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MIT professor David Kaiser, who spoke on Thursday in Wieneger Hall, focuses his physics research on early-universe cosmology. His speech was titled "Evolution of the Grandest Scale: Cosmology and Flashpoints of Controversy."

Visiting MIT professor discusses the cosmos

Talk covers the theory of the creation of the universe and the controversy surrounding it

By: Amanda Robbins

Posted: 2/20/07

The lecture hall in Weniger was full Monday night when David Kaiser, an associate professor and lecturer from MIT, gave a lecture titled "Evolution on the Grandest Scale: Cosmology and Flashpoints of Controversy".

The lecture was the fourth in a series of six talks sponsored by the history department called "The Cultural Politics of Evolution."

Mary Jo Nye, a professor of history and organizer of the lecture series, knows Kaiser on a professional level.

"I have known him for some years," Nye said. "He is a terrific speaker."

Kaiser graduated from Harvard with two doctorate degrees in theoretical physics and the history of science. His physics research focuses on early-universe cosmology.

Kaiser's lecture focused on the history of evolution, particularly cosmic evolution, or how the universe and the solar system were created.

"There have been many fierce, amazing, funny and emotional debates about cosmic evolution," Kaiser said. "We, however, do not talk about cosmic evolution as much as biological evolution."

Keiser talked about the history of the theory of evolution by starting with Einstein's theories of physics and how the Earth moved.

"Einstein believed that the Earth tries to move in a straight line and big masses such as the sun warps the straight line and makes the Earth revolve around the sun."

This theory and the theory of gravity from Isaac Newton started the research on the modern day theory of cosmic evolution.

A key subject that Kaiser talked about was the debate between cosmic evolution and Creationism. He explained how there is a big controversy when discussing what should be taught about cosmic evolution.

When physicists first began formulating cosmic evolution theories, there was little response from the public. The debates started to pick up over time and the Big Bang theory of the formation of the universe started to become more prominent.

"In a 1931 lecture, a Catholic priest, Georges Lemaitre (speaking about the cosmic evolution) said, 'I think that everyone who believes in a supreme being would be glad to see such a congruence between science and religion,'" Kaiser said. "He eventually took this out of the lecture before it was published."

But this controversy did not start in 1931. The actual debate started in the time of Aristotle, Kaiser said.

The heated debate is one of the reasons cosmic evolution is not discussed as much as biological evolution, Kaiser said.

"It has not been a central part of high school," Kaiser said. "Biological evolution is central to high school curriculum and therefore is discussed more."

The debate grew even larger when cosmic evolution was being taught in schools as fact and not a theory, Kaiser said.

"Jon W. Bacon, a Kansas state board of education representative, said I was not there for the Big Bang and neither were the cosmologists. Based on that, whatever explanation they may arrive at is a theory and should be taught that way," Kaiser said.

When cosmic evolution was changed to being seen as a theory, changes in curriculum around the world began to change, Kaiser said.

"The government had to change all the education Web sites and NASA documents to say theory and not fact," Keiser said.

The debate is still lively today.

"It was great," said Bob Smith, a professor of oceanography. "I never realized that teaching the Big Bang theory was so controversial. It is interesting how some religions support the Big Bang theory and others take it as a contradiction to their fundamental elements."

"I never realized the debate between God and science was so old that it related back to Einstein and Newton," said Katrina Hay, a doctoral student in physics.