The four-day interactive physics workshop "Uncovering the Nature of Light" led by Dr. Katerina Visnjic, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Physics at Princeton University, was held with great success at our School's premises. The workshop was jointly organized by Athens College and the Princeton University Athens Center for Research and Hellenic Studies with the support of the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies on June 17-20, 2024. It was attended by High School 2 students of Athens College, Psychico College and the 1st year of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, as well as students from Anavrita and the Varvakeio School.   

In this interactive workshop, students recapped the key observations and experiments that led to the Classical Theory of Light developed by James Maxwell (1831-1879), and then recreated the experiments that forced scientists to discard this classical theory. The journey to uncover the secrets of light culminated in the discovery that these same experiments were explained by Einstein's quantum theory, which we use to this day. 

The workshop was initiated by Mr. Dimitris Gontikas '74, Director of the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton University and member of the Board of Trustees of Athens College. On behalf of our School, the workshop was organized by Dr. Victoria Giakoumopoulou, Physics Teacher of Athens College High School and Antonios Apostolou, Coordinator of the IB DP of Psychico College. 

Athens College President Professor Spiros N. Pollalis noted that the discovery of the secrets of light is a topic that has been of interest to him since his student days. He especially thanked Dr. Katerina Visnjic and Princeton University for this unique opportunity and invited students to discuss their conclusions together.