Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey: "Building Global Peace: Turkish Reg
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pushed his counterparts around the world to pursue a "new global order" based on peace and trust rather than conflict in an address Wednesday, Sept. 23, at Princeton University.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey: "Building Global Peace: Turkish Reg
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan pushed his counterparts around the world to pursue a "new global order" based on peace and trust rather than conflict in an address Wednesday, Sept. 23, at Princeton University.
Sean Carroll, University of Wisconsin: "Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the
The search for the origins of species has entailed a series of great adventures over the past 200 years. Biologist and author Sean B. Carroll will chronicle the exploits of a group of explorers who walked where no one had walked, saw what no one had seen, and thought what no one else had thought. Their achievements sparked a revolution that changed, profoundly and forever, our perception of the living world and our place within it.
Sean Carroll, University of Wisconsin: "Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the
The search for the origins of species has entailed a series of great adventures over the past 200 years. Biologist and author Sean B. Carroll will chronicle the exploits of a group of explorers who walked where no one had walked, saw what no one had seen, and thought what no one else had thought. Their achievements sparked a revolution that changed, profoundly and forever, our perception of the living world and our place within it.
The Role of Europe in a Multilateral World - November 19, 2009
In his lecture, “The Role of Europe in a Multilateral World,” Romano Prodi will examine the benefits and challenges presented by the European Union’s expansion. Although the enlargement of the union has had significant impact on the democratic transition in eastern Europe and has extended European markets, there is no unanimity on issues of security, energy, and foreign affairs. Prodi maintains that if the EU aims to play a key role on the world’s political stage, it will need to develop
The Role of Europe in a Multilateral World - November 19, 2009
In his lecture, “The Role of Europe in a Multilateral World,” Romano Prodi will examine the benefits and challenges presented by the European Union’s expansion. Although the enlargement of the union has had significant impact on the democratic transition in eastern Europe and has extended European markets, there is no unanimity on issues of security, energy, and foreign affairs. Prodi maintains that if the EU aims to play a key role on the world’s political stage, it will need to develop
In Pursuit of the Salesman: Mathematics at the Limit of Computation - December 16, 2009
Lunch 'n Learn presentation: The traveling salesman problem, or TSP for short, is easy to state: given a number of cities along with the cost of travel between each pair of them, find the cheapest way to visit them all and return to your starting point. Easy to state, but difficult to solve! Despite decades of research by top applied mathematicians around the world, in general it is not known how to significantly improve upon simple brute-force checking. It is a real possibility that there may n
The Man Who Loved China - February 11, 2010
Seldom can it be said that any one person ever managed to change the outside world’s perception of an entire nation, an entire people. But, beginning in 1954, Joseph Needham (1900–1995), a Cambridge biochemist, a figure dauntingly eccentric and brilliantly polymathic in equal measure, did just that. This account, drawn from his diaries and letters and the immense and extraordinary book he spent half a lifetime writing, is his remarkable story.
A graduate of Oxford University, Simon Winche
The Man Who Loved China - February 11, 2010
Seldom can it be said that any one person ever managed to change the outside world’s perception of an entire nation, an entire people. But, beginning in 1954, Joseph Needham (1900–1995), a Cambridge biochemist, a figure dauntingly eccentric and brilliantly polymathic in equal measure, did just that. This account, drawn from his diaries and letters and the immense and extraordinary book he spent half a lifetime writing, is his remarkable story.
A graduate of Oxford University, Simon Winche
'I Am Kinda': Reflections on the Culture of Imperialism Famed linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky delivered a lecture titled "'I Am Kinda': Reflections on the Culture of Imperialism" at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 8. Chomsky, a professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a renowned public intellectual who has written and lectured widely on linguistics, philosophy, intellectual history, international affairs and U.S. foreign policy. The lecture's title refers to a woman named Kinda who int
'I Am Kinda': Reflections on the Culture of Imperialism Famed linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky delivered a lecture titled "'I Am Kinda': Reflections on the Culture of Imperialism" at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 8. Chomsky, a professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is a renowned public intellectual who has written and lectured widely on linguistics, philosophy, intellectual history, international affairs and U.S. foreign policy. The lecture's title refers to a woman named Kinda who int
The Fruits of the Genome for Society - February 17, 2010
Lunch 'n Learn presentation: The sequence of the human genome, the primary goal of the Human Genome Project, was achieved just a few years ago. Because our genomes are a string of 3 billion sequences of four chemical letters in the DNA polymer, the ability to obtain genomic sequences depended on revolutionary progress not just in DNA chemistry but also on the equally revolutionary advances in speed, capacity and versatility of digital computers. By far the most prominent result of the determinat
The Fruits of the Genome for Society PDF - February 17, 2010
Lunch 'n Learn presentation: The sequence of the human genome, the primary goal of the Human Genome Project, was achieved just a few years ago. Because our genomes are a string of 3 billion sequences of four chemical letters in the DNA polymer, the ability to obtain genomic sequences depended on revolutionary progress not just in DNA chemistry but also on the equally revolutionary advances in speed, capacity and versatility of digital computers. By far the most prominent result of the determinat
Avi Wigderson, Institute for Advanced Study: Part 1 - "Algorithm: A common language for nature, man,
"A Worldview through the Computational Lens III", part 1. From Google to Genomics, the notion of an algorithm underlies much of the "computational universe" we live in today. The algorithm is the fundamental object of study in theoretical computer science. The power and limits of efficient algorithms hold the key to such diverse questions as "What can we know about the world?", "What is intelligence?", and "Can poker be played over the telephone?" A Louis Clark Vanuxem Lecture (cosponsored by
Avi Wigderson, Institute for Advanced Study: Part 2 - "Time, space, and the cosmology of computation
"A Worldview through the Computational Lens III", part 2. From Google to Genomics, the notion of an algorithm underlies much of the "computational universe" we live in today. The algorithm is the fundamental object of study in theoretical computer science. The power and limits of efficient algorithms hold the key to such diverse questions as "What can we know about the world?", "What is intelligence?", and "Can poker be played over the telephone?" A Louis Clark Vanuxem Lecture (cosponsored by
Avi Wigderson, Institute for Advanced Study: Part 3 - "Cryptography: Secrets, lies, knowledge, and t
"A Worldview through the Computational Lens III", part 3. From Google to Genomics, the notion of an algorithm underlies much of the "computational universe" we live in today. The algorithm is the fundamental object of study in theoretical computer science. The power and limits of efficient algorithms hold the key to such diverse questions as "What can we know about the world?", "What is intelligence?", and "Can poker be played over the telephone?" A Louis Clark Vanuxem Lecture (cosponsored by
Ruth Reichl, Gourmet Magazine: "Watch What You Eat" - March 6, 2007
Why look at food? Because its constantly changing appearance tells us a great deal about ourselves and our society. The lecture will examine the subject of food from many directions, exploring the way it has looked at different times in history and in different places in the contemporary world. The talk will consider markets, the table, and media of all sorts. Reichl, former restaurant critic for the New York Times, is currently editor in chief of Gourmet magazine. She has written several "culin
Pasquale Scaturro, First Nile Descent Expedition Leader (2003-2004): "The Exploration of the Great R
Pasquale Scaturro, geophysicist, adventurer, and expedition leader is one of the most successful and accomplished mountain and river expedition leaders in the world and has been exploring the far reaches of the planet for over 25 years. He is founder and president of Exploration Specialists an international geophysical and exploration company. For the last 26 years he has managed geophysical oil and gas exploration and development projects in many of the most remote, dangerous and politically an
A Conversation with Steve Forbes
On November 5, 2010, Steve Forbes, the chairman and CEO of Forbes Media, came to Carnegie Mellon University to provide an analysis of the recent midterm elections. Forbes, who was a Republican presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000, shared his perspective on the elections, the economy, and healthcare with the Carnegie Mellon community.
The speech and subsequent Q & A were moderated by Carnegie Mellon president Jared L. Cohon.
Paula Fredriksen, Boston University: "Sin: The Early History of an Idea - Lecture 1: God, Blood, and
Jesus of Nazareth announced that God was about to redeem the world. Some 450 years later, the church taught that the far greater part of humanity was eternally condemned. The early community began by preserving the memory and the message of Jesus; within decades of his death, some Christians asserted that Jesus had never had a fleshly human body at all. The church that insisted that Jewish scriptures were Christian scriptures also insisted that the god who said "Be fruitful and multiply" actuall
