Einstein gets a surfing lesson at UK’s biggest surf festival

Einstein visits the Rip Curl surf festival for some surfing instruction with Pro surfers Emanuelle Joly (Womans Champ 2003) and Rubyn Ash.

At 11am today, Albert Einstein will get a lesson in surfing from one of the UK’s top professional surfers at the Rip Curl Boardmasters, the UK’s biggest free lifestyle sports festival and the only UK leg of professional surfing’s World Qualifying Tour.

Einstein is in Newquay to promote 2005 (Einstein Year), which will be exactly 100 years since he made his greatest discovery (special relativity). Surfing is all about physics and Einstein hopes that his superior knowledge of the subject will make him a natural in the water.

Einstein (professional actor Gary Barber) will explain some of the physics behind surfing to the Rip Curl professional and have a go at surfing himself. Although surfers can’t carry pocket calculators, understanding the physics at work might help make them even better. In surfing, speed, balance, and turning all rely on physics – gravity and buoyancy.

One hundred years ago Einstein changed physics and the way we understand our world. The Institute of Physics wants community groups in the south west to help them inspire the next generation during 2005 – Einstein Year. Activities such as parties to celebrate Einstein’s birthday on March 14th will give children the opportunity to explore the everyday physics of jelly and juggling whilst a film festival at the Watershed in Bristol will explore cinema’s relationship with Einstein.    

2005 is Einstein Year. It is the centenary of the publication of Einstein’s most famous work – including the theory of special relativity – and the Institute of Physics in the UK and Ireland will be using it to highlight the contribution of contemporary physics to society. The United Nations has declared 2005 to be International Year of Physics. Einstein Year is the UK and Ireland’s contribution to these celebrations.

Why physics?

Physics is at the heart of society and affects everything that we do. It is the science of the very big, and the very small. It addresses awe-inspiring questions and explains the everyday. From life-saving medical technology to the bubbles in fizzy drinks, physics is everywhere. It is crucial to the modern economy and the quality of our lives.

Notes to editors:

For more information or to book an interview with Einstein on the science of surfing contact: David Reid, press officer, Institute of Physics, Tel: 020 7470 4815, Mobile (in Newquay) 07946 321473. E-mail: david.reid@iop.org

Factsheets on the science of surfing are available, featuring colour cartoons.

Released: 2004/08/06