Public Lecture
Is Physics a Universal Language?
Daniel Whiteson
UC Irvine
Wed, Jul 22, 5:30–6:30pm
Physicists like to believe that their work reveals something deeply true about the Universe. Alien scientists, they suspect, are discovering the same concepts, even if they may express them in alien languages. But how do we know? If aliens arrived on Earth, could we use physics and math to bridge the gap? Before they arrive, we can glimpse the possibilities by looking at the foundations of physics, to search for clues about whether they are universal, or reflect something of our humanity.
About Daniel Whiteson
Daniel Whiteson is a professor of physics at UC Irvine who studies particle collisions at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. He’s the host of the podcast ‘Daniel and Kelly’s Extraordinary Universe’. He can’t want to meet aliens and talk to them about physics.
Heinz R. Pagels Public Lecture Series
Heinz R Pagels was a professor of physics at Rockefeller University, president of the New York Academy of Science, a trustee of the Aspen Institute, and a member of the Aspen Center for Physics for twenty years, serving as a participant, officer, and trustee. He was also President of the International League for Human Rights. His work on chaos theory inspired the character of Ian Malcolm in the Jurassic Park book and movies. A part-time local resident, Professor Pagels died here in a mountaineering accident in 1988. His family and friends instituted the lecture series in his honor because he devoted a substantial part of his life to effective public dissemination of scientific knowledge.
Other Upcoming Events
Pushed by Sound: Moving Objects Too Small to See
Wed, Jul 15, 5:30–6:30pm
Flug Forum, Aspen Center for Physics
How Your Immune System Learns
Wed, Jul 29, 5:30–6:30pm
Flug Forum, Aspen Center for Physics
Breaking the Rules that Matter: Superconductors and Strange Quantum Materials
Wed, Aug 5, 5:30–6:30pm
Flug Forum, Aspen Center for Physics