Ideas Roadshow Collections - Conversations About Physics, Volume 2

This Ideas Roadshow Collection includes five carefully edited in-depth conversations with physicists Freeman Dyson, Jenny Nelson, Claudia de Rham, Lee Smolin and Jill Tarter. A detailed preface highlighting the connections between the different books is included. Each individual book is broken into chapters with a detailed introduction and questions for discussion at the end of each chapter: 1. Pushing the Boundaries - A Conversation with former mathematical physicist and writer Freeman Dyson, who was one of the most celebrated polymaths of our age. Freeman Dyson had his academic home for more than 60 years at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. He has reshaped thinking in fields from math to astrophysics to medicine, while pondering nuclear-propelled spaceships designed to transport human colonists to distant planets. During this wide-ranging conversation Freeman looks back on his simultaneously transformative careers in theoretical physics, mathematics, biology, rocket ship design, nuclear disarmament and writing. 2. Harnessing the Sun - A Conversation with Jenny Nelson, Professor of Physics and Head of the Climate Change Mitigation Team at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London. After inspiring insights into Jenny Nelson’s academic journey, the conversation examines different solar energy processes, solar energy conversion technology, novel varieties of material for use in solar cells, and the materials used to build and improve photovoltaic, and other renewable technologies, which convert energy from the sun into electricity. 3. The Pull of the Stars - A Conversation with Claudia de Rham, Professor of Theoretical Physics at Imperial College London. After sharing personal inspirations derived from her upbringing in Madagascar and how this…