Albert Einstein
Brian Eno
Sir Bobby Robson
Joanna MacGregor
Physicist
Einstein’s blackboard, used in a lecture in Oxford on 16 May 1931, deals with some of the most fundamental questions in cosmology.
Musician
‘This is the depiction of a theory that Arabic singing bounced around the world in several directions creating what we call popular music, and how the British Isles were central to this.’
England international footballer and manager
‘This is one of England’s routine corner kicks in the 1990 World Cup campaign. The corner comes from the right-hand side, taken left-footed by Waddle. There are three alternative areas to hit (shown shaded) and the target area is signalled by Waddle. The England players are named, the white arrows are their expected movements and the blue crosses are their markers. Lineker waits at the back post for the long ball or to pick up a deflection. The three things I used to say we needed for the corner kick were service, movement and desire.’
Pianist
‘I wrote the music on this blackboard while I was giving a lecture about Bach’s Goldberg Variations at the Holywell Music Room on 22nd March this year, before performing them... There’s a lot of information in the Goldbergs – structure, harmony, a ladder of canons – and coded information we can only guess at – myths, cosmological allegories, and a soulful journey. It all starts with the bass line.’
The Oxford Museum of the History of Science took their most prized possession — a blackboard of equations that Einstein used in 1931 — and, as part of a new exhibition, asked scientists, artists, sports stars, actors, journalists, musicians, and politicians to sketch whatever they wished on an actual blackboard. These are just a few examples from the show — have a look at more here. Via Design Observer.