The Beauty and Benefits of Science

The 2013 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston will highlight the “unreasonable effectiveness” of the scientific enterprise in creating economic growth, solving societal problems, and satisfying the essential human drive to understand the world in which we live. Thousands of leading scientists, engineers, educators, and policy-makers will interact with each other and with hundreds of members of media. The growing number of international attendees demonstrates the global nature of this gathering. More than 150 sessions spread across 14 tracks will be presented at the AAAS Annual Meeting, which is one of the most widely recognized global-science gatherings, with hundreds of networking opportunities and broad U.S. and international media coverage.

The meeting's theme — The Beauty and Benefits of Science — points to the “unreasonable effectiveness” of the scientific enterprise in creating economic growth, solving societal problems, and satisfying the essential human drive to understand the world in which we live.

The phrase “unreasonable effectiveness” was coined in 1960 by physicist Eugene Wigner, who explored the duality of mathematics — both beautiful unto itself, and also eminently practical, often in unexpected ways. The scientific program will highlight the rich and complicated connections between basic and applied research, and how they bring about both practical benefits and the beauty of pure understanding.

Everyone is welcome at the AAAS Annual Meeting. Those who join us will have the opportunity to choose among a broad range of activities, including plenary and topical lectures by some of the world's leading scientists and engineers, multidisciplinary symposia, cutting-edge seminars, career development workshops, and an international exhibition. You and your family can also enjoy Family Science Days, a free event open to the general public.

Register today.