Jonathan Lunine considers authorship of Big Bang Theory

School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions, August 11, 2017

Can science and religion be reconciled? Astronomy professor Jonathan Lunine offered his thoughts on the subject on July 19, 2017, in Kennedy Hall. The lecture was part of the free summer events series sponsored by the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions.

Lunine, director of the Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, will look at the case of Georges Lemaitre, a Belgian scientist and Catholic priest who conceived the Big Bang model for the origin of the cosmos. As a man of the cloth, Lemaitre faced unique difficulties in defending the theory that he helped to formulate. In his talk, Lunine will explore two questions raised by this piece of scientific history: who gets credit for what in scientific discoveries, and can a scientist be religious?

Video: "'The Future Belongs to Those Who Tell the Best Stories': Advocacy Techniques in Great American Trials"