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Tom Murphy
Emeritus Professor of Physics, Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California at San Diego
Speaker Biography:
Tom Murphy studied physics at Georgia Tech while working as a co-op student at the Naval Research Laboratory in space optical communications, then got graduate degrees in Astronomy and Physics at Caltech where he built instrumentation for the Palomar 200-inch telescope to dissect colliding galaxies. As a postdoc at UW, he initiated a project to test general relativity via lunar laser ranging, which he continued to lead as a physics professor at UC San Diego. He retired after 20 years to spend more time outdoors in Washington.
Abstract:
How did a committed technologist/scientist come to question the project of modernity in broad temporal and ecological contexts? This talk explores a path that for many years focused mostly on energy and transitioning from fossil fuels, eventually opening onto broader considerations and a sense that modernity must fail in the long run. Rather than frighten the audience with a raft of stark and unconventional conclusions resulting from a long journey of study and discovery, this talk will sneak up on said conclusions by telling the story of key shocks and jogs that led in unexpected directions.