Speaker:
Dr Guy Consolmagno
Bio:
Br. Consolmagno has served on the governing boards of the Meteoritical Society; the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Division III, Planetary Systems Science (secretary, 2000 – present) and Commission 16, Moons and Planets (president, 2003-2006); and the American Astronomical Society Division for Planetary Sciences (chair, 2006-2007). Since 2008 he has been a member of the IAU Working Group on Planetary System Nomenclature and the Mars Nomenclature Task Group; in 2015 he became chair of the Mars TG.
Topic:
Date:
30 October 2019
Time:
7:30pm – 9:00pm
Why did we go to the Moon? Why does the Vatican support an astronomical observatory? These questions mask a deeper question: why do individuals choose to spend their lives in pursuit of pure knowledge? The motivation behind our choices, both as individuals and as a society, controls the sorts of science that are undertaken. It determines the kinds of answers that are found to be satisfying. And ultimately, it affects the way in which we think of ourselves.