Instead of just looking out the windows, commuters on Israel Railways will be able to hear free lectures (in Hebrew) by eminent scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The first in the series will be on "Einstein's Love Letters" by former HU president Prof. Hanoch Guttfreund, who will begin on the train departing at 9.04 a.m. from Modi'in Central to Tel Aviv Savidor and give a repeat performance at 10.26 a.m. from Savidor to Modi'in.
The unusual "Scientists on the Trains" lectures will be offered to passengers on different train routes around the country during the coming year.
Gutfreund said on Thursday that the "love letters between Albert Einstein and his first wife Mileva and the love letters to his second wife Elsa teach us about the emotional and intellectual development of the greatest scientist of the 20th century. In later years, he wrote to Elsa almost every day when he was traveling away from home. Those were no longer love letters, but they are interesting because they convey his impression of the places he visited, from people he met to events that occurred around him."
