Using Einstein to stimulate creative brain power

By Chris Oliver
Advertiser Staff Writer

Arden Bercovitz takes on the persona of Albert Einstein to encourage both children and adults to expand their imaginations as well as their thinking skills. Photo courtesy A & C Bercovitz/Photo illustration by Greg Taylor • The Honolulu Advertiser 'Einstein Alive' Arden Bercovitz portrays Albert Einstein for science buffs of all ages 7 p.m. tomorrow, University of Hawai'i-Manoa Art Building Auditorium 7 p.m. April 19, UH-Hilo Theater 6 p.m. April 21, King Kamehameha Hotel, Kona Free. Information: (808) 974-2500; www.gemini.edu

You may not arrive at the unifying theory for the cosmos, but you can re-engage the Nobel Prize winner's creative brain power in "Einstein Alive," a presentation by Arden Bercovitz (see box).

Bercovitz, complete with wild hair and baggy clothes, brings the famous scientist to life as a way to help children expand thinking skills and imagination, and to help adults recharge their personal and professional lives.

"Creative thinking is seeing what everyone sees and thinking what no one else has thought," said Bercovitz, who holds a doctorate degree.

He uses ideas, anecdotes, quotes and musings borrowed from Einstein as well as question-and-answer sessions to engage children and adults in the audience.

"All of us have the same tools in our tool chests, but we have to learn how to look at things differently," he said. "We have to learn the importance of asking the right questions. That is the key to good science and lifelong learning."

The idea of impersonating Albert Einstein came to Bercovitz after attending a workshop on professional speaking in the 1980s. At the time he was working as a reproductive endocrinologist at the San Diego Zoo. "I was constantly looking for ways to become a better communicator," Bercovitz said. Albert Einstein just "popped into my head."

"It was a signal," Bercovitz said. "I decided to bring Albert Einstein back to life."

It helped also that Princeton University was about to publish "The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, Volume I" (Princeton University Press, 1987). Bercovitz read everything he could about the Nobel Prize winner's life. His presentations draw on science but also on Einstein as a visionary and humanist.

The three-lecture series, organized by Gemini Observatory, Hilo, is a return visit to Hawai'i for Bercovitz's "Einstein" and includes several visits to schools. "I first saw Dr. Bercovitz's presentation when he gave a keynote address to 200 planetarium directors that left me spellbound," said Peter Michaud, Gemini's public information and outreach manager. "It will be a lot of fun."

Questions from the audience, young and old, are encouraged.

"Curiosity mixed with imagination is a powerful tool," Bercovitz said. "Look at what led Einstein into science: the gift of a compass when he was 5 years old. That compass began his lifelong quest to unlock the secrets of the natural world. I believe we all have a little bit of Einstein in us."