Events

The Silicon Valley Lecture Series is back in person and talks will be available post event for viewing at your convenience.

On March 5, at 7 pm (PST), Dr. Simon Steel (SETI Institute) will give a free, illustrated, non-technical lecture entitled:

"Copernicus 4.0: How Our Views of Earth's Importance and the Search for Life are Changing"

in the Smithwick Theater at Foothill College, in Los Altos (see directions below)

The talk is part of the Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series, now in its 25th year.

Copernicus’ work in 1543 was the kick-off date in the cosmic decentralization of Planet Earth. First, we were relegated to be just another planet in the solar system, then our sun to being just another star in the Milky Way. Now our galaxy seems to be just a suburban member of a regional supercluster. What has remained stubbornly geocentric is our understanding of life and intelligence in the cosmos. But for how much longer? New discoveries and technological advances are accelerating us towards a cosmic vision of Earth as part of a living and thinking universe. This talk will focus on the latest research and observations, at the SETI Institute and elsewhere, about the search for life and intelligence in the Milky Way, and beyond.

Dr. Simon Steel is Deputy Director of the Carl Sagan Center for Research at the SETI Institute and Principal Investigator for the NASA Community College Network - a major initiative to bring cutting-edge space science into community-college classrooms. Simon’s background is in extragalactic astrophysics; for his research, he studied star formation in Blue Compact Dwarf galaxies. As a science educator and communicator of over 25 years, Simon has taught at Harvard University, Tufts University, and University College London. His experience spans formal and informal education, teacher training, museum exhibit design and multimedia product development. He has an interest in special needs audiences and co-wrote, for NASA and the Chandra X-Ray Center, the first Braille book on multiwavelength astrophysics: Touch the Invisible Sky.

With this lecture we return in person to the Smithwick Theater! Link to directions below.

This presentation will also be available on the SVLS YouTube site. Link below.

The lecture is co-sponsored by:

* Foothill College Science, Tech, Engineering & Math Division
* SETI Institute
* Astronomical Society of the Pacific

-----------------------
Foothill College is just off the El Monte Road exit from Freeway 280 in Los Altos, California

For directions and parking information as well as a campus map to find the Smithwick theater, see ilnks below.

NOTE: Parking lot 1 is closest, with access to the theater by stairs. Parking lot 5 provides access from the same elevation as the theater.