From the stage, they were cracking science jokes (like how physicists differ from astrophysicists), and some of them were even understandable. They also brought up Gödel’s theorem, which was harder to make sense of.
The crowd was excellent. Instead of placards, people were often holding books:
This is probably exactly the kind of rally the physicists from "The Big Bang Theory" would have organized.
Only the actual premise of TBBT—the lives of young physicist researchers at the California Institute of Technology—unfortunately doesn’t fit Russia at all.
Based on real events, here it would be a series about how three out of the four lost their Dynasty Foundation scholarships (a Russian science and education charity), then moved abroad, while the fourth was forced to join the academic council at Moscow State University, headed by Putin’s daughter, where instead of doing physics he would be involved in building luxury housing on university land.
The organizers did a great job, and so did everyone who came.
We need to gather more often—and in greater numbers.