Origins lecturer to take audience on a cosmic odyssey
[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Krauss_Lawrence.jpg” caption=”Lawrence Krauss”]This story has all the makings of a gripping motion picture. Woven throughout are drama, excitement and mystery and at the core is a protagonist too small to be seen with the naked eye.
It's the story of the atom, and internationally known theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss will tell it this Thursday.
“I will describe the story of one atom, in a glass of water on the stage in Hamilton, from the beginning of the Universe to its possible end,” writes Krauss in his lecture abstract for the Origin Lecture. “The story is full of drama, excitement, as well as mystery, and will lead us to explore ideas from the origin of all matter in the universe, to the future of life and intelligence.”
Krauss' research interests include the interface between elementary particle physics and cosmology, particularly in topics such as the early universe, the nature of dark matter, and general relativity. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1982), did postdoctoral research at Harvard, and has been a professor at Yale University. He is the chair of the Physics Department at Case Western Reserve University and is a fellow of the American Physical Society.
He is also a renowned public lecturer and popularizer of science, most famously for his book on The Physics of Star Trek. He recently won the Oerstead Medal from the American Association of Physics Teachers for his contributions to physics teaching.
The free lecture, “An Atom from Hamilton – a Cosmic Odyssey” will take place Thursday, Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. in the McMaster Centre for Learning & Discovery, Room 1305.
Click here to view the poster.
The lecture is one in a series that investigates the origins of life. It is sponsored by McMaster's Origins Institute, which creates and fosters interdisciplinary research on origins themes across a broad range of fundamental science.
