In an example of HWS interdisciplinarity, Donald Spector, the Phillip J. Moorad ’28 and Margaret N. Moorad Professor of Science and Chair of the Physics Department, recently presented a talk at the “Beckett’s Traces” conference in Lille, France, as part of the Samuel Beckett centenary.

The only scientist presenting at a literary conference, Spector gave a talk titled “Distinguishing the Multiverse from an Echo in ‘Waiting for Godot,'” which used ideas from quantum mechanics to offer a new analysis of Beckett’s most famous play.

Beckett, who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969, published “Watiting for Godot” in French in 1952; it was premiered the following year.

Spector, who joined the HWS faculty in 1989, is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard University, where he also earned his master’s degree and doctorate. He has been a KITP Scholar of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics and a visiting fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.