Neil Turok on How Understanding the Universe Shapes Our Future at Ramsay Talks
“What is coming is likely to be even more significant than any past transformation,” Turok says. “We are analog beings living in a digital world, facing a quantum future.”
A gifted cosmologist and communicator, Turok will explain how discoveries in basic physics underpin advances in technology, what current data is revealing about the simplicity of the universe, and why the coming quantum revolution will reshape society in ways we are only starting to appreciate.
About Ramsay Talks
The Ramsay Talks are a thought leadership forum with a 34-year history of presenting speakers from many areas of human achievement to articulate bold and often controversial ideas for discussion.
In approaching Turok to demystify science for members of the business, education, and government communities, Bob Ramsay said, “What makes Neil exceptional is his uncanny talent for explaining the unknowable and making it our own.”
Turok is Director of Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, an innovative centre for research, training, and outreach that is attracting many of the world’s leading scientists to Ontario. In addressing this Toronto-based audience, Turok joins a list of former Ramsay Talk speakers that includes eminences such as Sir Edmund Hillary, Nobel Laureate Elizabeth Blackburn, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and writer Malcolm Gladwell.
About the Event
Turok will provide an accessible talk on the role of basic physics in driving the innovation chain – from theory, to experiment, to commercialization. He will specifically share:
- How centuries of deep investigations have expanded human knowledge, laid the groundwork for other sciences, yielded powerful technologies, and opened new horizons for humanity
- The latest results from the Large Hadron Collider and the Planck Satellite – on scales ranging from a billionth the size of an atom to 10 trillion times larger than our solar system – plus his views on how current data reveal a stunning simplicity in our universe
- Insights into the bizarre world of quantum physics – where the latest theories and experiments are leading us, what new technologies are set to emerge, and why this matters to you
“We have already seen how mobile communication and the World Wide Web are opening up global society, providing information and education on a scale vastly larger than ever before,” Turok says. “But this is only the beginning of how our new technologies will change us.”
More Details
Ramsay Talk tables and individual seating are still available for the November 19 presentation, which includes a full lunch, an engaging presentation with Neil Turok (including Q&A), a copy of The Universe Within: From Quantum to Cosmos, and an opportunity to meet Neil following his presentation. Order tickets online.
Further Exploration
About PI
Perimeter Institute is the world’s largest research hub devoted to theoretical physics. The independent Institute was founded in 1999 to foster breakthroughs in the fundamental understanding of our universe, from the smallest particles to the entire cosmos. Research at Perimeter is motivated by the understanding that fundamental science advances human knowledge and catalyzes innovation, and that today’s theoretical physics is tomorrow’s technology. Located in the Region of Waterloo, the not-for-profit Institute is a unique public-private endeavour, including the Governments of Ontario and Canada, that enables cutting-edge research, trains the next generation of scientific pioneers, and shares the power of physics through award-winning educational outreach and public engagement.
