[sfevents] The Black Hole Wars: My Battle with Stephen Hawking, October 1

[Michael Portuesi]

On Wednesday, October 1, at 7 pm, Physicist Leonard Susskind of  
Stanford University will give a non-technical, illustrated talk on:
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The Black Hole Wars: My Battle with Stephen Hawking
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as part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures in the Smithwick  
Theater, Foothill College, El Monte Road and Freeway 280, in Los Altos  
Hills, California.

Free and open to the public. Parking on campus costs $2. Call the  
series hot-line at 650-949-7888 for more information and driving  
directions. No background in science will be required for this talk.  
Seating is first come, first served.
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Black holes, the collapsed remnants of the largest stars, provide a  
remarkable laboratory where the frontier concepts of our understanding  
of nature are tested at their extreme limits.  For more than two  
decades, Professor Susskind and a Dutch colleague have had a running  
battle with Stephen Hawking of Cambridge University about the  
implications of black hole theory for our understanding of reality --  
a battle that he has described in his well-reviewed book The Black  
Hole Wars.

In this popular talk, without mathematics, Dr. Susskind tells the  
story of these wars, explains the ideas that underlie the conflict,  
and recounts how he got Hawking to retract some of his claims. What's  
at stake is nothing less than our understanding of space, time, matter  
and information!

Leonard Susskind is Felix Bloch Professor of theoretical physics at  
Stanford University and the author of two popular books and many  
articles on recent developments in science and their meaning. He  
teaches a popular "continuing studies" course at Stanford on modern  
physics and has won the American Institute of Physics science writing  
prize for an article explaining black holes. His research focuses on  
particle physics, quantum theory, and the nature of gravity.  He has a  
rare knack for explaining the most advanced scientific ideas in  
everyday terms.

The lecture is co-sponsored by:
* NASA Ames Research Center
* The Foothill College Astronomy Program
* The SETI Institute
* The Astronomical Society of the Pacific

This talk kicks of the 2008-2009 series of Silicon Valley Astronomy  
Lectures.  A unit of credit (Astronomy 36.01)
is available from Foothill College for those who attend all six  
Wednesday evening lectures and write a short paper
on an astronomy topic of their choice.  You may register in advance  
at: www.foothill.edu/reg
or get the paperwork at the Oct. 1 lecture by coming a little bit early.

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Past Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures are now available in MP3 format  
at:
http://www.astrosociety.org/education/podcast/index.html