I Will Totally Do This Myself, after I Win the Nobel Prize

If you're strolling down Michigan Avenue this afternoon, be sure to take advantage of this rare opportunity.

Leon Lederman takes physics to Chicago streets

Leon Lederman may have grown up in New York, but he’s called the Chicago area home for a longtime. Because of that, when news got out that he set up a table on 34th Street to let Manhattanites pose physics questions to him, the response was quick: We have to do that here.

With the help of the Chicago Council on Science and Technology, Lederman will again hit the streets for science, this time from noon to 2 p.m. Sunday, June 6, in front of the Chicago Wrigley Building at 400 N. Michigan Ave.

Lederman has long been an advocate of science outreach and the need to make physics understandable to people outside of the field. Many of the biggest issues facing voters involve science and an understanding of how the world and nature work.

“I think it’s important to let people on the street ask questions about physics,” he said. “People need to have a grasp of what science is, what science can do for people and what science can’t do for people.”

While some may consider particle physics too esoteric to apply to current issues such as natural disasters, Lederman said that at their roots all problems come back to a need to understand how the world works.

“When we understand then we can protect ourselves from the harmful effects and enjoy the beauty,” he said.

The New York "Ask a Nobel Laureate" drew mostly well thought out questions from a crowd of about 30. Lederman hopes to top that.

“Maybe we should hand out gum for good questions,” he said with a devilish grin.

-- Tona Kunz

Isn't Leon wonderful?