Cultural and Media Studies
Palgrave Studies in Literature, Science and Medicine
Contemporary Physics Plays
Making Time to Know Responsibility
Authors: Halpin, Jenni G.
Represents an original contribution to the study of science plays
​Presents context for readers unfamiliar with principles of modern physics
Participates in interdisciplinary efforts to think together the sciences and the humanities
This book analyzes recent physics plays, arguing that their enaction of concepts from the sciences they discuss alters the nature of the decisions made by the characters, changing the ethical judgements that might be cast on them. Recent physics plays regularly alter the shape of space-time itself, drawing together disparate moments, reversing the flow of time, creating apparent contradictions, and iterating scenes for multiple branches of counterfactual history. With these changes both causality and responsibility shift, variously. The roles of iconic scientists, such as Albert Einstein and Werner Heisenberg, are interrogated for their dramatic value, placing history and dramatic license in tension. Cold War strategies and the limits of espionage highlight the emphatically personal involvement of ordinary individuals. This study is vital reading for those interested in physics plays and the relationship between the sciences and the humanities.
Jenni G. Halpin is Associate Professor of English Literature at Savannah State University, USA.
Introduction: Ethics and Physics in Contemporary Plays
Halpin, Jenni G.
Playing Nuclear War: Learning Postmodern War from Modern Physics
Relativistic Intertextuality: Einstein as a Figure
What You Don't Know Is Going to Hurt Like Hell: Knowledge, Power, and the Faustian Bargain
Torn Palimpsest and Recycled Time: Copenhagen and Conclusion
Jenni G. Halpin
Palgrave Pivot
The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s)
VIII, 128
1 b/w illustrations
Theatre History