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Emmy Noether and The Fabric of RealitySpeaker: Ransom Stephens, Ph.D., ransom@ransomstephens.com“Great for a person with interest but little background knowledge.” – Linda Darly-Reid Catalog Description: A female Jewish intellectual in Nazi Germany, Emmy Noether made perhaps the most significant discovery of the 20th century. Noether’s Theorem ties the laws of nature directly to the geometry of space and time, the very fabric of reality. It is the basis for all modern theories of physics. Two things should bother you about Noether’s Theorem: (1) how come so few people have heard of Emmy Noether? and (2) why isn’t her theorem well known to lovers of science? With the help of a few straws, the < Sponsoring organization> and Ransom Stephens solve these problems on <date of event>. “Light, well illustrated!” - Ronnie Ladlow “Excellent, informative, challenging.” -Earl Herr Description: A female Jewish intellectual in Nazi Germany, Emmy Noether made perhaps the most significant discovery of the 20th century. Emmy was enlightened in many ways; she had a special approach to life. Noether’s Theorem ties the laws of nature – from Newton’s laws to thermodynamics to charge conservation – directly to the geometry of space and time, the very fabric of reality. It is the basis for the standard model of particle physics, quantum electrodynamics, and grand unified theories including supersymmetry and superstrings. As usual in physics, it gets really interesting when the theorem is violated: answers to the origin of mass and the matter-antimatter asymmetry problems emerge when Noether’s theorem is violated. Two things should bother you about Noether’s Theorem: (1) how come so few people have heard of Emmy Noether? and (2) why isn’t her theorem well known to lovers of science? With the help of a handful of straws, the < Sponsoring organization> and Ransom Stephens solve these problems on <date of event>. “Deeply thought provoking in a satisfying way.” -Paul Nicholson “… made the theory understandable…” –Suni Petersen This speech will help participants understand:
“Wonderful new information, I couldn’t wait to see how you were going to sidestep the Lagrangian – your crank did it.” -Paul Palmer Details: A 50-75 minute speech for nonscientists who are interested in science, history of science and the role of women in science. Each speech is customized to address the specific needs of the audience. Past audiences include high school students and teachers, college students, adults at popular science events in cafes, museums, and even atop a mountain! “I thought it was terrific! Informative and hip.” -Robert Porter “One of the most entertaining as well as thorough Science Cafes.” -Maya Hack Speaker Bio: Ransom Stephens, Ph.D., is a professor of particle physics turned writer and speaker. He has worked on experiments at SLAC, Fermilab and CERN; discovered a new type of matter formed by the fusion of two photons, made the most precise measurements of rare bottom quark decays in the world, and was on the team that discovered the top quark. His new novel, The God Patent (www.TheGodPatent.com), is set in the battle between science and religion over the nature of the soul and the origin of the universe. It features a character based on the turn of the century mathematician, Emmy Noether. “I think Ransom might be Hermann Weyl or another of Emmy's friends and mentees reincarnated, come back to share her story so she finally takes her rightful place in history.” -Thoi Pham “Fun – lots of territory to cover.” -Stuart Dole |
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