Faculty Feature: Science Office of the Alumni Association

Samuel Wang, Associate Professor of Molecular Biology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, discusses future directions in the study of neuroscience, child brain development, autism, and human indivuality as part of the 2014 Academic Mini Reunions program.

Michael Gordin, Rosengarten Professor of Modern and Contemporary History; Director, Fung Global Fellows Program, considers how historians and biographers have approached Albert Einstein’s life and considers another interpretation: that he was not the cloistered loner but rather a deeply sociable personality. Gordin suggests the implications for understanding both Einstein’s science, as well as the tumultuous history of the 20th century.

Eric F. Wieschaus, Squibb Professor in Molecular Biology, presents a talk entitled “From Gene Expression to Tissue Mechanics during Drosophila Embryonic Development.” Presented on the occassion of the Many Minds, Many Stripes conference for Princeton's graduate alumni.

Christopher Chyba, Professor of Astrophysical Sciences and International Affairs and Director of the Program on Science and Global Security, explains the ways that we are searching for extraterrestrial life and the difficulty of defining what “life” looks like in other parts of the solar system (“life as we do or don’t know it”). Presenting different planets and their characteristics, Professor Chyba discusses the ways in which scientists have searched for life in these environments and the resulting outcomes. Planetary discoveries and detection mechanisms are explored, along with debates about intelligent life. Presented as part of Alumni Day 2013

Virginia A. Zakian, Harry C. Wiess Professor in the Life Sciences and Professor of Molecular Biology, explains the history of telomere research from a scientific and sociological standpoint and describes the biology of telomeres.

Bartley G. Hoebel, Professor of Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute explains the role of dopamine in drug addiction and the concept of addiction as it relates to food and candy.