International Year of Light

Sydney Harbour lit by fireworks NY 2015 Photo: Sydney Morning Herald

‘The International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies, 2015 (IYL 2015) is a United Nations observance that aims to raise awareness of the achievements of light science and its applications, and its importance to humankind. IYL 2015 opening ceremonies will be held 19-20 January 2015 in Paris.’

There is so much exciting news regarding this topic on the Internet. Competitions for children plus lots of scientific and art related projects as well as looking from the past to the future.  Discoveries abound, so shall Include just another snippet from Wikipedia:

‘Scientific anniversaries[edit]
The major scientific anniversaries that will be celebrated during IYL 2015 are:

1015: Works on optics by Ibn Al-Haytham
1815: The notion of light as a wave proposed by Fresnel
1865: The electromagnetic theory of light propagation proposed by Maxwell
1915: Einstein’s theory of the photoelectric effect in 1905 and of the embedding of light in cosmology through general relativity
1965: Discovery of the cosmic microwave background by Penzias and Wilson, and Charles Kao’s achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication’  Thanks to Wikipedia for their information on this subject.

Credit: Studio Roosegaarde
125th anniversary of Amsterdam Train Station

Do any of you have things happening near you to celebrate this very special year? My beloved is painting in his unique way which inadvertently celebrates 2015 as the International year of light. A peek at his new painting soon.

Review of ‘On A Beam of Light’

Review of ‘On a Beam of Light’ a story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne, pictures by Vladimir Radunsky, published in 2013, http://www.chroniclekids.com

This delightful children’s book introduces children to the simplicity of Albert Einstein’s life as a child. His questioning led to deep questions that he continued to remember and work on throughout his life.

The illustrations show the texture of the watercolour paper with appealing, descriptive drawings. This book is not only informative, but a story that will inspire young children to realise the importance of continuing to question themselves. ‘On a Beam of Light’ shows how music made Albert happy and encourages children, when they grow up, not to lose the ability to enjoy life.