The Barometer Online

Issue date: 2/20/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Luke Wenker MIT professor David Kaiser, who spoke on Thursday in Wieneger Hall, focuses his physics research on early-universe cosmology. His speech was titled "Evolution of the Grandest Scale: Cosmology and Flashpoints of Controversy."

The lecture hall in Weniger was full Monday night when David Kaiser, an associate professor and lecturer from MIT, gave a lecture titled "Evolution on the Grandest Scale: Cosmology and Flashpoints of Controversy".

The lecture was the fourth in a series of six talks sponsored by the history department called "The Cultural Politics of Evolution."

Mary Jo Nye, a professor of history and organizer of the lecture series, knows Kaiser on a professional level.

"I have known him for some years," Nye said. "He is a terrific speaker."

Kaiser graduated from Harvard with two doctorate degrees in theoretical physics and the history of science. His physics research focuses on early-universe cosmology.

Kaiser's lecture focused on the history of evolution, particularly cosmic evolution, or how the universe and the solar system were created.

"There have been many fierce, amazing, funny and emotional debates about cosmic evolution," Kaiser said. "We, however, do not talk about cosmic evolution as much as biological evolution."

Keiser talked about the history of the theory of evolution by starting with Einstein's theories of physics and how the Earth moved.

"Einstein believed that the Earth tries to move in a straight line and big masses such as the sun warps the straight line and makes the Earth revolve around the sun."

This theory and the theory of gravity from Isaac Newton started the research on the modern day theory of cosmic evolution.

A key subject that Kaiser talked about was the debate between cosmic evolution and Creationism. He explained how there is a big controversy when discussing what should be taught about cosmic evolution.

When physicists first began formulating cosmic evolution theories, there was little response from the public. The debates started to pick up over time and the Big Bang theory of the formation of the universe started to become more prominent.

Continued...

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