The core of the intersection between poetry and science is the limitation of language. Language, with a finite number of symbols and permutations, imposes bounds for expressing the architecture of an invisible world for which it was not conceived. Poetry and metaphor expand those boundaries and interpolate the continuous, analog space in between the discrete, digital map of language.
Alberto Rojo
In "Physics and Poetry," Oakland Journal 22 (2012)
Alberto Rojo works at the intersection of language and physics, which he argues are not opposed but complementary ways of understanding the world. As a passionate science communicator, he has written more than one hundred popular science articles and hosted two-award winning science TV shows in Argentina. Rojo, a professor of physics at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, has published extensively in his field on such research interests as geological formation and theoretical condensed matter physics, including a paper co-authored with Nobel physicist Anthony Leggett and a book with mathematician Anthony Bloch.
EDUCATION & CAREER:
Ph.D., Instituto Balseiro, Bariloche, Argentina
postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago
previous assistant professor at the University of Michigan
collaborating member of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language
columnist for the major Spanish-language Argentine newspapers Crítica de Argentina, La Nación and Clarín
AWARDS & DISTINCTIONS:
2023 | awarded the Honorary Doctorate degree by the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
2023 | “Recognition” and “Declaration of Interest” awards by the Honorable Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation
2012 | Fulbright specialist in Physics Education
2011 | ATVC Award for best cultural cable program, "Artists of Science."
2007 | Jack Williamson Professor of Science and Humanities, Eastern New Mexico University. Endowed chair established by science fiction writer Jack Williamson, for scholars with contributions to the sciences and humanities.
2005 | KITP Scholar, University of California at Santa Barbara
1999 | Edenor Prize from the Argentine Book Foundation for the essay Jorge Luis Borges and Quantum Physics
Award Winning Television Show Hosted & Written by Alberto Rojo: Artistas de la ciencia (Artists of Science) on Canal Encuentro (2017)
This series explores the paths that connect the world of the arts with science. Alberto Rojo, a physicist and musician, takes on the role of a researcher who explores the meeting points between the two disciplines. He tells how artists and scientists feed on knowledge that connects their areas of research and their ideas.
TEDx Talks: TEDxRiodelaPlata (2018) & TEDxRosario (2018)
Television Show: ¡Mozo, hay un fìsico en mi sopa! (Waiter, there's a physicist in my soup!) on Canal Encuentro (2023)
Physics is everywhere, even if we don't realize it. That's why Alberto Rojo, a physicist and musician from Tucumán, bursts into our lives so that we notice its presence in the most everyday situations. A docufiction that explores topics such as light and sound waves, movement, the fracture of materials, among others.
