Brown University physics professor Stephon Alexander will cover the ancient quest to understand the motion of celestial bodies and the origin of the cosmos and its connection to music. Of particlar importance is Kepler's musical insight into his three laws. Stephon will discuss the current problems facing cosmology, fine tuning of the constants of nature, and provide a modern musical interpretation that modifies the big bang theory itself.
We are very honored to have author Dava Sobel to speak about her new book "The Glass Universe." The topic is the work done by the women "calculators" at Harvard College Observatory under the direction and with the encouragement of E.C. Pickering.
The Messier catalog, a beginner's introduction to the sky, is a list of over 100 objects visible through small telescopes; some can even be seen with the naked eye. Steve Siok will discuss three types of these objects: open clusters, globular clusters, and galaxies, all of which are important to the understanding of and appreciating the structure of our own Milky Way galaxy, and how to plan observing sessions to seek out each of these types of objects, in order to plan your deep-sky observing throughout the seasons.
