Janna Levin believes in the “music of the spheres” and thinks that in a few years we’ll be able to listen to the soundtrack of the universe.
Levin, a professor of physics and astronomy at Columbia University’s Barnard College, will discuss the universal music and related topics in the Oregon Humanities Center’s 2014-15 Cressman Lecture. Her free public talk, “From the Big Bang to Black Holes: Time, the Universe, and Everything,” will be given at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19, in Room 182, Lillis Hall.
Levin’s talk will offer “an epic tour through time, from the beginning of the universe in a Big Bang, through black holes, past the emergence of life on at least one little planet spinning in a conceivably infinite cosmic ocean, to the possible end of time.”
The lecture will explore how astrophysics can help humans understand the universe’s origins and help answer ambiguous questions such as how we are connected to one another and what role we play in the grand scheme of the cosmos.
Her talk will also focus on how humans interpret the science surrounding black holes and the perceived silence of space. However, Levin believes that the universe is not silent, and scientists will be able to acknowledge a “celestial soundtrack,” of sorts, within a few years.
Levin’s research and work has taken her around the United States and overseas. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in physics and astronomy from Barnard College with a focus in philosophy, as well as a doctorate in physics from the Massachussetts Institute of Technology, Levin spent time working at University of California at Berkeley, Cambridge University and the University of Oxford.
Levin has also published two books, which will be available for sale and signing at the event. Her first book, titled “How the Universe Got Its Spots,” shows the reader how hot and cold spots left over from the Big Bang might ultimately help us realize the scope of the universe.
Her second book, titled “A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines,” is a fiction novel which has earned the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize and was a runner-up for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Fiction.
Levin’s talk is part of the Oregon Humanities Center’s year-long “Connection” lecture series. To watch a live-stream video of the event on Feb. 19, click here. For further information, contact ohc@uoregon.edu or (541)-35-3934.
— By Nathaniel Brown, Public Affairs Communications