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Astronomy and Faith: From Lemaitre's Big Bang to the Jesuit Fathers of the Vatican Observatory

10 November 2016
4:00PM-5:00PM
Palm Court, Mundelein Center, Lake Shore Campus

This event was free and open to the public. For more information, please contact HankCenter@luc.edu.

Against the backdrop of the present-day polemics regarding "science vs. faith" is the story of how the Big Bang model came to be, thanks to a Catholic priest. Frontier research in modern astronomy continues to be pursued today at the Vatican. Speaker Dr. Jonathan Lunine described his experiences working with these top-notch Jesuit astronomers.

Dr. Jonathan Lunine is the David C. Duncan Professor in the Physical Sciences and the Director of the Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Science. His research interests include how planets form and evolve, what processes maintain and establish habitability, and what kinds of exotic environments might host a kind of chemistry sophisticated enough to be called "life." He pursues these interests through theoretical modeling and participation in spacecraft missions. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has participated in or chaired a number of advisory and strategic planning committees for the Academy and for NASA.