Anderson Science Lecture: 'Knocking on Heaven’s Door'

Denison University's Anderson Lecture Series welcomes Harvard University's Professor of Physics Lisa Randall, Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Physics, presenting a lecture, “Knocking on Heaven’s Door.”

One of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world and the bestselling author of Warped Passages, Lisa Randall is an expert in both particle physics (the study of the smallest objects we know of) and cosmology (the study of the largest).

In Knocking on Heaven’s Door, her most recent book and the title of this lecture, Randall takes us on an amazing tour through the latest developments in physics – including a new preface explaining the thrilling discovery of the Higgs boson – and the theoretical concepts underlying this work. Knocking on Heaven’s Door also explores the role of risk, creativity, uncertainty, beauty, and truth in scientific thinking. Through provocative conversations with leading figures in other fields, including chef David Chang, forecaster Nate Silver, and screenwriter Scott Derrickson, and through reflections on her own work, Randall makes an impassioned argument in defense of science.

The latest developments in physics have the potential to radically revise our understanding of the world: its makeup, its evolution, and the fundamental forces that drive its operation. Randall will give an overview of current developments and describe the nature of scientific thinking, with emphasis on the role of scale. Randall will also discuss how experiments today are expanding the frontiers of knowledge.

More about Randall:

Lisa Randall studies theoretical particle physics and cosmology at Harvard University, where she is the Frank J. Baird, Jr., Professor of Science. Her work has made her among the most cited and influential theoretical physicists today. She has been one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” and Rolling Stone’s RS100: Agents of Change, and both Knocking on  Heaven’s Door and Warped Passages have been named New York Times Notable Books. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. When not solving the problems of the universe, Randall can be found rock climbing, skiing, or contributing to art-science connections. Her libretto for Hypermusic Prologue premiered at the Pompidou Center in Paris in 2009. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Co-sponsored by the Ronneberg Endowment