Furman celebrates Year of the Sciences

With construction on the new Charles H. Townes Science Center drawing to a close, Furman has declared 2008-2009 the Year of the Sciences.The university's celebration of the sciences will kick off at the university's opening convocation on Sept. 4. The event will feature a keynote speech by Tony Arrington, retired chemistry professor and chairman of the Year of the Sciences planning committee.

Also, the Townes Center will be formally dedicated with a ceremony on Oct. 31. The building formerly known as Plyler Hall has been undergoing extensive renovations and additions since the spring of 2006. Most of the buildin's facilities are already fully functional.

"Everybody's really excited about the new building because it's finally up to the standards of the campus and the other renovated academic buildings," said Kerianne Springer, a senior chemistry major who completed research in Townes this summer.

Although this year of celebration coincides with the completion of Townes, Arrington plans to emphasize interdisciplinary cooperation, such as the Philosophy, History and Art of Science as well as research completed in departments such as Psychology, Neuroscience and Health and Exercise Science.
"It's not just what's going on in science," said Arrington, "but also how science relates to other things."

In that spirit, the Year of the Sciences will also highlight events such as the Furman Theater's production of "Copenhagen," a play about physicists Niels Bohr and Warner Heisenberg during World War II. The production will run from Sept. 17 to 27.
Other events include a celebration of Charles Darwin's 200th birthday and another installment of the Townes Lecture on Faith and Reason series. Speaker Freeman Dyson will give a lecture on "The Environment: Is it Science or is it Religion?" at the end of March.

Additionally, on April 3 classes will be canceled for Engage Furman Day so that students can present posters from their scientific research. Various other celebratory events have yet to be planned, said Arrington, adding that a website for the Year of the Sciences is on the way.