PSU Magazine Summer 1989

Coming to Portland Stars of Science B eginning this fall renown sc ientists and explorers from around the globe are coming to Portland fo r the new "Science Technology and Society Lecture Series." The year- long series is sponsored by the Institute fo r Science, Engineering and Public Policy at Portland State, the University and Powell's Books. Only One Earth October 6, 1989, 7:30 p. m., Ci vic Auditorium U . S. Astronaut Rusty Schweickart and celebrated Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko will appear together to di scuss U. S. and Sov iet cooperation in space exploration and development. Cosmonauts and astronauts view the earth and man's position in the universe from a perspective that transcends political differences. As a result they formed an in– dependent organization, the Association of Space Explorers, to launch cooperati ve ef– fo rts outside the influence of either NASA or the Sov iet government. Featuring a multi-med ia presentation on the respective space programs of each country, the space explorers will discuss the future of space technology and its ap– pl ication in such areas as energy produc– tion, resource conservation, and combating environmental pollution. Stephen Jay Gould October 13, 1989, 7:30 p.m., Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall S tephen Jay Gould is an evolutionary biologist, MacA rthur Foundation fellow, professor of geology at Har– vard , prolific writer and die-hard Yankees fan. PSU 8 The Friday evening presentations are scheduled fo r 7:30 to 9 :30 p.m., and in– clude a question and answer format. Tickets are available in blocks of three lec– tures each: block A incl udes the joint presentation titled "Only One Earth ," and lectures by Stephen Jay Gould and Ph ilip Morrison; block B features David Suzuk i. Gould crusades against both creationists and genetic determinists. He disputes claims that intelligence is primarily in– herited , and he criticizes sociobiologists' theories that evolution has left humans genetical ly programmed for traits ranging from aggression to altruism. His essays, which appear in the magazines Natural History and Discover, have been collected in four books: Ever Since Darwin, 771e Panda's Thumb, Hen's Teeth and Horses Toes, and The Flam– ingo's Smile. His book The Mismeasure of Man tell s the scandalous history of "scien– tific" attempts to prove that white males are the most "advanced humans." Fritjof Capra and Jane Goodall. Cost for a th ree lecture block is $54, $48 or $42. Tickets are now on sale at the Portland Center for Performing Arts Box Office and at G. I. Joe's ticket outlets. Un– sold individual tickets wi ll go on sale the week before each presentation. Philip Morrison November 17, 1989, 7:30 p.m., Ci vic Auditorium P hil ip Morrison, currently phys ics professor at MIT, is more than j ust an extraord inary astrophysicist. Says Carl Sagan , "The people who attend his lectu res never forget them." During two decades at Cornell. his teach ing innova– tions included courses he created to em– phasize that wh ile the methods of phys ics and poetry might differ, thei r common aim is to understand the universe. PBS's "The Ring of Truth" expresses Morrison's most recent vision of sc ience.