On Friday, November 18 we had an online event celebrating the first 50 years (or so) of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation. The exact date of the foundation of the society is questionable, but this celebration happened almost exactly half a century after Andre Mercier’s famous letter to colleagues around the world updating them on the decision to form a democratic gravity society. We had three excellent speakers:
Roberto Lalli - How it all began: The construction of the GRG community during the Cold War
Virginia Trimble - Finding, Founding, and Funding a Home for GR, or, Through the Copenhagen Looking Glass and What we Found there
Stanley Deser - Recollections going back to Bern in 1955 (pre-recorded)
The zoom recording of the event is now online. Spot the cameo by Kip Thorne, who played an important role in the foundation of the society. This link has a higher-resolution version of Stanley Deser’s video.
