NNG2005: Public Talk

On Tuesday, Aug. 9 at 8 p.m. in UCSC classroom unit 2, UCSC physics professor Joel Primack and his wife, writer and attorney Nancy Abrams, will give a public talk entitled "The View from the Center of the Universe: Discovering Our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos". The talk will be based on their new book by the same title, due to be published in March 2006. Primack and Abrams have a special interest in the cultural implications of modern cosmology and have cotaught a course on cosmology and culture at UCSC since 1996. The speakers will be introduced by UCSC astronomer Sandy Faber, and a panel composed of Primack, Abrams, Faber, and professor George Blumenthal will hold an extensive question-and-answer section afterward.


Details and how to get there:

Admission and parking are free, and light refreshments will be served following the talk.

To get to the free parking, follow signs from the UCSC entrance. Here is a printable PDF map. Signs will direct you from the Hahn parking area to the talk in Classroom unit 2.

About Joel Primack:

Joel Primack, a professor of physics, has done pioneering research in particle physics and cosmology. His current research in cosmology involves the use of supercomputers to simulate and visualize the evolution of the universe and the formation of galaxies. These computer simulations enable him and his collaborators to compare the predictions of theories with the observational data. Primack is also active in addressing policy issues in science and technology, and he currently chairs the American Physical Society Forum on Physics and Society. His most recent policy work has been on efforts to protect the near-Earth space environment and on NASA funding for astrophysics. A fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Primack joined the UCSC faculty in 1973.

About Nancy Abrams:

Nancy Ellen Abrams has a bachelors degree in history and philosophy of science from the University of Chicago, and a law degree from the University of Michigan. She has worked at international law firms, at the Ford Foundation, and for the U.S. Congress. She co-created Scientific Mediation, a means of handling scientific disputes in public policy-making, and has consulted on this for Sweden, state governments, and corporations. She is also a writer whose work has appeared in numerous journals, magazines, and books, and a musician who has performed her original songs at conferences, public concerts, and spiritual events in fourteen countries and been featured on radio and television.

About Sandy Faber and George Blumental

Faber, a University Professor of astronomy and astrophysics, came to UCSC in 1972. She is a leading authority on telescopes and astronomical instrumentation, and is renowned for her work on the role of dark matter in the formation of structure in the universe. Faber and a group of colleagues were the first to detect high-speed flows of galaxies on cosmic scales. She is currently involved in several projects, including a major survey of distant galaxies (the DEEP Survey), studies of supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies, and the development of adaptive optics systems to sharpen the images of ground-based telescopes. Her many awards and honors include the Bok Prize of Harvard University, the Heineman Prize of the American Astronomical Society, and election to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society.

Blumenthal, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics, joined the UCSC faculty in 1972. He continues to investigate the origin of structure in the universe, such as galaxies and clusters of galaxies, and the role that dark matter plays in the formation and evolution of this structure. He also studies related cosmological issues, such as the generation of density fluctuations during an early inflationary phase of the universe. In addition to his work in cosmology, Blumenthal has studied gamma-ray bursts, accretion disks, and active galactic nuclei and maintains a strong interest in those areas. He has served as chair of the UC Academic Senate for 2004-05.