In the centuries since Newton, scientifically minded people have thought of Earth as a lonely rock orbiting an average star in a universe where no place is special. But modern cosmology has given us a new perspective based on dark matter, dark energy, and the drama of cosmic evolution. Join philosopher Nancy Ellen Abrams and Joel R. Primack, distinguished professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, for a discussion of this new vision of the universe with stunning astronomical videos. They will also place the global issues of our time in a cosmic context. The lecture includes beautiful astronomical videos, many of them based on the latest simulations.
Distinguished Professor of Physics
Director, University of California systemwide High-Performance Astro-Computing Center, 2010-
Princeton University A.B. 1966 Physics, (Summa cum laude, valedictorian)
Ph.D. Stanford University, 1970 Physics
Junior Fellow of the Society of Fellows, Harvard University, 1970-73
A.P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship, 1974
Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Senior Award, 1999
Dr. Joel R. Primack specializes in the formation and evolution of galaxies and the nature of the dark matter that makes up most of the matter in the universe. After helping to create what is now called the "Standard Model" of particle physics, Primack began working in cosmology in the late 1970s, and he became a leader in the new field of particle astrophysics. His 1982 paper with Heinz Pagels was the first to propose that a natural candidate for the dark matter is the lightest supersymmetric particle. He is one of the principal originators and developers of the theory of Cold Dark Matter, which has become the basis for the standard modern picture of structure formation in the universe. With support from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the Department of Energy, he is currently using supercomputers to simulate and visualize the evolution of the universe and the formation of galaxies under various assumptions, and comparing the predictions of these theories to the latest observational data.