Perimeter Public Lectures

I belong to the lucky generation who survived World War Two and unexpectedly found ourselves alive and young at the dawn of four simultaneous revolutions. We were present at the creation of four new technologies that were to continue transforming the world for the following sixty-five years. First revolution, Space, beginning with the first spacecraft, the V2 rocket, which came crashing down on our heads in London in the last year of the war. Second revolution, Nuclear Energy, beginning with the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Third revolution, Genomes, beginning with the experiment of Oswald Avery in 1944 which proved that the molecule DNA was the carrier of genetic information. Fourth revolution, Computers, beginning with the first electronic computer ENIAC which started operation in 1946. All four revolutions burst out within two years and gave us our chance to play small roles in big events. They gave drama and excitement to our lives.

Some numbers mean things, and some numbers do things. Making--and breaking--that distinction was central to renowned mathematician John von Neumann’s implementation of Alan Turing’s Universal Machine in 1945-56. In this lecture, you will learn about the unlikeliest place on earth to build such a device and how this vital 5-kilobyte step in the digital revolution was sparked by a collision of ideas between mathematicians and engineers. Combining soldering guns with science, Von Neumann and his Electronic Computing Instrument tackled previously intractable problems ranging from thermonuclear explosions, stellar evolution, and long-range weather forecasting to cellular automata, network optimization, and the origins of life. In this highly visual and informative presentation, George Dyson will impart the full story - from the people to their processors - and where our digital directions through history may lead us next.

Learn about the future of “3D Printers” – machines that will fabricate arbitrary-shaped parts, layer by layer. Dr. Lipson will share a history of these technologies and preview a future in which we continue to gain unprecedented control over physical matter. If humans distinguish themselves from their evolutionary ancestors by making tools, then how might the ultimate tools – involving additive manufacturing – impact human culture forever? Dr. Lipson explores the science, technology and potential of programmable matter.

The world's most ambitious scientific experiment is buried 100 meters underground, straddling Switzerland and France. A billion times every minute, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) slams together protons, while four giant detectors watch closely. - So how does the Large Hadron Collider work? - Why can slamming tiny particles into each other provide clues about the nature of all space and time? - What mysteries are physicists trying to solve with data from the LHC? - How does the cutting edge of particle physics relate to the world around us, from the patterns of stars in the sky to the fact that they shine at all? Natalia Toro, PI Faculty, works at the intersection of theories and hard data. She will explain how complex collision data from the LHC is being digested and examined right now, and how it may set the course for the science of the future.

With a background in computer and systems engineering as well as language processing and automatic speech recognition, Ms. Payette was selected from a pool of 5,330 candidates to become a Canadian astronaut, focusing on technical issues in robotics. Today, following her amazing professional career and numerous life experiences, Ms. Payette is veteran of two missions to the International Space Station as a crew member and Flight Engineer. She also holds a commercial pilot license; earned military pilot captaincy on the 'Snowbird' jets; is a certified deep-sea diving suit operator; is fluent in French and English, and can converse in Spanish, Italian, Russian and German. She has received many awards, holds numerous degrees and, on a personal note, plays the piano and has sung with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Piacere Vocale in Basel, Switzerland, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in Toronto. Drawing from her many firsthand experiences and zest for life, Ms. Payette will share an astronaut's high level perspective on extraordinarily complex, yet highly collaborative, challenges in space - from both a research and international diplomacy policy point of view.

Black holes are hot! This discovery made by Stephen Hawking ties together gravity, spacetime, quantum matter, and thermal systems into the beautiful and exciting science of "Black Hole Thermodynamics". Its beauty lies in the powerful way it speaks of the unity of physics. The excitement arises because it tells us that there is something lacking in our understanding of spacetime and, at the same time, gives us a major clue as to what the missing ingredient should be. Theoretical physicists at Perimeter Institute and elsewhere are pioneering a proposal, known as Causal Set Theory, for the structure held by these most fundamental atoms of spacetime. In this talk, Professor Dowker describes black hole thermodynamics and argue that it is telling us that spacetime itself is granular or "atomic" at very tiny scales.

Apart from Einstein, Paul Dirac was probably the greatest theoretical physicist of the twentieth century. Dirac, co-inventor of the most revolutionary theory for 150 years 'quantum mechanics' is now best known for conceiving of anti-matter in his head and also for his deeply eccentric behaviour. For him, the most important attribute of a fundamental theory was its mathematical beauty, an idea that he said was 'almost a religion' to him. In this talk, Farmelo will argue that this obsession originated in his early life and training as an engineer and mathematician. An examination of Dirac's character will show why he was sometimes called 'the strangest man' in the modern history of physics.

How do snowflakes form?  What creates their complex, symmetrical and strikingly beautiful shapes?  Is it true that no two are exactly alike?  Kenneth Libbrecht of Caltech, will reveal the secrets of snowflakes and the molecular dynamics of crystal growth through spectacular photographs of these miniature ice sculptures. 

Albert Einstein wrote that “The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious.” In his talk, Dr. Epp will explore how the process of science—wonder & curiosity coupled with imagination & reasoning—has led to some of the greatest discoveries and deepest mysteries about the structure, evolution and origin of the universe.  This lecture will celebrate the power of science to deepen our sense of cosmic wonder as we stand before the present-day mysteries of Dark Matter, Dark Energy and the Big Bang.