Free Lectures
God’s Mechanics:
How Scientists and Engineers Make Sense of Religion
An examination of the personal religious life and theology of scientists and engineers based on conversations with Techies in California’s Silicon Valley and a first-person account from Brother Guy Consolmagno, a Jesuit scientist and astronomer at the Vatican Observatory. Monday, October 15 • 7:30 p.m.

Misfits & Riot Clubs:
How Science Fiction Shapes Our Science, Beliefs, & Dreams
Science fiction takes the world we live in, deliberately changes one or two key truths, and then explores that “what if” by following rigorously the storyteller's logic to see how a protagonist's life is defined as a result. Ultimately, SF is not about spaceships or bug-eyed monsters; it is about human beings. What does it mean to be human? How better to explore that question than to ask: human, as compared to what? By addressing this question we confront our scientific understanding of the universe, our religious sense of self, and our ultimate desires, fears, and dreams. Tuesday, October 16 • 7:30 p.m.

Brother Guy Consolmagno SJ was born in Detroit, Michigan. He earned undergraduate and masters' degrees from MIT, and a Ph. D. in Planetary Science from the University of Arizona, was a researcher at Harvard and MIT, served in the US Peace Corps (Kenya), and was an assistant professor of physics at Lafayette College before entering the Jesuits in 1989.

At the Vatican Observatory since 1993, his research explores connections between meteorites, asteroids, and the evolution of small solar system bodies, observing Kuiper Belt comets with the Vatican's 1.8 meter telescope in Arizona, and curating the Vatican meteorite collection held at the Pope's summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. Along with more than 100 scientific publications, he is the author of a number of books including Turn Left at Orion (with Dan Davis), Worlds Apart: A Textbook in Planetary Sciences (with Martha Schaefer), and Brother Astronomer; his latest book, God's Mechanics, will be released in October.

Dr. Consolmagno presently serves as chair of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. He is the past president of Commission 16 (Planets and Satellites) and secretary of Division III (Planetary Systems Sciences) of the International Astronomical Union.

Website:
http://clavius.as.arizona.edu/vo/R1024/GConsolmagno.html

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GREAT EVENTS

When & Where:
Monday, October 15
Tuesday, October 16
7:30 p.m., Rozsa Center

(Doors open 1/2 hour
before show time.)

Free. Open to all.

Age Recommendation:
Appropriate for high school
age and up.

Sponsored by:
The Van Evera Distinguished
Lecture Series Endowment.