PART TWO: The Cosmos

Program 06-11-26-A

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Where do we come from? That’s one of the greatest questions of humankind. For science, it’s the Big Bang. An unimaginable explosion some 15 billion years ago that gave birth to energy and life as we know it. For religion, it’s the mysterious hand of God. Is there room in the cosmos for both?

SEGMENT 1:

Physicist Joel Primack and Nancy Abrams are the authors of "The View from the Center of the Universe." They tell Steve Paulson how humanity has moved back into the center of our myth-making centuries after Copernicus shattered the old notion of an earth-centered universe. Also, Don Gurnett has been working with NASA, recording audio from space for years. He plays some of his favorite space sounds for Jim Fleming and explains where they come from.

SEGMENT 2:

Do people believe there is life on other planets? A medley of responses to this burning questions begins this segment. Thebe Medupe is an astrophysicist and producer of the documentary film "Cosmic Africa." He tells Anne Strainchamps about spending time with the Kalahari Bushmen and the Dogon people of Mali to learn their legends about the stars.

SEGMENT 3:

Daniel Matt is the author of "God and the Big Bang" and one of the foremost scholars of Jewish mysticism and the Kaballah. He tells Steve Paulson that the Big Bang Theory is science's creation myth and that the mystical and rational traditions can inform each other. Also, theoretical physicist Michio Kaku thinks that nature is God's greatest creation. Kaku is the author of "Parallel Worlds: The Science of Alternative Universes and Our Future in the Cosmos."

CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 06-11-26-A.

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Books:

Joel Primack and Nancy Abrams. The View From the Center of the Universe: Discovering Our Extrodinary Place in the Cosmos. Riverhead Books.
Daniel Matt. God and the Big Bang: Discovering Harmony Between Science and Spirituality. Jewish Lights.
Michio Kaku. Hyperspace : A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps and the Tenth Dimension. Anchor Books.
Michio Kaku. Parallel Worlds: The Science of Alternative Universes and Our Future in the Cosmos. Gardners.

Film:

• Thebe Medupe was featured in the documentary, "Cosmic Africa." The documentary was directed by Craig and Damon Foster. The film was produced by Carl Sagan's studio Cosmos Studios. For more information on the film go to: http://www.carlsagan.com

Websites:

• All space sounds used in the show (except the one noted below) were used by permission of Dr. Donald Gurnett at the University of Iowa. To hear more sounds from space please go to:
  http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/space-audio/index.html

• The audio of the Jovian Bow Shock was used by permission of NASA. For more NASA space audio please go to:
  http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/sounds/index-flash.html

Music:

• The Crystal Method's "High Roller" and "Bad Stone" are off of their Vegas CD on Outpost Recordings.

• Alan Hovhaness's "Celestial Gate" (symphony Nr. 6, Opus 173) was conducted by Rudolf Werthen and performed by the Orchestra of Flanders off of the Celestial Gate CD on Telarc.

• Gyorgy Ligeti's "Atmospheres" was conducted by Leonard Bernstein by the New York Philharmonic off of the Music of Our Time CD on Sony Classics.

• David Maslanka's "Summer Song" is off his CD "The Music of David Maslanka" on Albany Records..

• The Kronos Quartet's music (Terry Riley's "Sun Rings") was used by permission of The Kronos Quartet. The music is not available commercially. To hear more about their project and to hear more music please go to:
  http://kronosquartet.org/SR/index.html

  
  

Distribution dates:

week of 07/15/2006 - hour 2 week of 11/26/2006 - hour 1

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Questions and comments can be addressed to: flemingj@wpr.org