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Public Lectures

 
Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series
Foothill College
Los Altos Hills, CA

Speaker: Leonard Susskind, Stanford University
Topic: The Black Hole Wars: My Battle with Stephen Hawking
Date & Time: Wednesday, October 1, 2008, 7:00 p.m.
Location: Smithwick Theater, Foothill College, El Monte Road and Freeway 280, in Los Altos Hills, California

Free and open to the public. Parking on campus costs $2.

Call the series hot-line at 650-949-7888 for more information.

No background in science will be required for this talk. Seating is first come, first served.

Black holes, the collapsed remnants of the largest stars, provide a remarkable laboratory where the frontier concepts of our understanding of nature are tested at their extreme limits. For more than two decades, Professor Susskind and a Dutch colleague have had a running battle with Stephen Hawking of Cambridge University about the implications of black hole theory for our understanding of reality -- a battle that he has described in his well-reviewed book The Black Hole Wars.

In this popular talk, without mathematics, Dr. Susskind tells the story of these wars, explains the ideas that underlie the conflict, and recounts how he got Hawking to retract some of his claims. What's at stake is nothing less than our understanding of space, time, matter and information!

Leonard Susskind is Felix Bloch Professor of theoretical physics at Stanford University and the author of two popular books and many articles on recent developments in science and their meaning. He teaches a popular "continuing studies" course at Stanford on modern physics and has won the American Institute of Physics science writing prize for an article explaining black holes. His research focuses on particle physics, quantum theory, and the nature of gravity. He has a rare knack for explaining the most advanced scientific ideas in everyday terms.

Co-sponsored by:
NASA Ames Research Center
The Foothill College Astronomy Program
The SETI Institute
The Astronomical Society of the Pacific

This talk kicks of the 2008-2009 series of Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures. A unit of credit (Astronomy 36.01) is available from Foothill College for those who attend all six Wednesday evening lectures and write a short paper on an astronomy topic of their choice. You may register in advance at: www.foothill.edu/reg or get the paperwork at the Oct. 1 lecture by coming a little bit early.

Past Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures are now available
in MP3 format at: http://www.astrosociety.org/education/podcast/index.html

"What Physicists Do" Public Lecture Series
Sonoma State University
Rohnert Park, CA

Speaker: Dr. Sally Dodson-Robinson, Michelson Science Center, California Institute of Technology
Topic: Chemistry of Planet Formation
Date & Time: Monday, November 3, 2008, 4:00 p.m.
Location: Darwin Hall, Room 103 Sonoma State University, 1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park, California

Dr. Sally Dodson-Robinson of the California Institute of Technology will describe how planets form, what they are made of, and how astronomers use that information to discover new planets.

Parking $2.50, coffee and cookies at 3:30

Free, undergraduate level, and open to the public. Call the Department of Physics and Astronomy at 707-664-2119 or go to http://phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/ for more information.

"What Physicists Do" Public Lecture Series
Sonoma State University
Rohnert Park, CA

Speaker: Dr. Helen Quinn, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
Topic: The Mystery of the Missing Antimatter
Date & Time: Monday, November 10, 2008, 4:00 p.m.
Location: Darwin Hall, Room 103 Sonoma State University, 1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park, California

Dr. Helen Quinn of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center will tell us how physicists address the puzzle of how it came about that, with very similar laws of physics for matter and antimatter, the Universe is populated with matter but very little antimatter.

Parking $2.50, coffee and cookies at 3:30

Free, undergraduate level, and open to the public. Call the Department of Physics and Astronomy at 707-664-2119 or go to http://phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/ for more information.

"What Physicists Do" Public Lecture Series
Sonoma State University
Rohnert Park, CA

Speaker: Dr. Joseph S. Miller, University of California, Santa Cruz
Topic: California Observatories as Leaders in the Development of Very Large Optical Telescopes
Date & Time: Monday, November 17, 2008, 4:00 p.m.
Location: Darwin Hall, Room 103 Sonoma State University, 1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park, California

Dr. Joseph S. Miller of the University of California, Santa Cruz will discuss the central role that California observatories have played in the evolution of large optical telescopes, from the Crossley Reflector at Lick Observatory to the giant Keck Telescopes on Mauna Kea.

Parking $2.50, coffee and cookies at 3:30

Free, undergraduate level, and open to the public. Call the Department of Physics and Astronomy at 707-664-2119 or go to http://phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/ for more information.

"What Physicists Do" Public Lecture Series
Sonoma State University
Rohnert Park, CA

Speaker: Dr. Leonard Kuhi, University of Minnesota (retired)
Topic: The Large Binocular Telescope
Date & Time: Monday, November 24, 2008, 4:00 p.m.
Location: Darwin Hall, Room 103 Sonoma State University, 1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park, California

Dr. Leonard Kuhi of the University of Minnesota (retired) will discuss the design and construction of a telescope having twin 8.4-meter mirrors, along with scientific expectations and various pitfalls encountered along the way.

Parking $2.50, coffee and cookies at 3:30

Free, undergraduate level, and open to the public. Call the Department of Physics and Astronomy at 707-664-2119 or go to http://phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/ for more information.

"What Physicists Do" Public Lecture Series
Sonoma State University
Rohnert Park, CA

Speaker: Thomas McMahon, Steward Observatory, University of Arizona
Topic: Making Good Use Of the Large Binocular Telescope
Date & Time: Monday, December 1, 2008, 4:00 p.m.
Location: Darwin Hall, Room 103 Sonoma State University, 1801 E. Cotati Ave., Rohnert Park, California

Thomas McMahon (’85) of the University of Arizona will describe his team's construction of a nulling interferometer, to be used with the Large Binocular Telescope to image planets in nearby star systems.

Parking $2.50, coffee and cookies at 3:30

Free, undergraduate level, and open to the public. Call the Department of Physics and Astronomy at 707-664-2119 or go to http://phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/ for more information.

Pennsylvania State - Erie

Lectures by a faculty member or visitor are followed by astronomical observing, weather permitting. Most of the talks are about astronomy, although sometimes there is another science topic. Access the Full Schedule.

The Schedule is at http://www.pserie.psu.edu/science/Seminars.htm under "Open House Nights In Astronomy."

Steward Observatory Public Evening Series

Monday night public astronomy lectures
Location: Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona - Tucson

For more information on the lectures go to their website - Steward Observatory Public Evening Series.

 
 
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