Joel Primack and Nancy Abrams on January 23, 2008 at 7 p.m.

On Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008, at 7 pm., Astronomer Joel Primack of the University of Califor.nia, Santa Cruz and Philosopher and Attorney Nancy Abrams will give a multimedia presentation entitled:

The View from the Center of the Universe: Discovering Our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos

as part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures in the Smithwick Theater, Foothill College, El Monte Road and Freeway 280, in Los Altos Hills, California.

Free and open to the public. Parking on campus costs $2.

Call the series hot-line at 650-949-7888 for more information and driving directions.

No background in science will be required for this program, which unites science with the humanities.

Remarkable discoveries in the last decade are transforming “cosmology,” the study of the universe as a whole. Our cosmos appears to be made mostly of dark matter and dark energy, with the stars and galaxies we can see making up only a tiny fraction of it. We are beginning to understand the first few minutes after the Big Bang and the way in which the structure of the universe arose.

Joel Primack and Nancy Abrams’ program is both a progress report and philosophical reflection on our modern view of ourselves and our place in the cosmos. Using the latest science, cosmic images and visualizations, plus music, themes from myth, and even cartoons, they will illustrate how the new ideas about the universe have widespread cultural implications.

Joel Primack is an award-winning physicist and cosmologist, who writes for both his colleagues and the public. Nancy Abrams is a former Fulbright Scholar and student of mythology. While working for the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, she invented a method called “scientific mediation” that lets government agencies make intelligent decisions despite scientific uncertainty. Together they teach a course on “Cosmology and Culture” at the University of California, Santa Cruz and have written a popular book, published in 2006, with the same title as this lecture.

This interdisciplinary program is something of a departure from our usual series of lectures, but should intrigue and challenge everyone interested in the meaning of science for our times.

The program is co-sponsored by:
* NASA Ames Research Center
* The Foothill College Astronomy Program
* The SETI Institute
* The Astronomical Society of the Pacific.