Last night I went to see a performance at the Paramount Theater here in Austin. The Paramount is one of those gorgeous, old-style, 100 year-old theaters, a premier place to watch a show, with seating for 1,200. I’ve been to plays and Broadway shows there, and seen John Prine, Leo Kottke, Ottmar Liebert and a host of other great musicians. But yesterday’s show, at a ticket price of $50, may have been my most expensive. Who did I see? A physicist, Brian Greene. The author of The Elegant Universe talked about quantum mechanics, string theory, and the possibility of parallel universes.

Are you surprised that a lecture about physics would sell out a theater at $50/ticket? I am. And the crowd was enthusiastic! There were whistles when he walked on stage. After the 80 minute lecture, he spent 30 minutes answering questions from the audience – he finally had to call it quits with many hands still in the air. I was also surprised to see how diverse the crowd was: about 50% women (a great date-night event, no doubt), with ages from middle school to geriatric. I watched a mom drop off three cute, young high school girls outside the theater, replete with their spiral notebooks and pencil boxes.

In a world where Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan command outsized attention, yesterday restored a little faith in humanity for me. Rock on, physics!