Albert Einstein Memorial, Scientific memorial at National Academy of Sciences grounds, Washington, United States
The Albert Einstein Memorial is a bronze sculpture in Washington, D.C., located on the grounds of the National Academy of Sciences near Constitution Avenue. It shows the physicist sitting on a set of granite steps, with manuscript papers resting in his lap and a figure height reaching about 12 feet (3.7 meters).
The sculpture was unveiled on April 22, 1979, when the Academy marked the centennial of the physicist's birth and honored his role in modern science. Artist Robert Berks designed the work as a commission from the institution to create a lasting tribute to the contributions he made to physics.
The sculpture shows the physicist as a working scholar, holding papers covered with mathematical formulas from his research on light, gravity and the structure of matter. These visible equations connect his abstract discoveries to a human moment of thought and let visitors see the ideas that changed modern physics.
The sculpture stands on open grounds at 2101 Constitution Avenue, with free access at all daylight hours and no admission required. Visitors can approach it from the surrounding lawn, and it sits near other monuments in the central part of the city, making it easy to combine with nearby stops.
The circular platform beneath the figure holds over 2,700 metal studs representing the positions of stars, planets and other bodies in space, forming a map of the universe at the feet of the physicist. This celestial chart recalls his work in cosmology and connects the sculpture to the sky he studied.
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