Wonderfest: The Most Famous Equation

Around the world, people recognize that E=mc^2 oozes cosmic insight. But what does this "most famous equation" really say? What are energy and mass? And what makes the speed of light, c, so important? [Hint: mass, moving at speed c, doesn't turn into energy!] Using little more than common experience and 9th-grade math, Einstein's "special relativity" gem can come to life with surprising insights into the nature of reality.

Speaker Tucker Hiatt, founding director of Wonderfest, has taught physics for a looong time. In 2006, he won the Amgen Award for Science Teaching Excellence, and, from 2008 to 2014, he was a Visiting Scholar in the Stanford Chemistry Department.