Join us for a conversation with cosmologist Stephon Alexander, who argues that great physics requires one to think outside the mainstream—to improvise and to rely on intuition. His approach has led him to three principles that shape all theories of the universe: the principle of invariance, the quantum principle, and the principle of emergence.

Alexander uses these three principles to explore some of physics' greatest mysteries, from what happened before the Big Bang to how the universe makes consciousness possible. Drawing on his experience as a Black physicist, Alexander makes a powerful case for diversifying our scientific communities because—after successfully incorporating a piece of life-changing advice that, in order to discover real physics, he needed to stop memorizing and start taking risks—Alexander has concluded that making further progress in physics probably requires embracing the excluded, listening to the unheard, and being unafraid of being wrong.

This program was rescheduled from September 8, 2021.

Our thanks to Marcus Books in Oakland for fulfilling book orders.

In partnership with Wonderfest.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2021

SPEAKERS

Stephon Alexander
Professor of Physics, Brown University; Jazz Musician; Author, Fear of a Black Universe: An Outsider's Guide to the Future of Physics

In Conversation with George Hammond
Author, Conversations With Socrates

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