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Dr Richard Leakey

The Dice of Life: How probability rules the universe, society and science

with Tom Siegfried
Editor in Chief of Science News

From atoms and molecules, to life's evolution, to human nature and human society and even the existence and properties of the physical universe, science's insight into nature mirrors lessons learned
from roulette wheels and flipping coins. Most important (and least understood) of all, science's methods of making discoveries rely (almost blindly) on statistical reasoning, which makes policy making based on scientific studies a very risky business.

7pm, Thursday October 7, 2010
Dr. Terence Love

Dark Energy and the Runaway Universe

with Dr. Alex Filippenko
Professor of Astronomy
UC Berkeley

Physicists have no idea what dark-matter is, or where it comes from, nor why we have a runaway-expanding-universe.  Dark-matter comprises 96% of our universe, and only 4% is comprised of atoms. Space inside an atom does have quantum fluctuations going on, that very slightly alters the energy levels of electrons in an atom.

 

7pm, Tuesday, November 2, 2010


Dr. Daniel Levitin

From Science to Policy: 
What's so good about evidence?

with Dr. Nancy Cartwright
Professor of Philosophy
London School of Economics

Evidence-based policy has been all the rage for over a decade. Clearly it is better to inform decisions by evidence than merely by ideology, wishful thinking or causal observation. But the methods standardly recommended – that social policy imitate evidence-based medicine, relying on gold-standard randomized-controlled-trials – are a bad way of using evidence to predict if policies will work in practice. This talk shows how to do better.


7pm, Thursday February 10, 2011

Dr. Susan Haack

Hidden Realities: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos

with Dr. Brian Greene
Columbia University

In recent years, a growing body of work based on a broad spectrum of ideas from quantum mechanics, cosmology, and string theory has been steadily converging around a proposal that our universe is actually only one of many universes.  In this presentation, Greene, with his trademark impartiality, crystal-clear prose, and inspired use of analogy, opens up the strange worlds of the "multiverse," taking us on a journey grounded firmly in science, and limited only by our imagination.

 

 7pm, Thursday February 24, 2011


Dr. Brian Green

Solving Mysteries of the Ancient Maya

with Dr. Michael D. Coe
Yale University

 The decipherment of the Maya script and recent archaeological investigation have solved many Maya mysteries: the origins of Maya civilization, the nature of Classic period city-states, the Maya view of the world and the supernatural, and (perhaps) the factors that contributed to the disastrous collapse of the Classic Maya.

7pm, Thursday March 10, 2011
Dr. Stuart Kauffman

Anthropos of Modernity

with Dr. Paul Rabinow
UC Berkeley

Paul Rabinow discusses his recent reflections on the anthropology of the contemporary.  Rabinow examines cutting-edge practices in the life sciences, security, new media and art practices, and other emergent phenomena, showing how anthropology remains relevant to contemporary debates.


7pm, Thursday April 14, 2011


All events are held at Schnitzer Concert Hall on Broadway, Portland