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Lectures & Classes | Calendar A free public lecture & discussion series surveying major concepts of physics that influence our perception of the universal context in which we live. Offered by the Science Integration Institute and PSU Center for Science Education. If you'd like to receive updates about upcoming SII events, please go to https://www.lists.pdx.edu/lists/listinfo/science to join our announcements email list.
The series assumes no formal background in science. It’s intended for anyone who would like to learn more about some of the big ideas from physics and discuss how these ideas relate to their daily life and perception of the world. The format is designed to encourage participation and connection to the interests of the audience: Each session will consist of a 45 minute lecture to introduce the topic, followed by 45 minutes for questions and discussion. Topics in the series include:
Lecture #6: Neuroscience, free will, and responsibility -- Dr. Joshua FostSummary: The notion that we are free to think and act as we please has long been an assumption of common sense and of philosophy. While there is no doubt that we FEEL free, are we really, or are we instead "merely" complex automata governed only by the physical and biochemical machinery of our brains? The more neuroscience uncovers about the relationship between brain and mind, the more we seem forced to conclude that indeed, the mind is what the brain does, and lacks any sort of independence from the laws of physics. In that sense, our will is like the weather: complicated and unpredictable, but not free at all. In this discussion, we'll explore the natural underpinnings of what is sometimes called "the free will illusion" and discuss what these ideas mean for everyday notions of self, responsibility, and ethics. About the speaker: Dr. Joshua Fost holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience and psychology from Princeton University. His work focuses on the implications of brain research and the naturalistic worldview. Lecture #5: Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics -- Scott JohnsonSummary: The locally-produced movie What the Bleep Do We Know is entertaining and thought-provoking, although sometimes misleading about mainstream science. It includes a scene depicting quantum measurement – when Marlee Matlin looks away, the audience sees a wave function of many basketballs behind her, but when she turns around and looks at the wave function, she sees only one basketball. This is a movie visualization of a quantum mechanical wave function collapsing when it is measured (by Marlee Matlin’s eyes, in this case). How accurately does this picture represent quantum physics? The short answer: not bad for a movie, although it is somewhat oversimplified. In this lecture, Scott Johnson will first illustrate the problem of quantum measurement with examples including the Schrödinger’s cat paradox and the scene from What the Bleep. Then he'll describe recent work such as the decoherence effect and non-locality that partially solves these problems, but in the end still leaves us with a mystery. About the speaker: Scott Johnson holds a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Davis, where he did research in far-infrared spectroscopy. He currently works in the quality and reliability department at Intel. Quantum measurement has been a semi-professional hobby of his for about 20 years.
Lecture #4: Reality, Reason, & Imagination -- Dr. David TerrellSummary: As we struggle to understand the “world” in which we live, different approaches have been used for that end. Two general trends have been followed, the metaphysical and the physical. In this discussion we’ll focus on the “physical” trend. Understanding the “physical world” has been based on making sense of what we observe, thus the scientific method relies on the observation-interpretation dichotomy. Human observation is governed by its own development and comprehension. But in any case it finally comes to the human’s sensory capability. This capability is now extended to sophisticated instrumentation that allows the “observation” of phenomena as small as a molecular nano-structure and electronic quantum behavior or as big as a galactic conglomerate. In both extremes and in cases in between what ever we observe has to be modeled in accordance to basic principles accepted by the community. One such principle could be the conservation of mass/energy in a natural process that allows us to make stoichiometric calculations. These calculations can indeed be used to predict the outcome of a chemical reaction, both qualitatively and quantitatively. In this framework we’ll have a discussion of historical moments that reflect the duality of a discovery in relation to the current “common sense” of the day and the revolutionary changes brought by imaginative minds.
About the speaker: Dr. David Terrell obtained his Ph. D. (Physics) from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. His post-doc research was focused on the mass spectrometric analysis of rocks and geochronology. Later he directed the Geochronology and Geochemistry laboratories at the Mexican Petroleum Institute and taught grads and undergrads at the National University of Mexico. Has been teaching at Warner Pacific College since 1998. For more info visit: http://www.warnerpacific.edu/personal/DTerrell/ Lecture #3: Our Cosmic Context -- Todd DuncanSummary: We find ourselves in a universe that is ancient and vast almost beyond comprehension. Somehow, we have emerged able to wonder and try to figure out where it all came from and how it all fits together. This lecture will provide an overview of our modern scientific understanding of the cosmos, as a framework for exploring your own questions about the universe and your place within it. We'll focus on evidence for an expanding ("big bang") universe, including the measurement of distances in astronomy, redshifts of galaxies, and the cosmic microwave background radiation. About the speaker: Todd Duncan combines a research background in physics and astronomy with experience teaching science concepts to non-specialists. He holds a Ph.D. in astrophysics from the University of Chicago and physics degrees from Cambridge University and the University of Illinois. Todd is president of the Science Integration Institute and adjunct faculty in the Center for Science Education at Portland State University, and is currently working on a cosmology textbook. Lecture #2: The Second Law of Thermodynamics and the Arrow of Time -- Todd DuncanSummary: C.P. Snow once remarked that a person who could not describe the Second Law of Thermodynamics was as culturally illiterate as one who had never read a work of Shakespeare. Although the Second Law can be described as the simple observation that heat flows spontaneously from hot to cold (and not vice versa), further investigation reveals a deep connection to our everyday experience with the world: a world in which our ability to harness heat energy to do useful work is limited, a world in which we remember the past but not the future and in which information is forgotten as time passes. This lecture will introduce the basic principles behind the Second Law and suggest implications for how we see ourselves in the world.
Lecture #1: Everyday Energy -- Todd DuncanSummary: We’re all familiar with the term energy in everyday conversation. We hear about the need to conserve it, and we even deal with numerical values of energy when we pay our power bill each month. But how well do we really understand what a “kilowatt-hour” is, or the way in which everything we do involves a transfer of energy from one form to another? This lecture will provide an introduction to energy that lets you see how the concept developed from direct experience with the world, how it connects to your own everyday experiences, and how it can provide an organizing and unifying principle to help you make sense of the connections and patterns you observe in the world you are a part of.
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If you'd like to help support these lectures, tax-deductible donations can be made to the Science Integration Institute or to the Center for Science Education at Portland State University. |
