Noted Physicist Paul Steinhardt to Speak at Embry-Riddle

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Noted Phycisist Paul Steinhardt Speaks at Embry-Riddle on the Big Bang and Beyond

Daytona Beach, Fla., March 26, 2008 -- Dirac Medal Winner Dr. Paul Steinhardt will deliver the seventh Elston Memorial Lecture on Gravitation on Saturday, April 5, at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. His talk is titled “Endless Universe: What Lies Beyond the Big Bang?”

Dr. Steinhardt (www.physics.princeton.edu/%7Esteinh/) is the Albert Einstein Professor in Science at Princeton University, where he is on the faculty of the departments of physics and astrophysical sciences. He was a recipient of the Dirac Prize for theoretical physics in 2002 and is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. He is also co-author of the popular book, Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang (see endlessuniverse.net for more information).

At the Elston Memorial Lecture, Dr. Steinhardt will present two radically different views of the universe: the standard big bang theory and a new alternative, known as the “cyclic universe.” The lecture will describe how the new picture challenges the conventional views of space and time and offers a novel vision of the origin, evolution, and future of the universe.

“Paul Steinhardt is one of the most imaginative thinkers in the world today,” says Dr. Chris Vuille, a personal friend and colleague of Elston and founder of the lecture series. “We’re very lucky to have him. Where Steinhardt goes today, the science of cosmology goes tomorrow. He’s a visionary.”

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be held Saturday, April 5, at 7 p.m. in the Miller Instructional Center auditorium on Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach campus at 600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd.

The talk is co-sponsored by Cengage Publishing and by the following Embry-Riddle groups: the Arts & Letters Committee, the Fred Elston Fund, and the Honors Program. The lecture honors Dr. Fred Elston, who died tragically a few years ago. He was loved by students and faculty alike for his kindness of heart, his deep knowledge of physics, and his fantastic sense of humor.

For more information, contact Dr. Chris Vuille at (386) 226-6724 or vuille@erau.edu.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering. The university educates more than 34,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through the Worldwide Campus at more than 130 centers in the United States, Europe, Canada, and the Middle East, and through online learning. For more information, visit www.embryriddle.edu.