Prof Henry F Schaefer at IIT Mumbai TechFest 2008 – Video
June 9th, 2008 by Annkur
Henry “Fritz” Schaefer III (born June 8, 1944) a computational and theoretical chemist and an astrophysicist as well was one of the prominent personalities at the IIT TechFest ’08. To tell you more about this imminent personality, he is the author of a large number of scientific publications, and was the 6th most cited chemist from 1981 to 1997 and the Graham Perdue Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Center for Computational Chemistry at the University of Georgia. He is a Fellow of the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture, the hub of the intelligent design movement, and the International Society for Complexity, Information and Design, and a signer of the Discovery Institute’s anti-evolution letter, A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism.
He was going to discuss the Big Bang theory. But with a five time Nobel Laureate nominee you can always be assured that it will be much more than that and it was indeed. He not only enlightened us about the theory by Stephen Hawking but also gave us a sneak peek into his life and much more.
| He was going to discuss the Big Bang theory. But with a five time Nobel Laureate nominee you can always be assured that it will be much more than that and it was indeed. He not only enlightened us about the theory by Stephen Hawking but also gave us a sneak peek into his life and much more.
To mention a few, he showed us his work place the Center for Computational chemistry in University of Georgia from where a student of IITB had graduated (PhD) and stated that they are expecting one more by august. He also showed us the University Publication Nature for which he has written many articles in the past. And much more… Interestingly you will observe that he has tried to be more suggestive and indicated the answers rather than being straightforward and expressing his views directly. Now he did so to avoid any controversies that may arise out of them. (if you understand that its always the case with great personalities) |
Below listed is an example of the excerpt of the lecture:
Was there a beginning to the universe?
Regarding this question he referred to the Theory of relativity and also stated that the Philosophist have resisted that the Universe came into existence in a finite time and that they have some other views and opinions. He also referred to the cosmological argument, as per which the universe must have come into existence in some logical sense and that it will have its own effects on the universe. He stated “Everything that begins to exist must have a cause and since, even the universe must have a cause”
Also must see is the protest hand bills circulated during the lecture by Dr Nikhil Joshi of IIT – Check it out
Now I’m not going to tell you all and take the fun away. Rather I should allow Mr. Schaefer to speak to you all in the form of the video. Here he has answered a lot of such intriguing questions. To know more just click on the link for the video. The path to your enlightenment is right below. So go ahead and satisfy your cosmic thirst… Enjoy…
Video is in 5 parts and a total of 40mins, I believe this is exclusive on the Internet – Video of the Lecture given by Prof Henry F Schaefer at IIT Bombay (Powai) at TechFest 2008
Part – 1
Part – 2
Part – 3
Part – 4
Part – 5
OnlyGizmos Asst Editor – Tassavur Shaikh was present during the lecture and would be reachable on tassavur [at] gmail dot com. Else contact service at onlygizmos dot com
Also See:
Pictures from the Lecture in Media Gallery
More Coverage of the IIT Bombay TechFest 2008 and the IIIT Hyderabad Robo Camp
