This image of Stanislaw Ulam holding the Fermiac was taken from a Los Alamos National Laboratory report: MCNP SOFTWARE QUALITY: THEN AND NOW Gregg C. Giesler, Los Alamos National Laboratory LA-UR-00-2532; 16 October 2000 URL: [http://library.lanl.gov/cgi-bin/getfile?00393668.pdf]
SCHENECTADY– The Schenectady Jewish Community Center (SJCC) Film Festival will screen “Adventures of a Mathematician,” on Saturday. Nov. 8, at 7 p.m. The film will be shown at the Center, 2565 Balltown Rd. Following the film, Paul Friedman and Christina Tonnesen-Friedman members of the Union College Mathematics Department will lead a discussion.
“Adventures of a Mathematician” explores the life of Stanislaw Ulam and the documentary adapted from his autobiography offers an intimate look at a man who, despite his achievements, remained humble and reflective, according to festival organizers. Ulam, a Jewish-Polish mathematician, was involved with the Manhattan Project. Fleeing Poland just before the Nazis took over, Ulam found refuge in the U.S., and made his mark among other European physicists at Los Alamos. The film depicts his wrestling with the moral complexities of his work.
The Film Festival is supported by the JCC Friends of the Arts, the Epstein Jewish Cultural Fund, Meyer and Mary Kurland/Gebell Fund, Jonas and Edith Flemiberg Jewish Cultural Fund, The Jewish World, and a grant from the Schenectady County Legislature through its County Initiative Program.
Tickets for the film are $7 for Center members and $13 for guests.
Information and registration may be obtained at by calling www.schenectadyjcc.org/Jewish-Film-Festival or by calling 518-377-8803.
