2012 Physics, Mathematics & Engineering Lecture Series
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
102 Yates Hall
2:00 pm

Dr. Steven Alan Hawley (a former NASA astronaut who flew on five spaceflights and currently a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Kansas) will present

The Engineering, Scientific, and Cultural Legacy of the Space Shuttle

For more information, please contact Dr. Tim Flood (235-4401)

Abstract
April 12, 2011 marked the 50th anniversary of the first human in space and the 30th anniversary of the initial launch of Space Shuttle Columbia on STS-1. Between 1981 and 2011, five Space Shuttles flew 135 missions with Atlantis completing the final mission last July. Astrophysicist and Kansas native Dr. Steve Hawley was one of the first class of astronauts selected specifically for the Shuttle in 1978. He flew as a crewmember on 5 missions, including the deployment of both the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory. He also had positions in flight operations management and astronaut selection during his 30-year NASA career. Dr. Hawley will share his perspectives on the challenges and accomplishments of the Space Shuttle program.

Extra Credit Opportunity: Mad Scientists in Literature

Sep24

The 18th Annual Victor J. Emmett Memorial Lecture is scheduled for September 29, at 8 pm, in 409 Russ Hall on the Pittsburg State University campus.

This year’s lecturer is Janice Law Trecker, mystery writer, painter, and recently retired lecturer in English at the University of Connecticut. Her lecture topic will be “How Mad Scientists Created Monsters and Saved the Soul,” and will deal with the popular novels Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Hyde, Dracula, and others. A brief award ceremony and reception will follow the lecture.

The Emmett Memorial Lecture is named in memory of the late Dr. Victor J. Emmett, Jr., who from 1967 to 1990 was a Professor of English at Pittsburg State University. During that time he also served as Interim Dean of Graduate Studies, Editor-in-Chief of “The Midwest Quarterly,” and Chair of the English Department. The Emmett Lecture is sponsored by the Emmett family, the PSU English Department, and “The Midwest Quarterly.”

Additional information about Ms. Trecker, particularly about the mystery novels and stories she writes and publishes, can be found at her web site, www.janicelaw.com.

Extra Credit Opportunity: Doomsday Math

Sep14

Dr. Cynthia Woodburn of the PSU Math Dept will present “Apocalypse 2012? What do Mayan Calendars and Mathematics Tell Us” this Thursday, Sept. 15 at 2:00 p.m. in Yates Hall 215

History is replete with examples of doomsday predictions; from an Assyrian clay tablet predicting the end of times in 2800 BC to Y2K to Harold Camping’s prediction that the world would end on May 21, 2011. Another example is the claim that the Mayan calendar ends in 2012 corresponding to the world ending in an apocalypse. Hollywood even jumped on the bandwagon with the disaster movie “2012”. We’ll take a look at what the mathematics and calendars of the Mayans have to say about 2012 and the end of the world as we know it.

Students are encouraged to attend.

There will be cookies and conversation afterwards in Yates 210.