For more than four decades Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity remained largely a curiosity for scientists; however accurate it seemed, Einstein’s mathematical code was one of the most difficult to crack in all of science. That is, until a twenty-nine-year-old New Zealander, Roy Kerr, solved the great riddle in 1963.
Professor Fulvio Melia will give an eyewitness account of the events leading up to Kerr's great discovery. What are black holes? What place do they have in the Universe? And how did Kerr make the ultimate breakthrough? Sometimes dramatic, often exhilarating, but always in touch with the human element Cracking the Einstein Code is a great showcase of how important science gets done.
Following the lecture, there will be a screening of the award winning planetarium show Black Holes: Journey into the Unknown, narrated by Geoffrey Rush. There will also be the opportunity to stargaze through telescopes (weather permitting).
Speaker/s
Fulvio Melia, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Arizona, USA