Research News

New scientific revolutions subject of talk by eminent physicist Freeman Dyson

Freeman Dyson
Freeman Dyson (Wikipedia Commons)

The eminent theoretical physicist Freeman Dyson will give a free public lecture on the Vanderbilt campus. His talk, titled “Four Revolutions and More to Come,” is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Thursday, March 27, in Stevenson Center Room 4327.

Dyson, who was born in 1923, is famous for his contributions to astronomy, nuclear engineering, quantum- and solid-state physics. He has captured the public imagination with concepts such as the Dyson sphere – an artificial structure built around a star to capture its available energy and the Dyson tree – a genetically engineered plant capable of growing on a comet.

“I was lucky to be a student just at the beginning of four revolutions that happened at the same time: space, nuclear energy, the genome and computing,” he states. “I see two new revolutions coming in neurology and paleontology…each of them will have profound effects and will open big opportunities.”

The lecture is preceded by a reception at 2:30 p.m. in Stevenson Center Room 6333.