"The Shape of Wonder:" An Evening with Alan Lightman

"The Shape of Wonder:" An Evening with Alan Lightman

In this lecture, based on his book THE SHAPE OF WONDER: How Scientists, Think, Work, and Live, Alan Lightman demystifies the scientific process and shows scientists as people with passions, families, hobbies, and social concerns like the rest of us—vital in a moment with widespread mistrust of scientists, who are often seen out of touch with ordinary people and sometimes as instruments of political or financial interests. Alan pulls back the curtain on the field of science, revealing that scientists are driven by the same sense of curiosity, wonder, and responsibility towards the future that shapes us all.

Both a theoretical physicist and a novelist, Lightman bridges the gap between the worlds of art, humanities, and science and is an internationally recognized thinker on the meaning of science for understanding ourselves. He speaks elegantly about creative and scientific processes, the role of intuition and imagination, the work of Einstein, the meeting of science and faith, and the wonder and fragility of human nature. His 1992 novel, Einstein’s Dreams, was an international bestseller.

After serving on the faculty of Harvard for a dozen years, Lightman moved to MIT, where he became the first person to receive a dual faculty appointment in the sciences and the humanities. His short story “The Second Law of Thermodynamics” was the first fiction published by the physics journal Physics Today and his essay “In the Name of Love” was the first essay on that subject in the prestigious international science journal Nature.

Lightman’s most recent project is a three-part public TV miniseries based on his writings, SEARCHING: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science. As the on-camera host, he explores questions of consciousness, humanity, and nature. His latest book, The Miraculous from the Material, pairs gorgeous photographs with fascinating essays on the science behind natural phenomena, revealing the deep wonder and connection to the natural world that exists around us.

In astrophysics, Lightman has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of black holes, radiation processes at the centers of galaxies, and the foundations of Einstein’s theory of gravity. At MIT, where he is professor of the practice of the humanities, he founded the graduate program in science writing. He has received four honorary doctoral degrees, including one from Bowdoin in 2005.

The Shape of Wonder will be available for purchase at Kresge Auditorium and Alan Lightman will be on hand to sign copies immediately following the talk.

Sponsored by the Kenneth V. Santagata Memorial Lecture Fund, the Donald Zuckert Fund, and the Department of Mathematics, in association with the Hastings Initiative for Artificial Intelligence and Humanity.

For more information, contact Jenn Berube Lord at jberube@bowdoin.edu or 207-725-3928.

Open to the public free of charge.

A livestream of this talk will be available on Bowdoin's live events website: https://www.bowdoin.edu/live

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Co-hosted with: Digital and Computational Studies, Physics and Astronomy, Mathematics, Computer Science, Hastings AI Initiative

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