Winchester Discovery Centre, Jewry St. 7.00 for 7.30pm
Michael Brooks resurrects the extraordinary story of Jerome Cardano. This 16th century Renaissance Italian was a gambler who invented the theory of probability, an astrologer to popes and emperors who taught the public how to map the heavens, a doctor consulted by kings, archbishops and senators, a mathematician who discovered the secrets of imaginary numbers – and a victim of the Inquisition whose punishment was to disappear from history.
In this talk, Brooks will tell the forgotten story of Cardano’s life, and trace the astrologer’s legacy all the way to the frontiers of modern physics, uncovering some extraordinary insights along the way.
Michael Brooks, who holds a PhD in quantum physics, is an author, journalist and broadcaster. He is a consultant at New Scientist, a magazine with over three quarters of a million readers worldwide,and writes a weekly column for the New Statesman. He is the author of At The Edge of Uncertainty, The Secret Anarchy of Science and the bestselling non-fiction title 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense. His writing has also appeared in the Guardian, the Independent, the Observer, the Times Higher Education, the Philadelphia Inquirer and many other newspapers and magazines. He has lectured at various places, including New York University, The American Museum of Natural History and Cambridge University.
His website is here.
Hardly a day goes by without the publication of a story in the press informing us that by 2030 over 30% of UK jobs could be replaced by robotic systems. Historically the introduction of technology has enhanced the experience of the workforce. The introduction of advanced robotics however is associated with the workforce polarization into either high-skilled, highly-paid or low-skilled, poorly-paid employment with the loss of mid-skilled jobs. The presentation will go behind the hype and look at the current state of robotic systems, and how its integration with artificial intelligence has led to this situation.
This talk is a fine introduction into the age-old philosophical debate as to whether we have free will, or whether we live determined lives.
Conspiracy theories are everywhere – and, arguably, always have been. What influences us to believe or reject them? Why do some events give rise to more conspiracy theories than others? What does the prevalence of conspiracy theories say about us as a society? And how is The Simpsons like an ancient Babylonian sheep’s liver? This whirlwind tour through conspiracy theory psychology will focus particularly on how suspicion, paranoia, and ambiguity help us to make sense of an uncertain world.
Have you ever wondered how to inspire non-science people with science, technology, and critical thinking?
Chris Lintott is a Professor of Astrophysics in the Department of Physics at Oxford University. He is involved in a number of popular science projects aimed at bringing astronomy to a wider audience. He is probably best known as the main presenter of the BBC series, The Sky At Night.
Helen Czerski
David Gorski
Emma McClure
Caroline Rance
Phil Scraton
Kavin Senapathy
Simon Singh