Join us for a conversation with Sean Carroll, author of The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself.

Human beings are made from the same particles and forces that make up rocks and rivers and planets. But the world as described by science, from quantum uncertainty to the genetic code and the expansion of the universe, can seem exotic and alien to us. Dr. Carroll will talk about how our human-sized world fits into the bigger picture defined by the underlying laws of nature -- in particular, how our impressions of cause and effect and the appearance of complex structures can be traced to special conditions near the Big Bang -- and what it implies for meaning and mattering in the universe.

Sean Carroll is a Research Professor of theoretical physics at the California Institute of Technology and External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute. He received his Ph.D. in 1993 from Harvard University. His research focuses on fundamental physics and cosmology, quantum gravity and spacetime, and the evolution of entropy and complexity. He is the author of several books, most recently Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime. He has been awarded prizes and fellowships by the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Sloan Foundation, the Packard Foundation, the American Physical Society, the American Institute of Physics, the Royal Society of London, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is the host of the weekly Mindscape podcast.

The conversation will be moderated by Colin Norman, the former News Editor at Science, and Fred Dylla, Executive Director Emeritus of the American Institute of Physics and author of Scientific Journeys. This event is part of the series Science and Society - Making Sense of the World Around Us, launched by the Lewes Public Library last year and co-organized by Fred Dylla and Linda Dylla.

We invite you to support the author by purchasing a copy of their book from Browseabout Books by clicking HERE. Call-in orders are accepted at (302) 226-2665 or you can stop by the store to purchase a copy. For store hours, please visit their website. Each copy purchased comes with a signed archival bookplate.

NOTE: this meeting is being conducted through Zoom. You MUST REGISTER to receive instructions for joining the meeting.

If you have need assistance with registration or getting your Zoom invitation, please email us.

Basic written instructions for using Zoom may be found here and a brief video tutorial may be found here. Closed captioning is available for all our sessions. Information on enabling closed captioning in Zoom may be found here.