The Linda Hall Library, in association with the Yale Club of Kansas City, the Harvard-Radcliffe Club of Kansas City, and the Princeton Alumni Association of Greater Kansas City, will host the 21st Annual Paul D. Bartlett, Sr. Lecture on Thursday, September 21. This year’s event will feature Abraham (Avi) Loeb, PhD, Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University and New York Times bestselling author.
In the New York Times bestseller Extraterrestrial, Loeb, the longest-serving Chair of Harvard’s Astronomy Department, presented a theory that shook the scientific community: our solar system, Loeb claimed, had likely been visited by a piece of advanced alien technology from a distant star. This provocative and persuasive argument opened millions of minds internationally to the vast possibilities of our universe and the existence of intelligent life beyond Earth. But a crucial question remained: now that we are aware of the existence of extraterrestrial life, what do we do next? How do we prepare ourselves for interaction with interstellar extraterrestrial civilization? How can our species become interstellar?
Now, Loeb tackles these questions in a revelatory, powerful call to arms that reimagines the idea of contact with extraterrestrial civilizations. His latest book, Interstellar, dismantles our science-fiction fueled visions of a human and alien life encounter to provide a realistic and practical blueprint for how such an interaction might actually occur, resetting our cultural understanding and expectation of what it means to identify an extraterrestrial object. From awe-inspiring searches for extraterrestrial technology, to the heated debate of the existence of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, Loeb provides a thrilling, front-row view of the monumental progress in science and technology currently preparing us for contact. He also lays out the profound implications of becoming – or not becoming – interstellar; in an urgent, eloquent appeal for more proactive engagement with the world beyond ours, he powerfully contends why we must seek out other life forms, and in the process, choose who and what we are within the universe.
Combining cutting edge science, physics, and philosophy, Interstellar revolutionizes the approach to our search for extraterrestrial life and our preparation for its discovery. In this eye-opening, necessary look at our future, Loeb artfully and expertly raises some of the most important questions facing us as humans, and proves, once again, that scientific curiosity is the key to our survival.
This lecture will be held in person at the Linda Hall Library, 5109 Cherry St., Kansas City, MO. This event is free and open to the public. Registration opens August 31 for a limited number of seats. Click here to learn more and register.
