Event

7
Oct
Start 6:30 pm
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OPENING EVENT: UNCERTAINTY AND SCIENCE

DEDICATION: Barbara Hardy
KEYNOTE: Physicist, Astronomer and former Chief Scientist for Australia, Professor Penny Sackett
PANEL DISCUSSION: Barbara Hardy, Penny Sackett, Peter C Doherty and Phillip Adams (Chair)
VENUE: Adelaide Town Hall Auditorium


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Proper scientists are not really certain that the sun will rise tomorrow.

Indeed, they will tend to hedge their assertion that it is a highly probable event with a little lecture on how the sun only appears to rise, when in truth it is that the earth turns. Then things will get seriously complicated. None of this can, or should, stop people from taking the UV warning for the next day seriously however. Skin cancers are also highly probable, and well worth planning to avoid.

In so many areas of discussion, people demand ‘certainty’ from the experts before they will make a decision. The gap between what an honest researcher can tell us and what we demand has never been so acute, and the need to bridge it is urgent. This session aims to make a start on rebuilding the dilapidated intellectual infrastructure that causes bottlenecks in these essential discussions.

Tickets available online:*
Adult: $28
Friends of the Adelaide Festival: $25
Fringe Benefits/Concession: $20

*Booking fees apply

 

 

Speakers at this Event

Phillip Adams (Australia)

Phillip Adams (Australia)

Broadcasting & Political Commentary

Filmmaker, Writer, Broadcaster – Phillip Adams has two Orders of Australia, was named Australian Humanist and Republican of the Year, received the Longford Award, was appointed Senior ANZAC Fellow, received the Henry Lawson Arts Award, is one of Australia’s 100…

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Barbara Hardy (Australia)

Barbara Hardy (Australia)

Environmental Conservation

An exemplary public life of advocacy and science devoted to the environment, from the dawning days of ecological consciousness to the current debate on sustainability, Barbara Hardy has fomented many initiatives and held a plethora of voluntary offices, within South…

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Penny Sackett (Australia)

Penny Sackett (Australia)

Physics & Astronomy

Physicist, astronomer and former Chief Scientist for Australia, Professor Penny Sackett’s research career on three continents has centred on applying physics to questions in astronomy, including the unseen dark matter in galaxies using Einstein’s theory of gravitation along with teaching,…

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Peter Doherty (Australia)

Peter Doherty (Australia)

Microbiology

Sharing the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Rolf Zinkernagel for their discovery of how the immune system recognises virus infected cells, Laureate Professor Peter Doherty AC FAA FRS was named 1997 Australian of the Year and commutes…

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