On Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at 7:00 pm, Emmanuel Church, 42 Dearborn Street, will present the lecture “Calibrating Our Expanding Big Bang Universe”. Journey from the everyday world back to an instant after the Big Bang and out to the edge of the visible universe, no math or science background required. Join Dr. Frank Levin as he describes how cosmology calibrates and explains our expanding universe, using among other analogs an aspirin tablet, a balloon, and a recipe for pickled Jerusalem artichokes. Learn about the interplay between theory and data that has led to a determination of the age and the far future behavior of the cosmos, to an estimate of the diameter of its visible portion, and to a timeline of the universe starting at a micro second after the Big Bang.
Frank S. Levin: Some Background Information
Pre-Retirement
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Before retiring in June 1998 as Professor Emeritus, Frank Levin was a faculty member in the Physics Department
of Brown University for 31 years, where he taught both undergraduate and graduate courses in physics plus some in mathematics, and carried out research in theoretical physics. He has published widely in refereed journals, was a Principal Investigator on research grants and contracts funded by the U.S. government from 1971 through 1995, and has lectured and done research in many other countries. In addition to the standard physics courses, he has taught astronomy for non-scientists and co-taught two inter-disciplinary seminars titled Science and Literature. He
also co-authored a book of lecture notes, edited a conference proceedings, and co-edited the two volumes in the series Finite Systems and Multiparticle Dynamics.
Post-retirement
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His undergraduate text An Introduction to Quantum Theory was published in 2002 (Cambridge U Press). Since September 2002 he has taught adult education courses for persons with no math or science background on the following subjects: cosmology, quantum ideas and phenomena, global warming, symmetry in art and nature, fundamental constituents of matter, controversial science, and math concepts.The lecture notes from the cosmology courses are the basis of his popular science book Calibrating the Cosmos: How Cosmology Explains Our Big Bang Universe (Springer, 2006).
Research, Honors, Awards
He has been a US-India Exchange Scientist, a Senior Visiting Fellow of the UK Science Research Council, and is currently an Awardee of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany) and a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
ducation/Residence/Contact
He earned an A.B. in Physics from the Johns Hopkins University and his Ph.D. in Physics from the University
of Maryland. He currently resides in Portsmouth, RI, and can be contacted via email at frank_levin@brown.edu.
The lecture will be held in the church library and is free and open to the public. For information call the church office at 401-847-0675.
