Einstein is one of the few scientists to make it into popular culture. You find his name and his image (or wild, white-haired look-alikes) in magazines, art and advertising. He is associated with a host of companies, products, and services. Alan Friedman, director of the New York Hall of Science, reminds us that Einstein is a brand, used to sell everything from cameras and computers to beer. "Einstein's image is used to represent genius," he says. "It hasn't changed a whole lot in 50 years."

Watson argues that the Einstein brand can make physics attractive. "People regard him as a genius, but also as anti-establishment. There's a kind of underdog feeling."

But as every marketer knows, using brand shortcuts can have drawbacks. The stated aim of Einstein Year is "all about getting young people excited about physics, exploding the myth that physicists are white, middle-aged men with mad hair, and highlighting the huge contribution of contemporary physics to society."

Except that Einstein (white, middle-aged man with mad hair) fits the stereotype. How can he explode the myth, when he embodies it so perfectly?

Is it not time to ditch Einstein for a more modern personality? Friedman says that the image that science is for elderly white males is very damaging and makes recruitment difficult. He argues that the scientific community should try to develop some new role models to attract young people into the profession. Friedman notes that, while people persist in using photographs of the "old Einstein," he was only 26 in 1905 when he published his papers.

"If I was the tsar of science branding, I would prohibit the use of old Einstein," says Friedman, "and only allow images of how he was 100 years ago—young, trendy, stylish, just married."

But Friedman concedes that it is easier for the scientific community to rely on Einstein to catch attention today. "If scientists want to promote something they grab a known image—Einstein. I wish they would use scientists of today—how about Patrick Moore or Carl Sagan? But the recognition of modern scientists is negligible compared to Einstein."

"We are very conscious that Einstein has the stereotypical image of a mad professor," admits Einstein Year's Watson, "yet that is what we want to dispel. We have to make sure that we do not continue to reinforce the stereotype, so we are not using his image too much. Beside, licenses for images of Einstein tend to be expensive and we would rather spend money on activities!

"We are also being careful to use young scientists in our workshops and lectures, especially women physicists who can be role models for young people," Watson continues. "We are just using Einstein as a hook to get people interested, and then we tell them about how great physics is today. Einstein Year is about physics, not Einstein."

This is a perfect example of how Einstein is a congenor for physics, says Robert Crease, from the Department of Philosophy at Stony Brook University, New York. Congenors, a term used by ethnographers, are lenses through which one culture looks at and tries to understand and respond to another culture. "A congenor, is more than something that symbolizes another culture," explains Crease. "It crystallizes an interaction with it. It is not bad for fields to have brands when they act as congenors," he argues. "The public won't look at the field of science as a whole, but at one aspect that fascinates them, and from this, their interest may widen. Einstein plays this role for physics.

"Yes, the Einstein brand is misleading and promotes a deceptive picture of physics today," Crease continues, "but all brands are deceptive to some extent. Still, through Einstein's inspiration people become acquainted with physics and that is good."

So selling science by using Einstein may not be so bad after all—without doubt, he continues to capture our imagination, and as Einstein himself said, "imagination is more important than knowledge."    

[25-Apr-2005]