New! Transcripts are now available for Frank Wilczek's Interviews

/
It was a great privelege to interview Nobel-winning physicist, Dr. Frank Wilczek twice last year (Books and Ideas: Episode 23 and Episode 24). So I am pleased to announce that full-transcripts of both episodes are now available.

Transcript of Episode 23 (Download PDF)

Transcript of Episode 24 (Download PDF)

We are currently working on the back log of transcripts for the Brain Science Podcast, but I hope eventually to have transcripts for all the episodes of Books and Ideas. Please send me email at docartemis at Gmail.com if you are waiting for a particular episode.
Read More

Follow-up interview with Frank Wilczek (B&I 24)

/
wilczek Episode 24 of Books and Ideas is a follow-up interview with Nobel Prize winning physicist. Dr. Frank Wilczek. We discuss the questions that we didn't get around to in Episode 23, including the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics, String Theory, and dark matter and dark energy. Dr. Wilczek also answers some questions from listeners and tells us a little about his current work.

listen-to-audio-20Listen to Episode 24

Download Episode Transcript (PDF)

Click here if you missed Dr. Wilczek's first interview

Subscribe to Books and Ideas Podcast:   itunes-badge-30 zunelogo-70 feed-icon32x32 mail-sticker-tiny

Main Topics from this Episode:

  • 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics
  • String Theory: a look at how it differs from the standard model and the question of whether it can be tested
  • Dark Matter and Dark Energy: 95% of the matter in the universe remains unexplained!
  • Anti-matter: where science meets science fiction
  • Dr. Wilczek's research: Could axions be dark matter? Using quantum mechanics to create new electronics.
  • Questions from listeners
Announcements: Episodes 23 and 24 are based on Dr. Wilczek's excellent book:

listen-to-audio-20Listen to Episode 24

Download Episode Transcript (PDF)

Subscribe to Books and Ideas Podcast:   itunes-badge-30 zunelogo-70 feed-icon32x32 mail-sticker-tiny

Leave comments at the Discussion Forum

Read More

Interview with Nobel Physicist Frank Wilczek (B&I 23)

/
Episode 23 of Books and Ideas is an interview with Frank Wilczek, PhD from MIT. Dr. Wilczek won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2004 and recently published an excellent book aimed at general readers: Lightness of Being: Mass, Ether, and the Unification of Forces. This book provides an excellent review of current ideas about the meaning of both matter and space. In his interview Dr. Wilczek helps us understand the current evidence that matter is actually made of particles that are massless. He says "I jokingly say that the more important law is Einstein's Second Law m=E/c² (which is of course just a rearrangement of E=mc²) but this suggests that what we really should be doing is not explaining energy in terms of mass, but explaining mass in terms of energy." The second surprisingly concept that Dr. Wilczek helps us tackle in this interview is the idea that space is not empty. "Space is a medium with a variety of properties that make it, not only an important component of reality, but really the primary component of reality." These ideas are supported by experimental evidence, but the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva, Switzerland is expected to expand knowledge even further. The purpose of the LHC is a main focus of this interview. Dr. Wilczek has agreed to come back on Books and Ideas to answer questions about dark matter and string theory.

Listen to Episode 23 of Books and Ideas

Download Transcript

itunes-badge-30 zunelogo-70

Additional Show Notes and Links: Frank Wilczek, PhD Other podcasts mentioned in this episode Recommended Reading: Announcements:

Listen to Episode 23 of Books and Ideas

Download Transcript

Subscribe to Books and Ideas Podcast

itunes-badge-30 zunelogo-70

Subscribe Books and Ideas Podcast by email Leave comments at the Discussion Forum
Read More