The IMSA Great Minds Program®
"Stories of a Scientist"
Featuring: Dr. Lawrence Krauss
December 5, 2000
12 Noon - 1:45 PM
IMSA Auditorium
"Science, Non-Science, and Nonsense"
The news media presents science in 30-second sound bites. Television produces shows and sitcoms designed to entertain, but many in our society can't distinguish entertainment from fact. How do we get students to think critically about the growing body of scientific information that is increasingly misrepresented in today's popular culture?
Lawrence Krauss explored examples from the news, advertisements, TV shows and movies, as well as from his latest book, to discuss the difference between science and fiction and to explore how the distinction between sense and nonsense is becoming blurred in popular discourse.
The lecture was part "tour" through the fascinating world of modern physics, part fun-filled examination of video clips, and part sober discussion of the various dangers facing modern society if we fail to learn the lessons science has taught us about the world. We must not be timid about offending sensibilities when those sensibilities are based on nonsense.
This Dialogue was presented to middle-school students from surrounding schools.