Science on Screen - 2001: A Space Odyssey February 20, 2006

Director Stanley Kubrick's 1968 adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's best selling book is a landmark production, perhaps the most respected and realistic science-fiction film of all time. The ground-breaking special effects alone offer a mesmerizing mix of imagination and science. Combine that with profound commentary on man's relation to machines (?Open the pod bay doors, Hal?), the universe, and life itself, and the film becomes a tremendous (and dare we say, quite trippy) experience. A rare and exciting treat on the giant screen!

Marvin Minsky is one of the founding fathers of the study of Artificial Inteligence. Co-founder of MIT's AI laboratory, he has made many contributions to AI, cognitive psychology, mathematics, computational linguistics, robotics, and optics. Since the early 1950s, Professor Minsky has worked on using computational ideas to characterize human psychological processes. In recent years he has worked chiefly on imparting to machines the human capacity for commonsense reasoning. He is the author of numerous books and papers, including the 1987 best-seller The Society of Mind, which is also the title of the course he teaches at MIT.

And did we mention that Minsky was an on-set advisor on the film? Yes, he knows the HAL 9000 personally!

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Programs are $9.50 regular admission, or $6.00 for seniors, students, and Museum of Science members.
Members of the Coolidge Corner Theatre get FREE admission to Science On Screen shows.