In order to commemorate the 140th anniversary of Einstein's birth, the special exhibition on the genius of relativity, "Einstein's fantastic world" authorized by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was held in the exhibition hall of Shanghai World Expo from August to October. The famous mass-energy theorem E=MC2, the manuscript of general relativity, the Nobel medal and many other precious exhibits have appeared in turn, presenting a science popularization event for science lovers. The academic consultant unit of this special exhibition is Shanghai Jiao Tong University, in which scholars from Tsung-Dao Lee Institute participate.
On September 29, 2019, a Scientist Lecture with the theme of "games make science more interesting and how Einstein played with science" was held at the Einstein exhibition. Wu Baojun, Ph.D. in theoretical physics of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Li Sheng, associate professor of T.D. Lee Institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Fang Zaiqing, researcher of the Institute for History of Natural Sciences of Chinese Academy of Sciences, etc., have launched a wonderful brainstorming together with the development team of the game "Minecraft", the MC Tribe.
On the spot, experts and scholars introduced to Einstein's classic theory. It has become a hot topic in the relationship between sciences and games that how to learn scientific knowledge via playing games. During the discussion, the experts shared their thoughts on education and entertainment.
"Scientific researches are games by some meaning." said Li Sheng. He introduced the experience of American Jewish physicist Feynman. "What does Feynman say about scientists? His work is like a detective. You can see all kinds of traces in this place. Maybe you can't see some traces at a glance. You have to find a way and design something in order to find out all kinds of traces. Finally, find out what happened at that time from the traces. For Feynman, science is fun and interesting.”
At the scene of the round table meeting, Wu Baojun said: "Game is a way to make science more interesting. It is a question worth pondering that how to mobilize the enthusiasm of young people and popularize science in a way that young people are willing to accept." With the wide spread of intelligent devices, there is no doubt that games have become an important part of daily life for the "playful" young generation. If we use this popular way of young people to let students understand and learn scientific knowledge, then games can also become one of the effective and important ways of science popularization.
The audience proposed a lot of questions. They extended and discussed the contents of the meeting further, and put forward the questions of wide social significance, such as "the role of games in science popularization", "how to change the stereotype of parents on the game", "how do games undertake the responsibility of cultural communication better" and so on. The guests patiently explained their views. As for "how should parents treat their children's behavior of playing games", the guests proposed that playing is the nature of their children. The parents should follow the trend, guide the children to contact good games with certain educational functions, and let them gain happiness and learn knowledge from them.