Last updated: May-11-10

Commentary

COSMOLOGISTS IN THE DARK - Vicent J. Martinez & Virginia Trimble (2008)

BELIEF AND KNOWLEDGE - A PLEA ABOUT LANGUAGE - Helen Quinn (2007)

REASONABLY EFFECTIVE: I. DECONSTRUCTING A MIRACLE - Frank Wilczek (2006)

CAN SCIENCE EXPLAIN EVERYTHING? ANYTHING? - Steven Weinberg (2002)

AS WE MAY THINK - Vannevar Bush (1945)

THE WORLD ACCORDING TO THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - Mario Livio (2003)

THE UNREASONABLE EFFECTIVENESS OF MATHEMATICS - R.W. Hamming (1980)

THE UNREASONABLE EFFECTIVENSS OF MATHEMATICS IN THE NATURAL SCIENCES - Eugene Wigner (1960)

SIMPLE MATHEMATICAL MODELS WITH VERY COMPLICATED DYNAMICS - Robert M. May (1976)

ASTROPHYSICAL SYMMETRIES - Virginia Trimble (1996)--- Astrophysical objects, ranging from meteorites to the entire universe, can be classified into about a dozen characteristic morphologies, at least as seen by a blurry eye. Some patterns exist over an enormously wide range of distance scales, apparently as a result of similar underlying physics. Bipolar ejection from protostars, binary systems, and active galaxies is perhaps the clearest example. The oral presentation included about 130 astronomical images which cannot be reproduced here.