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Contemporary Physics Plays

Making Time to Know Responsibility

  • Book
  • © 2018

Overview

Authors:
  1. Jenni G. Halpin

    1. Savannah State University, Savannah, GA, USA

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  • Represents an original contribution to the study of science plays
  • Presents context for readers unfamiliar with principles of modern physics
  • Participates in interdisciplinary efforts to think together the sciences and the humanities

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Table of contents (5 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-viii
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  2. Introduction: Ethics and Physics in Contemporary Plays

    • Jenni G. Halpin
    Pages 1-18

  3. Playing Nuclear War: Learning Postmodern War from Modern Physics

    • Jenni G. Halpin
    Pages 19-38

  4. Relativistic Intertextuality: Einstein as a Figure

    • Jenni G. Halpin
    Pages 39-60

  5. What You Don’t Know Is Going to Hurt Like Hell: Knowledge, Power, and the Faustian Bargain

    • Jenni G. Halpin
    Pages 61-91

  6. Torn Palimpsest and Recycled Time: Copenhagen and Conclusion

    • Jenni G. Halpin
    Pages 93-123

  7. Back Matter

    Pages 125-128
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Keywords

About this book

This book analyzes recent physics plays, arguing that their enaction of concepts from the sciences they discuss alters the nature of the decisions made by the characters, changing the ethical judgements that might be cast on them. Recent physics plays regularly alter the shape of space-time itself, drawing together disparate moments, reversing the flow of time, creating apparent contradictions, and iterating scenes for multiple branches of counterfactual history. With these changes both causality and responsibility shift, variously. The roles of iconic scientists, such as Albert Einstein and Werner Heisenberg, are interrogated for their dramatic value, placing history and dramatic license in tension. Cold War strategies and the limits of espionage highlight the emphatically personal involvement of ordinary individuals. This study is vital reading for those interested in physics plays and the relationship between the sciences and the humanities.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Savannah State University, Savannah, GA, USA

    Jenni G. Halpin

About the author

Jenni G. Halpin is Associate Professor of English Literature at Savannah State University, USA.

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