Beauty & Truth

58 mins 43 secs, 812.75 MB, MPEG-4 Video 480x360, 25.0 fps, 44100 Hz, 1.84 Mbits/sec

About this item

Description:	Darwin College Lecture Series 2011 "Beauty & Truth" by Professor Lord Robert May of Oxford (Oxford)


Created:	2011-01-25 15:28
Collection:	Darwin College Lecture Series 2011 - Beauty
Publisher:	Darwin College
Copyright:	Darwin College
Language:	eng (English)
Keywords:	Darwin College Lecture Series; Beauty; Truth;


Abstract:	This lecture will begin by distinguishing three different kinds of “truths”: First, the apodictic truths of mathematics; second, the experimentally-tested but always contingent truths of the sciences; and the unshakable truths of fixed belief systems. I will then attempt to convey some of the pure beauty which mathematical truths can have, and discuss ways in which such beauty has – and has not – been a useful guide to scientific understanding of the nature of the world around us. I will also offer some speculations on the evolutionary origins of “faith-based truths”. Biography Robert McCredie May, Lord May of Oxford, OM AC Kt FRS , holds a Professorship jointly at Oxford University and Imperial College, London and is a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. He was President of The Royal Society (2000-2005), and before that Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government and Head of the UK Office of Science and Technology (1995-2000). His career includes a Personal Chair in Physics at Sydney University aged 33, Class of 1877 Professor of Zoology at Princeton, and in 1988 a move to Britain as Royal Society Research Professor. Particular interests include how dynamical systems are structured and respond to change, particularly with respect to infectious diseases and biodiversity. Honours include: the Royal Swedish Academy’s Crafoord Prize, the Swiss-Italian Balzan Prize, the Japanese Blue Planet Prize, and the Royal Society’s Copley Medal, its oldest (1731) and most prestigious award.

Abstract:

This lecture will begin by distinguishing three different kinds of “truths”: First, the apodictic truths of mathematics; second, the experimentally-tested but always contingent truths of the sciences; and the unshakable truths of fixed belief systems. I will then attempt to convey some of the pure beauty which mathematical truths can have, and discuss ways in which such beauty has – and has not – been a useful guide to scientific understanding of the nature of the world around us. I will also offer some speculations on the evolutionary origins of “faith-based truths”.

Biography

Robert McCredie May, Lord May of Oxford, OM AC Kt FRS , holds a Professorship jointly at Oxford University and Imperial College, London and is a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford. He was President of The Royal Society (2000-2005), and before that Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government and Head of the UK Office of Science and Technology (1995-2000). His career includes a Personal Chair in Physics at Sydney University aged 33, Class of 1877 Professor of Zoology at Princeton, and in 1988 a move to Britain as Royal Society Research Professor. Particular interests include how dynamical systems are structured and respond to change, particularly with respect to infectious diseases and biodiversity. Honours include: the Royal Swedish Academy’s Crafoord Prize, the Swiss-Italian Balzan Prize, the Japanese Blue Planet Prize, and the Royal Society’s Copley Medal, its oldest (1731) and most prestigious award.

Available Formats

Format	Quality	Bitrate	Size
MPEG-4 Video *	480x360	1.84 Mbits/sec	812.75 MB	View	Download
Flash Video	480x360	567.65 kbits/sec	244.19 MB	View	Download
iPod Video	480x360	505.38 kbits/sec	217.40 MB	View	Download
QuickTime (for download)	384x288	848.89 kbits/sec	365.18 MB	View	Download
QuickTime (for streaming)	480x360	905.87 kbits/sec	389.69 MB	View	Download
MP3	44100 Hz	125.0 kbits/sec	53.58 MB	Listen	Download
Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF)		1.34 Mbits/sec	590.67 MB	Listen	Download
Advanced Audio Coding (AAC)	44100 Hz	126.25 kbits/sec	54.11 MB	Listen	Download