Today Galileo is justly celebrated as a champion of experiment and observation. He vindicated Copernicus’s view of the heliocentric solar system, but he had to confront the Catholic Church's anti-Copernican views. Short readings from Bertold Brecht’s play “The Life of Galileo” portray the conflict of his forceful advocacy of observation with more pragmatic concerns. In
Most of us use our beliefs as proxies for truth, but we don't often consider the potential for those beliefs to take us down a 'bad path.' A vivid example of someone who discovered the bad path she was following is Megan Phelps-Roper, who went from being a purveyor of hatred as a spokesperson for
“Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds”, quoted Robert Oppenheimer years after leading development of the atomic bomb. Will someone in the future say the same thing about genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, geoengineering, or some other 21st-century technology? In the mid-20th century, invention, development and use of nuclear weapons reminded the world of
Unite Oregon officials will take part in a talk on the challenges and strengths of being Hispanic in the Rogue Valley from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, April 16, at the Jefferson Center Salon in the Historic Ashland Armory, 208 Oak St., No. 1, according to a news release. The event is free and open
(It’s free)
