Professor to the City

brian greene's love of science began with a trip to a classic upper west side destination: the american museum of natural history.

as a 3rd grader at p.s. 87, greene visited the museum's hayden planetarium and was stunned by the exhibit.

"i was struck by the enormity of the universe and how small we humans seem to be," he said. "even younger, i was really captivated by mathematics, but as i began to learn more and more in science classes that math could be applied to science and tell you things about the world, i became more hooked on this way of investigating reality."

now, as a math and physics professor at columbia university, greene teaches science to young minds every day.

"the big challenge is finding the most powerful story," he said. "sometimes it's the story of discovery. sometimes it's the failures going up to the discovery and sometimes it's the

personalities."

greene was inspired to become a teacher after taking a hygiene class at stuyvesant high school.

"one of the assignments was to teach one of the classes, and i taught a class on dreaming, the nature of dreaming and what happens to the brain," he said. "i found it so exciting to explain these scientific ideas in a general language."

but greene has gone beyond the role of a traditional teacher. he and his wife, journalist tracy day, founded the world science festival in 2008 with hopes of bringing science to an even greater audience.

"the primary goal is to shift the public perception of science, for people not to think of science as remote and something left to the scientists, that it's as important to leading a full life as music and dance," he said.

so far, the festival has been extremely successful at drawing participants from both the science and arts world. the 2009 lineup included a lecture by leading physicists paul davies and george ellis, as well as performances by musicians joshua bell and yo yo ma.

william allen zacj, chair of columbia's physics department, admires greene's hard work.

"brian is doing an incredible job putting science on the popular cultural map worldwide, but particularly in new york city, where he is literally 'taking it to the streets,'" zacj said.

aside from the annual weeklong festival, greene and his staff also work on outreach programs with new york city school kids. he believes it is especially important to reach out to younger students.

not surprisingly, greene brings that same enthusiasm for learning to his two children. during his free time, he takes his 2- and 4-year-old to museums, parks and vegan restaurants around the city.

"everyone starts off as a scientist," greene said. "most kids are really excited to learn about their environment, like smashing things together and pulling them apart. but starting in 4th grade kids start shifting, so it's important to start the excitement early."