How much physics is it essential for a U.S. president to know who is faced daily with critical decisions about climate change, terrorism and nuclear power?
Dr. Richard Muller, of the University of California at Berkeley, explains what every world leader needs to know in "Physics for Future Presidents" at 4 p.m. on Sept. 8, in Darwin 103. The free public lecture is based on his renowned course for non-science students which was voted "Best Class at Berkeley."
Wired Magazine says "This accessible, worthwhile primer explains the essential physics behind nuclear weapons, terrorist attacks, surveillance technology, and global warming."
The San Francisco Chronicle reported "Muller's section on nuclear weapons and radiation is a neat little gem of science writing and a model for unhysterical explanation of an inherently fraught subject."
Muller, a professor of physics, has earned a "Distinguished Teacher" award from the University of California, a MacArthur Prize "Genius" fellowship, as well as the National Science Foundation Alan T. Waterman Award "for highly original and innovative research which has led to important discoveries and inventions in diverse areas of physics."
The talk is the first in the fall "What Physicists Do" series of public lectures presented by the SSU Department of Physics and Astronomy.
For a free poster describing all thirteen lectures, visit http://phys-astro.sonoma.edu/wpd/ send e-mail to phys.astro@sonoma.edu" or phone (707) 664-2119.
