[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Turner_Michael.jpg” caption=”Michael Turner”]Einstein's theory of gravity has given us a remarkable understanding of the evolution of the universe, from the quark soup that existed a fraction of a second after the Big Bang, through the formation of the galaxies, stars and planets to the present – a span of some 14 billions years.

Einstein's start has given rise to many more questions. The two that pose the greatest challenges to cosmologists are these: What happened before the Big Bang? What is our cosmic destiny?

These questions are ripe to answer, but it means going beyond Einstein's theory of gravity.

Michael Turner is a distinguished service professor at the University of Chicago. The focus of his research is on the application of modern ideas about elementary particle physics to cosmology. He is one of the leading researchers on the nature of the newly discovered dark energy that is driving the accelerated expansion of the universe. An engaging and sought-after speaker, Turner will take us beyond Einstein's theory of gravity to where the answers lay to those big questions. More information on Turner is available at http://origins.mcmaster.ca/plec.html.

The lecture, the second in the Origins Institute's 2005 public lecture series, and the second in its Einstein double-header, will take place Thursday, Nov. 17 at 8:15 p.m. in the Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery (MDCL) Room 1305, McMaster University. Admission is free but early seating is recommended. The talk is preceded by coffee in the atrium of MDCL commencing at 7:45 p.m.