|  Riverhead
High School’s library was the recent recipient of a unique
and exciting gift: a limited edition of a copy of Einstein’s
1912 Manuscript on the Special Theory of Rela-tivity: A Facsimile
and Translation.
“It is quite a treasure and we’re very excited to
have such a unique endowment come our way,” states the RHS
Library Media Special-ist, Suzanne Conlin. “This manuscript
was a gift from Mr. James Senatore, of Riverhead, and is a facsimile
of the original 1912 Manuscript on the Special Theory of Relativity.
This is, of course, an amazing gift.”
The
manuscript contains both English and German text on facing pages
and there are only a limited number in existence. Mr. Senatore
received the copy from the Republic National Bank, where he was
employed asmanager. The bank’s owner, Edmond Safra, owned
the original document and then had about 2,500 copies of it made
and bound. These were later given to managers as gifts.
“Mr. Safra was a very generous benefactor,” explained
Mr. Senatore. “Republic National was, in fact, the first
bank to give out gifts to new account holders. I’m sure
Mr. Safra meant for these books to be given to schools and libraries
throughout the country, so I’m happy to be able to make
this donation.”
Mr. Senatore received three copies of the manuscript. He gave
one to the Riverhead School District (his two sons attend school
in the Riverhead District), one to Mattituck High School (where
he attended school) and one to Mercy High School.
According to an article in Newsday, at almost the same time that
the school originally received the facsimile, the original manuscript
went on display at a new exhibition, entitled “Einstein,”
at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The
exhibit anticipates the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s
discovery of the theory of relativity in 1905 and runs through
August 10, 2003. It will be housed in Jerusalem during its anniversary
in 2005.
(The two AP students in the picture were in school to take their
Regents exam in Physics.)
|