AAAS Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion

News & Events: Conferences & Forums

Cosmic Questions
14-16 April 1999
National Museum of Natural History
Washington, DC

 

Intro | About | Program | Speakers | Resources

Speakers

Anindita N. Balslev, Ph.D. (Paris) is currently on the faculty of the Department of Philosophy, University of Copenhagen. She is the author of A Study of Time in Indian Philosophy (1983), Cultural Otherness (1991), coeditor of Religion and Time (1993) and editor of Cross-Cultural Conversation (1995). She is deeply involved in promoting conversation that seeks to remove hard, boundaries between disciplines and cultures.

John Barrow is currently professor of astronomy and has been director of the astronomy centre, university of sussex, since 1981. he is the author of more than 275 papers in cosmology and astrophysics, and the author of 11 books including: the left hand of creation (with joseph silk), the anthropic Cosmological Principle (with Frank Tipler), Theories of Everything, Impossibility: the limits of science and the science of limits, and, most recently, Between Inner Space and Outer Space.

Anna Case-Winters is associate professor of theology at mccormick theological seminary. she has served as president of the midwest area of the american theological society and is the current moderator of the theology committee of the caribbean and north american area council of the world alliance of reformed churches. she is the author of divine power: traditional understandings and Contemporary Challenges (1990).

Audrey Chapman is the director of the aaas programs on science and human rights and dialogue between science and religion. she holds a ph.d. in political science and an s.t.m. in ethics. her research and writing in science and religion has focused on issues of bioethics and bioresponsibility. she is the editor of perspectives on gene patenting: religion, science and Industry in Dialogue (1999) and author of Religious Ethics at the Frontiers of Science and Technology (1999).

Irven Devore is curator of primatology at harvard's peabody museum of archeology and ethnology. he also teaches anthropology at harvard university. he is co-editor of kalahari Hunter-Gatherers; Studies of the !Kung San and Their Neighbors (Harvard University Press, 1998).

Sandra Faber is university professor of astronomy at the university of california, santa cruz. she is the discoverer of the so-called "faber-jackson relation" linking the brightness of elliptical galaxies to the speeds of stars orbiting within them. her work with hubble space telescope focuses on the centers of galaxies, which often harbor massive black holes, according to evidence gathered by her team. she has played a major management role in the construction of the world's largest telescopes, the twin 400-inch keck telescopes in hawaii. she is a member of the national academy of sciences and the american academy of arts and sciences.

Owen Gingerich is a senior astronomer at the smithsonian astrophysical observatory and professor of astronomy and the history of science at harvard university. he is a member of the american academy of arts and sciences, the american philosophical society, and the international academy of the history of science. he has written over 500 technical or educational articles and reviews and he has written more popularly on astronomy in several encyclopedias and journals. his books include the great copernicus chase: and Other Adventures in Astronomical History (1992) and The Eye of Heaven: Ptolemy, Copernicus, Kepler (1993).

David Ray Griffin is professor of philosophy of religion at claremont school of theology and claremont graduate university and one of the co-directors of the center for process studies. he is the author of god, power, and evil: a Process Theodicy (1976) and Unsnarling the World-Knot: Consciousness, Freedom, and the Mind-Body Problem (1998). He is the editor of The Reenchantment of Science: Postmodern Proposals (1988). His next two books will be Religion and Scientific Naturalism: Overcoming the Conflicts, and A Process Philosophy of Religion.

John Haught is the landegger distinguished professor of theology and director of the georgetown center for the study of science and religion (gcssr) at georgetown university. he has also served as chair of the georgetown department of theology from 1990-1995. he is the author of god after darwin (1999, forthcoming) and Science and Religion: From Conflict to Conversation (1995).

Edward (Rocky) Kolb is a member of the nasa/fermilab astrophysics group at fermi national accelerator laboratory in batavia, illinois, where he served for ten years as the first head of astrophysics. he is also a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the university of chicago. he is a co-author of the early universe, the standard textbook on particle physics and cosmology and his book for the general public, Blind Watchers of the Sky (winner of the 1996 Emme award from the AAS), is the story of the people and ideas that shaped our view of the universe.

Lawrence Kushner has served as rabbi of congregation beth el in sudbury, massachusetts, a suburb of boston, for the past 27 years and is widely regarded as one of the most creative religious writers in america. he was the first rabbinic chairman of reform judaism's commission on religious living. his books include eyes remade for wonder: a lawrence kusher reader (1998), Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary (1996) and God Was in This Place and I Did Not Know: Finding Self, Spirituality and Ultimate Meaning (1991).

David Latham received his undergraduate degree is in mathematics from mit (1961) and his graduate degree in astronomy from harvard (1970). he has worked in observational cosmology (galaxy redshift surveys, qso absorption line systems, gravitational lenses) and on the frequency and characteristics of binary stars in a variety of stellar populations. more recently he has been focusing on the search for extra-solar planets. his research has been based at the harvard-smithsonian astrophysics center, while his teaching has been at harvard university.

oxford-educated, john leslie served on the faculty of the philosophy department at the university of guelph, ontario, until he became professor emeritus recently so as to pursue his own research. elected a fellow of the royal society of canada, he was the british academy - royal society of canada exchange lecturer for 1998. his books include universes (1989), and The End of the World: The Science and Ethics of Human Extinction (1996). He also edited Modern Philosophy and Cosmology (1998).

jim miller is the senior program associate for the aaas program of dialogue between science and religion. his ph.d. was in theology and society with a focus on science and theology issues. his research is in the area of the historical and epistemological relationships between science and religion. he is the co-editor of the church and contemporary cosmology (1990) and editor of An Evolving Dialogue: Scientific, Historical Philosophical and Theological Perspectives on Evolution (1998).

kenneth h. nealson is senior research scientist at the jet propulsion laboratory where he is establishing the astrobiology group, with the goal of developing methods for life detection in extreme environments on earth, and perhaps in samples returned from non-earth sites. he is also faculty associate at the california institute of technology. he is a member of the national academy of sciences subcommittee for solar system exploration.

jaraslav pelikan is the sterling professor emeritus of history at yale university where he served on the faculty from 1962-96. he is the immediate past president of the american academy of arts and sciences. he is one of the world's leading scholars in the history of christianity and has authored more than 30 books including the five volume the christian tradition: a history of the Development of Doctrine (1971-89). His 1997 book was What Has Athens to Do With Jerusalem? "Timaeus" and "Genesis" in Counterpoint.

john polkinghorne worked for many years as a theoretical elementary particle physicist. from 1968 to 1979 he was professor of mathematical physics in the university of cambridge, before resigning to train for the ministry of the church of england. after working as a parish priest, he returned to cambridge and in 1996 retired from being president of queens' college. he is an anglican priest and a fellow of the royal society and was knighted by the queen in 1997. he has written many books about science and religion, including the faith of a physicist (1994).

joel primack is professor of physics at the university of california, santa cruz. in collaboration with colleagues from astronomy (including sandra faber), he developed the "cold dark matter" theory. currently he has been investigating the implications of various hypotheses regarding the identity of the dark matter for the formation and distribution of galaxies. he also works on science and technology policy and on the cultural implications of the ongoing revolution in cosmology. he is the co-editor of dark matter in the universe (1995) and co-author of advice and Dissent: Scientists in the Political Arena (1972).

robert john russell holds a ph.d. in physics and an m.div. and m.a. in theology. he is the founder and executive director of the center for theology and the natural sciences and also serves as professor of theology and science in residence at the graduate theological union-berkeley. he is co-editor of physics, philosophy and theology: a common quest for understanding, 3rd ed. (1997), Quantum Cosmology and the Laws of Nature: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action, Vol. 1, 2nd ed. rvsd.(1997), and Chaos and Complexity: Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action, Vol. 2, (1996).

seth shostak is the public programs scientist at the seti institute, in mountain view, california. for much of his career, he conducted radio astronomy research on galaxies, and has published approximately fifty papers in professional journals. he has also written several hundred popular articles on various topics in astronomy, technology, film and television. for more than forty years he has been producing his own films, many of them popular science pieces used for television. his book, sharing the universe appeared in 1998.

jill tarter serves as the director for project phoenix, the seti institute's privately funded continuation of the targeted search portion of nasa's high resolution microwave survey, and holds the bernard m. oliver chair for seti. in her research she has melded together old and new engineering skills with a knowledge of the observable universe, in order to conduct thorough observations of the sky through a set of narrowband and pulse sensitive filters never before systematically employed by astronomers.

trinh xuan thuan has been a professor of astronomy at the university of virginia since 1976, where he currently teaches a course in astronomy for non-scientists. he research specializes in extragalactic astronomy and he has written many articles on galaxy formation and evolution. he is the author of several books for the general public including the birth of the universe (1993) and The Secret Melody (1994). His latest book Chaos and Harmony, a best-seller in France, will be published in English in 2000.

sara via is professor of biology and entomology at the university of maryland-college park. her teaching and research interests encompass evolutionary biology, ecological genetics, evolution in contemporary populations, coevolution, ecological genetics of species interactions, and speciation. her current research includes the investigation of ecological genetics and the prospects for coevolution of insects and their parasitoids and pathogens.

steven weinberg is a professor in the physics and astronomy departments at the university of texas at austin, and director of the theory group of the physics department. he is well known for his development of a field theory that unifies the electromagnetic and weak nuclear forces for which he shared the nobel prize in physics in 1979. he is a member of both the us national academy of sciences and britain's royal society. he is author of the prize-winning book the first three minutes: a modern View of the Origin of the Universe, as well as Gravitation and Cosmology, The Discovery of Subatomic Particles, Dreams of a Final Theory, The Quantum Theory of Fields, and over 250 articles on elementary particle physics, cosmology and other subjects.