Recorded October 25, 2023
Over luminous days and crystalline nights, ancient humans watched the Sun, Moon, stars and planets wheel around the sky. The heavenly bodies were gods. Their gift was time. Telling mortals when to sleep, to wake, to sow, to reap. Thus began a quest to predict the motions of celestial objects—one which would come to throw man out from his vaulted place at the center of the universe. It was an epic journey, covering some 150 generations and nearly 5000 years—punctuated by brilliant leaps of insight, at times against great resistance by religious authorities. From this emerged scientific achievements which stand as testimony to the power and imagination of the human mind. This presentation is about that quest and how it has come to shape our modern worldview.
Biography: Ira Mark Egdall is the award-winning author of Einstein Relativity Simple: Our Universe Explained in Everyday Language and the eBook Unsung Heroes of the Universe. His latest book is Cosmic Roots: The Conflict Between Science and Religion and How It Led to the Secular Age. Mark gives lectures in modern physics as well as the history of the science /religion conflict at Lifelong Learning Institutes in South Florida. He is a retired aerospace program manager with an undergraduate degree in physics from Northeastern University. In his 35-year aerospace career, Mark served as program manager for state-of-the-art optical systems for NASA and DOD while at BAE Systems in Lexington, Massachusetts and at Itek Optical Systems in the same city. When not thinking about writing, Mark spends his time playing with his five grandchildren and driving his wife of 55 years crazy.
Florida Voices is generously supported by the Fred J. Brotherton Endowment for Literature, established at The Four Arts by the Fred J. Brotherton Charitable Foundation. Fred Brotherton, who died in 2003, was for many years a Benefactor of The Four Arts and a strong supporter of its programs. Florida Voices, featuring the state that was Mr. Brotherton’s winter home, serves as a continuing memorial to this much-respected member of The Four Arts.