Thomas Naumann
From Kepler to Einstein – Truth and Beauty in Physics
Cosmos describes the beauty, order and harmony of our universe. But what is beauty? Is it only in the eye of the beholder? How is it connected to simplicity and symmetry? Discussing the relations between truth and beauty in physics, we ask: is beauty a reliable criterion of truth or can it mislead our search for truth?
Thomas Naumann studied physics at Technische Universität Dresden and has worked at the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) in Zeuthen since 1992, where he served as its deputy director from 2001 to 2009. In 2005, he was appointed Honorary Professor at the University of Leipzig. The following year he joined the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. Since 2007, he has also acted as the public relations coordinator for the LHC in Germany.