Theater and Science Combining Elements

Be inspired by the deep connections between art and science, past and present, at an interdisciplinary dialogue presented in conjunction with performances of Carl Djerassi and Roald Hoffmann's play Oxygen by Ohio State's Department of Theatre (Feb 26ÒMar 1 at the Thurber Theatre).

The panel includes the play's noted authors: Carl Djerassi, perhaps best known as the inventor of the birth control pill; and Nobel Prize winner Roald Hoffmann.

In Oxygen, the Nobel Foundation decides to retroactively award a scientist for the discovery of oxygen...but should the prize go to Antoine Lavoisier, Joseph Priestley, or Carl Wilhelm Scheele? The action alternates between 1777 and 2001, mirroring the tensions and ambiguities of the 18th century in the 21st. The panel will use the play as a point of departure for a wide-ranging discussion.

A reception follows the discussion.

Panelists
Carl Djerassi is professor of chemistry at Stanford University and is perhaps best known as the inventor of the birth control pill.
Roald Hoffmann, a Nobel Prize winner, is the Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor of Humane Letters at Cornell University.
Bruce Hermann is professor of theater at Ohio State and director of Oxygen.
Gideon Fraenkel, is Newman Professor of Chemistry at Ohio State.
Moderator Allan Silverman is an associate professor in Ohio State's Department of Philosophy.

For more information or to purchase tickets to Oxygen, contact the Department of Theatre box office at 614 292-2295.

This program is presented by Ohio State's Department of Theatre and cosponsored by Ohio State's College of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, Department of Chemistry, Honors/Scholars Program, Office of Research, and Wexner Center.