Session K21: Original Songs on Science w/Cabaret Singer Nancy E. Abrams

Original Songs on Science w/Cabaret Singer Nancy E. Abrams

Welcome to an evening’s performance and discussion of songs on science and scientists by storyteller and satirist Nancy Ellen Abrams. The evening will weave through Einstein’s envisioned life in the song “Einstein”. “Galileo’s Logic” asks, was Galileo a coward to recant his teachings under pressure from the Church? “Alien Wisdom” posits that alien wisdom transcends and encompasses human wisdom. “Third World Bind” was written for a scientific conference on Global Sustainable Agriculture. “All’s Well That Ends Well” contemplates the story of Faust mortgaging his soul to the devil in exchange for power, a myth we may be reliving. “Hired Brain” satirizes the scientists who sell their brainpower to defend the indefensible. Nancy has served as a lawyer in Congress’s Office of Technology Assessment, a troubadour in a cabaret troupe, and a UCSC lecturer in philosophy of science. She has co-authored two books about the meaning of modern cosmology with her astrophysicist husband Joel Primack (2020 Lilienfeld Prize recipient), has written another book completely rethinking the concept of god for a scientific age, and performed her music in 19 countries.? There will be a talkback by the performer with the audience after the songs.

Produced by Brian Schwartz, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, CUNY and Smitha Vishveshwara, University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign. Supported in part by the Forum on Outreach and Engaging the Public.