In the century between 1847 and 1947, a handful of men and women changed the world.
Many of them are well known—Marx, Freud, Proust, Einstein, Kafka. Others have vanished from collective memory despite their enduring importance in our daily lives. Without Rosalind Franklin, for example, genetic science would look very different. Without Fritz Haber, there would not be enough food to sustain life on earth. What do these visionaries have in common? They all had Jewish origins.
Norman Lebrecht has devoted half of his life to researching the mindset of the Jewish intellectuals, writers, scientists, and thinkers who turned the tides of history and shaped the world today as we know it. His conclusions are featured in his book Genius & Anxiety: How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947. Join the Museum for a conversation between Lebrecht and Museum Trustee Matthew Goldstein, former chancellor of the City University of New York, about Genius & Anxiety.
Buy and read the book ahead of time and submit your questions for the program's Q&A session to pubprog@mjhnyc.org.