anything of the efforts of the JSC. “I was Jewish, I was proud of being Jewish. I was not Orthdox, I was not practicing,” Schein said. Although Schein was not observant, he was nonetheless excited about Gauss’ proposal. “I was very proud to have been picked out by him [Dean Gauss] to [organize the services].” For Klionsky, Schein and Gauss’s seeming lack of knowledge about the groundwork laid for them by Aaron and the JSC is unsurprising. “Institutional memory is short,” Klionsky said. “One generation of students has no idea what the previous generation of students did, or tried to do, or was on the verge of organizing.” For his part, Schein organized a Friday night Jewish chapel service, which by no means assumed the form of a traditional Kabbalat Shabbat (Friday evening) service. “My preaching was one page, with one Hebrew phrase,” Schein recalled. This Hebrew phrase was a central prayer in Judaism, the Sh’ma. “Sh’ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad [Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is one],” recited Schein, recalling the services he led. Soon enough, Schein — and his Friday night services — had become very popular on campus, for non-Jews as well as practicing students. By attending Jewish services, undergraduates got an exemption from attending Sunday morning chapel and could go away for the weekend. “Princeton back then looked very different,” Oliver Schein said, “and all the [wealthy students] would get into their cars and go away for the weekend. But they couldn’t go away for the whole weekend because they had to be back Sunday morning.” According to Schein himself, “All I had to do was sign a piece of paper that said they attended.” Eventually, though, Schein looked for ways to make Jewish services more engaging and communal. “I wanted it to be more than just a way for people to fulfill their requirements,” he said. Klionsky’s research showed that many Jewish students wanted services to be more than an attendance-check as well. “I think in the early

days there was the surface level reason [to have Jewish services], which was that [they] shouldn’t have to go to the Christian services,” Klionsky said. “And then there was this sort of shadow level, tacit need for support, to have this experience with other people whose backgrounds are like [theirs] and a chance to just feel comfortable and free.” After all, for these Jewish students, anti-Semitism remained a pervasive threat. But even decades

to time, [because] that would certainly draw a crowd.” Einstein complied, and Schein began meeting Einstein at his house and spending an hour or so with him before the men strolled together to the Jewish service at Murray-Dodge. “That interaction, it was very public,” Schein said. “People could see me walking with him on Nassau Street.” Schein recalled more private moments with Einstein, too.

Schein’s memory of the candle is a small example of a larger tendency to romanticize Einstein’s time at Princeton, particularly in the context of early Jewish student life. As a result of the efforts of Schein and Flexner, Einstein was indeed present at some Jewish services on campus beginning in the 1930s. But Klionsky’s historical research clarified that Einstein did not have a formal role in the campus Jewish community. “My sense from what people have written and said in interviews is really just about like, he would attend sometimes, and he would speak sometimes, but not as an organizing function,” she said. “[The] narrative was that Jewish student life began with Einstein in the ’4 0s,” Klionsky continued. “And it fell apart really quickly and really easily. Like I didn’t even have to pull the string very far to find way more than that.” This narrative identified by Klionsky is not a mere consequence of a fond remembrance of the past. It existed, too, among community members and within campus reporting during Einstein’s time at Princeton.

“[The] narrative was that Jewish student life began with Einstein in the 40s... and it fell apart really quickly and really easily. I didn’t even have to pull the string very far to find way more than that.” - Abby Klionsky ’14 later, when Klionsky worked to interview the Jewish male alumni of this period, including Schein, she found that many students were unwilling to self-identity as victims of antisemitism. “I very explicitly asked every single person I interviewed, ‘What was your experience of antisemitism on campus?’” Klionsky said. “Almost without fail, the men I interviewed said, ‘It was absolutely there. And it didn’t happen to me.’” In an effort to bolster a sense of Jewish community on campus, Schein began conversing with Abraham Flexner, who was the first director of the Institute for Advanced Studies, located in Princeton. “I had become a protégé of [Flexner’s],” recounted Schein. With the rise of Hitler’s regime abroad, Flexner worked to bring over European scientists to the Institute for Advanced Studies who, had they remained in Europe, would have likely been persecuted by Nazis. Among this group of scientists was Albert Einstein, who came to Princeton in October of 1933 — just one year after Schein began his undergraduate studies at Princeton. “He simply introduced me to him,” remembered Schein, “Flexner, being Einstein’s boss, and me, being a protégé of Flexner.” Schein began to talk to Einstein about his Jewish services on campus. “I went to see Einstein to ask him whether he would join me from time

“I remember Einstein getting down on his knees to look for a book and he couldn’t see that well,” he said, “and what I remember is him holding a candle because his white hair looked very yellow, kind of golden [in the] light.” Schein — who, throughout his 70-year medical career, practiced first as a pathologist before transitioning to a career in psychiatry — understands the brain’s tendency to romanticize memories. “In my memory, it’s interesting, I remember it as a candle, but I don’t believe that to be true at

The aforementioned 1947 front page ‘Prince’ article tells readers in its headline that Einstein attended the “first campus Jewish service.” The article explains that the service was “highlighted by the attendance of Professor Albert Einstein,” and it asserts that the service “marked the first opportunity for students of the Hebrew faith to worship on the campus.” As Klionsky’s research on the JSC and other elements of early Jewish student life demonstrated, the 1947 gathering was far from Princeton’s first Jewish service on cam-

pus. Nor was it the first time that Einstein had addressed Jewish students: Klionsky notes in her thesis that there exist records of similar forums taking place between Einstein and Jewish students in both 1937 and 1943. “I think it’s a compelling story, right?” Klionsky said of the misleading coverage of the 1947 service. “Einstein was there, the ‘Prince’ announced that he was at the founding, there it is.” “I don’t think the ‘Prince’ was trying to lie. I think they didn’t know, ” she continued. “But it’s a compelling story. And if it’s in print, you know, we rely on being able to rely on what’s in print.” For Klionsky, the misattribution of Jewish student community building to Einstein partially stems from the lack of an institutional apparatus to consistently support Jewish students throughout the early-to-mid 20th century. She compared her experience as a Jewish student on campus, particularly with the Center for Jewish Life (which opened its doors in 1993), with these early decades. “There are now professional staff [at the Center for Jewish Life] who have been there a long time and they hold some of that responsibility and students don’t have to. And so things can continue along a progression in a way that, previously, it was kind of like, ‘start, stop, start, stop, start, stop’, because there was nobody who was consistent throughout that time.” With the framework for institutional memory now in place — and Shein’s own willingness to share his memories — there is a unique opportunity to immortalize a more truthful history of Jewish life on campus. This story has been told before, yet prior to Klionsky’s research, not by the people that actually experienced it: the allure of celebrity largely obscured the truth and credit was misattributed to Einstein. But, as an 107-yearold alum knew and a former Princeton history student discovered, this was not his story. Alex Gjaja is the a Head Features Editor for The Daily Princetonian. She can be reached at agjaja@princeton.edu. Julie Levey is an Assistant Features Editor for The Daily Princetonian. She can be reached at jlevey@princeton.edu. Ellen Battaglia is a Features Staff Writer for The Daily Princetonian. She can be reached at eb23@princeton.edu.

“PHOTO OF ALBERT EINSTEIN IN PRINCETON, NJ, SOON AFTER HE FLED GERMANY” BY ACME NEWSPICTURES, INC. /CC0

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The Daily Princetonian

Friday February 25, 2022

Research in the Orange Bubble

By Angel Kuo

Associate Photo Editor

Candace Do

Head Photo Editor

Timothy Park

Staff Photographer

Room 302 in the Frist Campus Center is where Albert Einstein taught classes when the campus center was formerly the Palmer Physical Laboratory. Today, the room continues to be used as a classroom. Shown here is ART 102: An Introduction to the History of Architecture, taught by Professors Basile Baudez (shown) and Samuel Holzman. Little has changed in the classroom since Einstein taught here; the old wooden seats and layout of the classroom remain, though the room has new audio-visual technology.

In 1929, Princeton’s first chemistry laboratory was constructed. Over eight decades later, the Princeton Department of Chemistry opened a new building to cultivate information that changes the world and the minds of the students. From there, the new Frick Chemistry Laboratory was born. The design of the atrium brings natural light into shared spaces both inside and outside the lab.

Students work on a fluids experiment in MAE 224: Integrated Engineering Science Laboratory. Many School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) classes, including MAE 224, take place in the Engineering Quadrangle, nicknamed the E-Quad. Though SEAS was founded in 1921 and originally housed in Green Hall, the E-Quad was not built until 1962 when a need to expand arose.

Friday February 25, 2022

The Daily Princetonian

page 13

Both the Lewis Thomas Laboratory and the Schultz Laboratory were designed by Robert Venturi ’47 *50 in the 1970s. The Lewis Thomas Laboratory was the first to be built in the late 1970s, a time when molecular biology began to gain traction and importance within academia as a discipline. Just a few years prior, the University, missing the growing trend of molecular biology, had allowed top members of the department to leave. Today, both buildings flank McCosh Walk, the first of the STEM buildings that students encounter as they make their way to classes.

The math and physics department have always been close not just in an academic sense, but also a physical one. The original Fine Hall (Department of Mathematics) and the Palmer Physical Laboratory are today more commonly known to us as Frist Campus Center and the adjoined Jones Hall. In the 1960s, the two departments were relocated to a corner of campus in which Fine Hall, Jadwin Hall (not pictured), the Lewis Library, and the Engineering Library are all connected. While these spaces are primarily known for housing the heart of much of Princeton’s STEM research, they also offer spaces for students to study, or even join faculty for afternoon tea everyday at 3:30 p.m. in the Fine Hall Lounge.

Friday February 25, 2022

Opinion

page 14

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

Take down the prerequisites guarding Einstein’s work Rohit A. Narayanan

Community Opinion Editor

A

s we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s second Nobel prize, it’s worth reflecting on the fact that most students will never study Einstein’s physics or their applications in a wide variety of engineering fields. Princeton, in Einstein’s time, was the place for science in the United States. In order to reclaim that mantle, we have

to give all students a broader foundation in science and technology. That starts by breaking down the barriers of excessive prerequisites. The fact that Princeton uses introductory classes to discourage students from exploring the sciences is well-documented. Columnist Allen Liu noted last year that excessively rigorous introductory classes may stop a student from pursuing the major they intended to study. In a recent piece on her experience in MAT 202, columnist Abigail Rabieh wrote “We are often told of engineering or STEM students exploring the humanities to their heart’s content, but I feel that we rarely hear of stu-

dents in the Humanities being encouraged to take scientific or quantitative classes.” But the problem with introductory classes goes beyond excessive rigor in some cases. While, by and large, an engineering student could take practically any English or History course that they wanted to, a student in the Humanities or Social Sciences would have to plod through prerequisites to take most courses in science or engineering. An analysis of 300-level courses offered in Spring 2021 across six disciplines shows that while not a single English or History course at the 300 level had any prerequisites, Physics and Me-

vol. cxlvi

editor-in-chief Marie-Rose Sheinerman ’23 business manager Benjamin Cai ’24

BOARD OF TRUSTEES president Thomas E. Weber ’89 vice president Craig Bloom ’88 second vice president David Baumgarten ’06 secretary Chanakya A. Sethi ’07 treasurer Douglas Widmann ’90 assistant treasurer Kavita Saini ’09

trustees Francesca Barber Kathleen Crown Suzanne Dance ’96 Gabriel Debenedetti ’12 Stephen Fuzesi ’00 Zachary A. Goldfarb ’05 Michael Grabell ’03 John G. Horan ’74 Rick Klein ’98 James T. MacGregor ’66 Julianne Escobedo Shepherd Abigail Williams ’14 Tyler Woulfe ’07 trustees ex officio Marie-Rose Sheinerman ’23 Benjamin Cai ’24

146TH MANAGING BOARD managing editors Omar Farah ’23 Tanvi Nibhanupudi ’23 Caitlin Limestahl ’23 Zachariah Wirtschafter Sippy ’23 Strategic initiative directors Accessibility Education Isabel Rodrigues ’23 Evelyn Doskoch ’23 José Pablo Fernández García ’23 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Mollika Jai Singh ’24 Melat Bekele ’24

All data gathered from princetoncourses.com. The prerequisites of the prerequisites were added. No AP credits were assumed. Independent work classes were exempted.

chanical and Aerospace Engineering courses had an average of four prerequisites (including the prerequisites of the prerequisites and so on). This fact basically guarantees that STEM students are going to take more humanities courses than vice versa. Even a well-designed course at the 200-level is unlikely to excite students: the large lecture halls, steep curves, and introductory material usually make these classes more an ordeal than a joy. Instead, students want to explore at the 300-level, taking smaller, more specialized courses. Students might be willing to invest in one or two introductory courses to get to that level. But requiring up to four prerequisites practically guarantees that humanities students are going to fulfill their SEL (Science and Engineering with lab), SEN (Science and Engineering without lab), and QCR (Quantitative and Computational Reasoning) distribution requirements via something easy, rather than genuinely exploring a new field. It’s not without cause that

mechanical engineering, and other majors in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have so many prerequisites. They’re genuinely challenging fields that build on a variety of concepts. But as an engineering student, it has been my experience that the prerequisites, especially when it comes to math and first-year science, don’t always serve a content purpose. Higher-level courses usually require a few key concepts that the professors review anyway, because even the people who have taken the prerequisites might have forgotten them. With a little bit of review, most students could get up to the class’s level without semesters’ worth of prerequisites. The goal the prerequisites seem to serve is to filter out all but the students most likely to succeed in that class: students who have a deep background in math and science and know the rigor of doing a problem set each week. But not every student needs to succeed in a class to experience it. In History and English classes, students definitely benefit from knowing

about the histories of adjacent regions or having read many of the classics, but instead of placing prerequisites, professors assume that the students who are just exploring will either put in the work or elect to have it graded Pass/D/Fail and still gain something. Finally, if some fields, like calculus, are absolutely essential to unlocking higher-level courses in science and engineering, perhaps a version should be required for all students, not just engineers. Students may or may not choose to explore, but all students should have the toolkit to try the classes they want. As we celebrate the life of Albert Einstein, we should make an effort to make his scientific contributions accessible to all. As the humanities departments educate Princeton’s entire campus, the STEM departments shouldn’t be turning people away. Rohit A. Narayanan is a sophomore electrical engineering concentrator from McLean, Va. You can reach him at rohitan@princeton. edu.

Financial Stipend Program Rooya Rahin ’23

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head prospect editors José Pablo Fernández García ’23 Aster Zhang ’24 associate prospect editors Molly Cutler ’23 Cathleen Weng ’24 head puzzles editors Gabriel Robare ’24 Owen Travis ’24 associate puzzles editors Juliet Corless ’24 Joah Macosko ’25 Cole Vandenberg ’24 head satire editor Claire Silberman ’23 associate satire editors Spencer Bauman ’25 Daniel Viorica ’25 head sports editors Wilson Conn ’25 Julia Nguyen ’24 associate sports editor Ben Burns ’23 Elizabeth Evanko ’23 associate video editors Daniel Drake ’24 Marko Petrovic ’24

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Friday February 25, 2022

Opinion

page 15

{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }

A century after Einstein, is STEM education really breaking barriers? Laya Reddy

J

Columnist

adwin Hall, the blockish brick behemoth on Washington Road, has been home to the Princeton math and physics departments since 1970. While the building itself underwent renovations as part of Princeton’s sustainability plan, Jadwin still embodies the remnants of an older worldview that has characterized STEM culture at Princeton since Albert Einstein’s time as a lecturer in 1921. Every day as I walk to my math class on the building’s A-level floor, I pass a wall commemorating University-affiliated Nobel Prize laureates of STEM fields, hung up in photo frames. All are men, and very few laureates are identifiable as persons of color. Just adjacent, another hallway has a sparse collection of portraits of important female scientists, most of whom belong to ethnic minorities. If buildings carry the story of their inhabitants, I can’t help but wonder what Jadwin intimates to STEM students traversing its hallways? While my observations about Jadwin could be a retrospective viewpoint, it’s undeniable that Princeton’s STEM culture must undergo major changes to improve the inclusion and involvement of students facing different hurdles to entering STEM pathways. When examining recent data collected on the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s “Diversity Dashboard,” I found that only 41 percent of B.S.E. students are women compared to 50 percent of undergraduates on campus. In the context of ethnic demographics, it’s even more alarming that only six percent and nine percent of engineering undergraduates identify as Black and Hispanic, respectively. These gaps in student representation are symptomatic of how the structure of STEM education at Princeton

perpetuates systemic barriers to opportunity. Prerequisite classes, pillars of our STEM curriculum, have come under fire for creating barriers to entry. Columnist Abigail Rabieh speaks to the struggle of humanities students being turned away from further exploration, and Community Opinion Editor Rohit Narayanan encourages STEM departments to reduce their prerequisite requirements to encourage more non-STEM concentrators. While I agree that the prerequisite STEM classes are significant obstacles to many students, they are far from the only barriers underrepresented and underprepared students face. By reforming the curriculum to better support and include these students, introductory classes could become express lanes into STEM fields. There’s an important and often overlooked trend centered around the preparation gap and how it carries forward to pursuing STEM in college. Even though the large lecture size and lack of resources in introductory courses aren’t particularly beneficial to advancing a student’s learning, these flaws, more importantly, exacerbate pre-existing educational inequity. High school students receive differing levels of academic support — such as tutoring — and differing access to advanced course offerings before they matriculate at Princeton. Under-preparation can become an obstacle in choosing their path over the next four years. Data from The Daily Princetonian’s fall Frosh Survey finds that students coming into Princeton having taken at most pre-calculus had only a 6.1 percent chance of matriculating into engineering. That probability skyrocketed to 41.6 percent for students who took multivariable calculus or linear algebra in high school. This correlation shows that lower levels of academic preparation in math before college decrease

students’ likelihood of breaking into STEM disciplines in the first place. Even with the aid of the McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning and professors’ office hours, introductory courses with lecture halls at full capacity don’t incentivize interested students to embrace a STEM track moving forward. This is not to say that there aren’t some merits to Princeton’s STEM curriculum. When I interviewed Andres Larrieu ’23 about his first semester majoring in B.S.E., Larrieu said, “It’s an unexpected positive. Especially coming in as a freshman, after spending time working hard together on problem sets, you just get to know people really well. It’s not something you really have to do in SPIA.” (Larrieu began his time at the University as B.S.E. but switched to A.B. and is now a SPIA concentrator.) Whether it’s bonding with other students over challeng-

ing questions in a precept, or making friends as you grind out a problem set for an 11:59 p.m. deadline, STEM culture at Princeton demands intellectual collaboration to succeed. The issue is that students are collaborating to keep up with the high-stress curriculum rather than utilizing collaborative time to innovate. Speaking from personal experience, co-creation environments in which everybody is a stakeholder and active participant in their education make people feel more included. Reworking the collaborative structure of precept as an opportunity to solve real-world problems and create new ideas could be a great jumping-off point for the STEM curriculum. It’s easy to feel overlooked or left behind in fast-paced STEM classes. Allowing students to take more ownership of their education can lead to greater involvement and inclusion at

Princeton. Implementing student-involved seminar classes and more team-led, projectbased classes — such as those offered by the Keller Center — in introductory STEM courses would incentivize and retain more students interested in STEM than our current curriculum. Roughly 37 percent of all degrees conferred to the great Class of 2020 fall into STEM fields. This rising interest in engineering and the sciences means that it’s more important than ever to shape an academic culture welcoming all who enter FitzRandolph Gate. As Larrieu told me, “You really can’t do Princeton alone.” Laya Reddy is a first-year from Chicago, Ill. intending to concentrate in economics. She can be reached at lr3956@princeton.edu.

CANDACE DO / THE DAILY PRINCETONIAN

Bureaucracies like Princeton trust the science until they don’t Braden Flax

Senior Columnist

R

ecently, as the United States has scrambled rather pathetically to contain COVID-19, we have been told with ever-increasing urgency that all will be well if only we set aside our skepticism and “trust the science,” as the refrain goes. It is true, of course, that the science behind masking, and especially vaccination, is well-substantiated. Yet, the rhetoric surrounding these measures is much less defensible, since the lack of structural support that could provide people with a lifeline while following such measures renders it both hypocritical and inadequate, even for the sole purpose of eradicating the virus. First, a word about the premise of “trusting the science”: what precisely does the refrain mean, and how feasible is it? Do we expect each nonscientist to independently examine the wealth of scientific data and arrive at their own conclusions before following a specific guide-

line? Most of the time, this is not the case. Rather, since American society is notoriously illiterate when it comes to science, usually when we think we are trusting science, we are in fact just being told to trust what someone else — probably an equally under-qualified television personality — has to say on the subject. And it just so happens in this case that the majority of TV networks are roughly in lockstep with the scientific community when it comes to measures against COVID-19, so anyone who puts stock in their words without additional research can hardly be said to be employing rigorous scientific analysis. However, since mainstream culture and scientific truth are not always so conveniently aligned, our credulous attitude towards COVID-19 research may serve us ill when it comes to other important issues that require more caution and critical thinking on our part. Before proceeding to some concrete examples relevant to our daily lives, I believe it is worth noting that the trust-the-science

rhetoric as a moral standard we are often held to evidently does not apply to our society as a whole. If it did, wouldn’t it make sense for the administration to lift vaccine patents so that millions of human beings around the world won’t have to continue to die needlessly? Why, in this case, does the state refuse to trust the science? Is this an obligation that only citizens are ethically bound to uphold? And could it be that, instead of a world in which once an agreed-upon solution to a problem has been identified we actually go all-in on it as a global community, we are in fact living in a world where the interests of the most powerful can strongly interfere with that utopian vision? It seems, then, that trusting science and acting accordingly are indicators of good, responsible citizenship while ignoring the science when convenient, on the other hand, is merely realistic statecraft. It’s laughable and reprehensible when “Karen” does it, but inevitable and righteous when the state does the same thing. Of course, there are also

times when the hypocrisy of trusting science manifests itself in our daily behaviors. Know anyone who has made the choice to ride the subway to work despite not feeling well? Sure, they made the choice to potentially put others in danger, ignoring the wellknown scientific fact that coughing in the vicinity of others in an enclosed space isn’t the greatest for public health. But we tend to forget that this choice might be made under the undue stress of precarious employment status, perhaps even housing instability along with it. This dynamic is equally visible at Princeton, where we are reminded to take our utmost precaution to avoid getting COVID-19 throughout the duration of our midterm week in a recent email sent to the undergraduate student body by Dean of the College Jill Dolan. While the administration expects us to “trust the science,” it stems more from the bureaucratic needs of organizing midterm week than a genuine concern for the recent spikes in COVID-19 cases that we find ourselves under. In other words, if

we can just convince ourselves that personal responsibility will win the day, the virus might just choose to honor the scientifically questionable but unquestionably aspirational request to leave us alone for a week. This unwillingness to recognize midterm week as a triviality relative to the most costly impacts of our public health emergency represents not just a failure to think scientifically, but indeed to think at all. Just as the state preaches the gospel of science while withholding life-saving vaccines, so too are we put in a position where we must ignore health science at the expense of others because of the built-in incentive structures around us that offer no apparent alternatives. So, instead of buying into the condescending call for people to trust the science, we should consider building the kind of structural support that allows them to do just that. Braden Flax is a senior from Merrick, N.Y. He can be reached at bflax@princeton. edu.

The Daily Princetonian

page 16

Annus Miribalis

Friday February 25, 2022

By Gabriel Robare and Allison Zhao Head Puzzles Editor and Senior Constructor

ACROSS 1 COS 126 abbr. 4 Culmination 10 Superteam problem, maybe 14 Down Under critter 15 Bad (like, really bad) 16 FC Barcelona star known as “The Puppet Master” 17 On the subject of, in a text 18 Matador 19 Currier and ___ 20 Device which uses qubits, which exist in a superposition between 0 and 1. 23 It’s not a good look 24 25 27 30 34 35 37 38 39

40 42 43 44

45 46 48 49

56 57 58 59 60

61 62 63 64

Colo. ___, Colo. Was nervous, say Mac competitiors Puts in the work Condition treated with Adderall 1 Dish with a Manhattan 2 variety 3 Small inlet 4 Tool for security guards 5 The fastest act to 6 accumlate five US 7 number-one singles since Michael Jackson 8 1980 Diana Ross hit often played at pride 9 parades 10 Get better Eldest of the Pevensie 11 sisters in the “Narnia” series 12 Date 13

Pot Princeton dorm fig. Alluvium Physicist who discovered a famous equation which is a hint to this puzzle’s theme Right-leaning: Abbr. Unknowns “It’s a Wonderful Life” studio Fitness center? In 2000 he said “You know the old saying: you win some you lose some ... then there’s that littleknown third cateogry” “___ 102: Rocks for Jocks” (colloquial Princeton class title) with a lost email Pests 21 Distributors Hollered 22 ~vibes~ National tree of the U.S. 24 Big mouth 25 Word often punctuated DOWN incorrectly Blossomed 26 Cause of insomnia for one princess Do followers, in a scale 27 Trips ‘24s never got to All tied up go on Proxes, for example 29 Super conductor? “PLZ I AM SO IN” 31 *Slip preventer and drip Ghost collector Rita Moreno and Ariana 33 “Science Guy” Bill Debose role 35 Church recesses Lotsa 38 Jim’s lady Tokyo dough 39 Barefoot Contessa *Appliance found in Garten many a hotel bathroom 40 Consumed Largest of the Aeolian 42 Enemy Cuddle buddy, islands maybe Not right at all Try again, like one would 43 Agitated

MINI #2

ACROSS

1 Sister of Sherlock Holmes 6 King Julien’s species in “Madagascar”

The Minis MINI #3

ACROSS

1 “Super ___ Bros.” (game by Nintendo) 6 Big body in Africa

7 Say “C-A-T,” say

7 Along a line of symmetry

8 Tails image on some quarters

8 Former V.P. Mike

9 Young girl, to someone from Scotland

9 Node connectors

1 Instead

DOWN

2 Country home to Mount Everest

DOWN

1 Sheeran song “___ of You” 2 Jumbled 3 Imitating

3 Final Greek letter

4 It can be personal

4 Calms to sleep, perhaps

5 Swiss features

5 City in southern France said to have inspired Van Gogh’s paintings

45 What it is out here, according to Olivia Rodrigo 46 Acts like a teenager or freedom fighter 47 Mafia code of silence 49 Punctuation frequently found in Emily Dickinson’s poems 52 “The Wall” or “Off The Wall” 53 Classic Phineas and Ferb song 55 Worry that everything’s happening without you, for short 56 Helper 57 Explosives 58 Goldberg and Webber feat 60 Letter accompanying an application, for short

By Anna Solzhenitsyn Contributing Constructor

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