Copernicus 4.0: Changing Views of Earth's Importance & the Search for Life

Dr. Simon Steel (SETI Institute) will give a free, illustrated, non-technical lecture entitled:

"Copernicus 4.0:

How Our Views of Earth's Importance and the Search for Life are Changing"

in the Smithwick Theater at Foothill College, in Los Altos (see directions below)

The talk is part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series, now in its 25th year.

Copernicus’ work in 1543 was the kick-off date in the cosmic decentralization of Planet Earth. First, we were relegated to be just another planet in the solar system, then our sun to being just another star in the Milky Way. Now our galaxy seems to be just a suburban member of a regional supercluster. What has remained stubbornly geocentric is our understanding of life and intelligence in the cosmos. But for how much longer? New discoveries and technological advances are accelerating us towards a cosmic vision of Earth as part of a living and thinking universe. This talk will focus on the latest research and observations, at the SETI Institute and elsewhere, about the search for life and intelligence in the Milky Way, and beyond.

Dr. Simon Steel is Deputy Director of the Carl Sagan Center for Research at the SETI Institute and Principal Investigator for the NASA Community College Network - a major initiative to bring cutting-edge space science into community-college classrooms. Simon’s background is in extragalactic astrophysics; for his research, he studied star formation in Blue Compact Dwarf galaxies. As a science educator and communicator of over 25 years, Simon has taught at Harvard University, Tufts University, and University College London. His experience spans formal and informal education, teacher training, museum exhibit design and multimedia product development. He has an interest in special needs audiences and co-wrote, for NASA and the Chandra X-Ray Center, the first Braille book on multiwavelength astrophysics: Touch the Invisible Sky.

Foothill College is just off the El Monte Road exit from Freeway 280 in Los Altos.

For directions and parking information, see: https://foothill.edu/parking/
For a campus map, to find the Smithwick Theater (Bldg. 1000), see:

https://foothill.edu/map/

Note: Parking lot 1 is closest, with access to the theater by stairs. Parking lot 5 provides access from the same elevation as the theater.

The lecture is co-sponsored by:

* The Foothill College Science, Tech, Engineering & Math Division

* The SETI Institute and

* The Astronomical Society of the Pacific

Past lectures in the series can also be found on YouTube at: http://youtube.com/svastronomylectures

and as audio podcasts at: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1805595

Host or Publisher Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series