CoS 2024 Lecture Series with Prof. Gralla’s opening talk on black holes

The 2024 College of Science Lecture Series “Surprise Twists That Transformed Science” returned to Centennial Hall on Wednesday, February 7 at 7 pm, with a tremendous opening presentation given by physics professor Sam Gralla on “Surprised by Gravity: Black Holes and Their Shocking Implications” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ckoRwCMp-s).  For most of history, humans conceptualized the cosmos as calm and orderly. When the first cracks in this viewpoint emerged in the early 20th century, nobody could imagine the wild extremes that would be discovered over the next hundred years. Prof. Gralla told the story of black holes: bizarre objects just barely conceivable – and still challenging physics today – which nevertheless populate our universe in untold numbers, underlying some of the most spectacular astronomical displays.  The lecture had a record-breaking audience of 1100.  This is not the first time that Prof. Gralla was on this stage.  He gave a talk on “Space, Time, and Gravity” in the 2017 College of Science Lecture Series “Rethinking Reality” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laqTml7s_a0).  

Sam Gralla (https://sgralla.arizona.edu/) is an Associate Professor of Physics and core faculty in the Theoretical Astrophysics Program at the University of Arizona.  He is interested in the physics of strong gravitational and electromagnetic fields, as well as the associated astrophysics of black holes and neutron stars. His research spans a wide range of topics, including quantum effects in strong gravitational fields, relativistic plasma physics, and black hole imaging.

 

Subsequent 2024 CoS lectures (https://science.arizona.edu/community-engagement/public/arizona-science-lecture-series) are taking place on Feb 14, 21, and 28.