Scientific Controversy: Is Reality Beautiful?

The equations for atoms and light are almost literally the same equations that govern musical instruments and sound; the subatomic particles that are responsible for most of our mass are determined by simple geometric symmetries. The universe itself seems to want to embody beautiful and elegant forms.

Nobel Laureate Frank Wilczek and Physicist Glennys Farrar will discuss the subtle, yet confounding question: Is Reality Beautiful?  

In contemporary art and design, many believe that concepts of Beauty have faded—a prosaic artifice, a distraction from deeper, raw truths. To exceptional physicist Frank Wilczek (Nobel Prize, Physics), Beauty has proven a luminous ally in his discoveries of remarkable scientific truths about the universe. But actual experiments are messy and noisy. They elucidate the elegance of the theory implied but never directly observed. Janna Lavin, the first scientist-in-residence at Pioneer Works, will moderate a mind-shifting conversation with Wilczek and Farrar (Professor of Physics, NYU) as they probe the intersection of art and science, the underlying design of the universe, and, ultimately, the reality of Beauty.

The fifth installment of Pioneer Works Scientific Controversies Series, this dialogue is also perfectly timed with the publication of Wilczek's new book, A Beautiful Question: Finding Nature's Deep Design (Penguin Press, 2015).  The series is sponsored by Nanotronics. FREE.

Pioneer Works

159 Pioneer St., Red Hook, Brooklyn

http://pioneerworks.org/events/sci-con/