Episode 4.3: Probability and Pragmatism
In this episode we consider additional solutions to the Problem of Induction include those which rest on determining the certainty of inductively acquired knowledge.
Sep 04, 2018•45 min•Season 4Ep. 3
The Scientific Odyssey
An examination of scientific inquiry through a discussion of the history and philosophy of the scientific endeavor.
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Episodes
Episode 4.2: Hypothetically Speaking
In this episode we consider several possible solutions to Hume's Problem of Induction including William Whewell's description of scientific inquiry, the hypothetico-deductive methods and Karl Popper's falsifiability criterion.
Aug 03, 2018•1 hr 4 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Episode 4.1: The Problem of Induction
In our new Science and Certainty mini-series, we take a look at what is known as the Problem of Induction in the junction between epistemology and philosophy of science. We review what induction is and then look at various historical statements of the problem culminating with the work of Scottish philosopher, David Hume.
Jul 15, 2018•51 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Episode 3.51: Epilogue, Finding our Place
Wherein we reach the end of our journey.
Jul 02, 2018•31 min•Season 3Ep. 109
Episode 3.50.12: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, War and Peace
In our final episode of the biographical series on Albert Einstein, we look at the last twenty years of his life in the United States. We consider his conversations with the mathematician Kurt Godel, the letters to Franklin Delano Roosevelt that helped initiate what would become the Manhattan Project, his post-war efforts to promote peace and his principled defiance of McCarthyism.
Jun 26, 2018•1 hr 16 min•Season 3Ep. 108
Episode 3.50.11: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, Coming to America
In this episode of the Scientific Odyssey, we delve more deeply into Einstein's religious views and recap the months up to his emigration to the United States to take a position at the Institute of Advanced Study.
Jun 08, 2018•52 min•Season 3Ep. 107
Episode 3.50.10: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, Politics and Exile
In 1930, Albert Einstein wrote, “I believe that the most important mission of the state is to protect the individual and to make it possible for him to develop into a creative personality.” This concise statement of his political philosophy would guide his actions through much of the 1920's and early 30's as he used his fame and celebrity to advance causes important to him. In this episode, we'll examine those actions and causes.
May 31, 2018•1 hr 7 min•Season 3Ep. 106
Episode 3.50.9: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, Entanglement
In the words of physicist John Wheeler, “In all the history of human thought, there is no greater dialogue than that which took place over the years between Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein about the meaning of the quantum.” In this episode of the Scientific Odyssey we explore the relationship between the two men that began through journal articles on light quantum and the atom, was further entwined through Nobel Prizes awarded together and continued through debates shared in letters, papers and a...
May 23, 2018•59 min•Season 3Ep. 105
Episode 3.50.8: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, The Price of Fame
In this episode we look at Einstein's rise to international fame and what it cost him.
May 14, 2018•54 min•Season 3Ep. 104
Episode 3.50.7: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, The Best and Worst of Times
When Einstein moved to Berlin in 1914, he entered into a period of intense turmoil, both in his scientific work and in his personal life. In this episode, we take a look at the factors that led him to Berlin and what transpired once he got there.
May 07, 2018•1 hr 25 min•Season 3Ep. 103
Episode 3.50.6: Supplemental-Einstein's Angels
This week we look at the period of Albert Einstein's life from 1905-1913 as he moved from one position to another on his rise among the European physics community
Apr 12, 2018•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 102
Episode 3.50.5: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, A Most Miraculous Year-Special Relativity
In the second half of 1905, Albert Einstein published tow papers that refined humanity's understanding of space and time as well as the relationship between mass and energy. In this episode, we examine the factors that led to these discoveries.
Mar 26, 2018•1 hr 9 min•Season 3Ep. 101
Episode 3.50.4: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, A Most Miraculous Year-Light and Atoms
In 1905, Albert Einstein published five papers that changed the course of physics and the modern world. In this episode, we look at the first three of those works including his paper on the photoelectric effect, his derivation of Avogardo's number and his analysis of Brownian motion that more or less proved the existence of atoms.
Mar 13, 2018•45 min•Season 3Ep. 100
Episode 3.50.3: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, The Bourgeois Bohemian-Part 2
In this second part of our examination of Einstein's life before the Miracle Year of 1905, we examine the period between his graduation from the Zurich Polytechnic and his being hired at the Swiss patent office. We discuss his scientific work as well as his relationship with Mileva Maric and the issues surround that.
Mar 05, 2018•1 hr 8 min•Season 3Ep. 99
Episode 3.50.2: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, The Bourgeois Bohemian, Part 1
In 1896, Albert Einstein enrolled in the teacher preparation program for physics and mathematics at the Zurich Polytechnic. We look at the events that brought him to that point and what transpired while he was a student there, including the beginning of his romantic relationship with Mileva Maric.
Feb 12, 2018•1 hr 6 min•Season 3Ep. 98
Episode 3.50.1: Supplemental-Albert Einstein, A Fine Young Swabian
In this first episode of our biographical series on Albert Einstein, we look at his childhood growing up in Munich and the various influences that would shape him in many ways.
Feb 05, 2018•1 hr 3 min•Season 3Ep. 97
Episode 3.49.3: Supplemental-Eddington and Chandrasekhar
In this episode, we look at the dispute between British astrophysicist Arthur Eddington and Indian prodigy Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar over white dwarf objects and the fate of higher mass stars.
Jan 29, 2018•1 hr 23 min•Season 3Ep. 96
Episode 3.49.2: Supplemental-Arthur Stanley Eddington, The Seeker's Journey
For A. S. Eddington, the most important thing a think ing person could do, whether they be a scientist or a person of faith, was to follow a path of inquiry that sought to uncover new insights and new truths. In this episode, we look at how this value influenced Eddington's work in stellar structure and relativity. Additionally, we look at how his other valence values such as internationalism influenced his actions during the Great War.
Dec 25, 2017•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 95
Episode 3.49.1: Supplemental-Arthur Stanley Eddington, Science and Faith
In this episode we consider the question of whether a person can be both religious and a scientist by looking at the early life of the British Astrophysicist and lifelong Quaker, Arthur Stanley Eddington.
Dec 10, 2017•53 min•Season 3Ep. 94
Episode 3.49: The Present Puzzle
In our final narrative episode of this series, we encounter the last piece of the cosmological puzzle-dark energy. We look at the way in which is was discovered and what it means for the ultimate fate of our universe.
Nov 27, 2017•50 min•Season 3Ep. 93
Episode 3.48: Matters Dark and Mysterious
This week we look at the work of Vera Rubin and Fritz Zwicky that led to the idea that roughly 85% of the matter in the universe can't be detected except by the gravitational influence on the matter we can see. We also consider alternative explanations and examine the evidence in favor of Dark Matter.
Nov 22, 2017•1 hr 10 min•Season 3Ep. 92
Episode 3.47: Very Big Questions About Really Small Things
In the late 1960's and early 1970's, several problems arose with the Big Bang Theory's attempt to explain certain aspects of the early universe. In 1979, Alan Guth worked out a solution to those known as the Inflationary Model that added a new layer of understanding of the physical processes that governed the earliest moments of the cosmos.
Nov 14, 2017•1 hr 6 min•Season 3Ep. 91
Episode 3.46: Lurking in the Background
Wherein we discuss the detection of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson.
Nov 06, 2017•45 min•Season 3Ep. 90
Episode 3.45: The Stuff of Stars
This week we look at the work of a number of astrophysicists including Cecilia Payne, Arthur Eddington, Hans Bethe and Charles Critchfield, and Fred Hoyle and Willie Fowler to better understand how the elements are made within the cores of stars. Special introduction by Stephen Guerra of the History of the Papacy and the Beyond the Big Screen podcasts.
Oct 29, 2017•47 min•Season 3Ep. 89
Episode 3.44: The Big Bang Hypothesis
In 1948, one of the most important papers in the history of science was published in the pages of the Physical Review. In it, authors Ralph Alpher, Hans Bethe (in absentia) and George Gamow not only perpetrated one of the greatest plays on words in the annals of science, they also put forward the physical calculations in support that the universe as we see it today began from a small, hot, dense state known as the Primeval Fireball. In this episode, we trace the development of that idea....
Oct 22, 2017•1 hr 10 min•Season 3Ep. 88
Episode 3.43.4-Supplemental-George Ellery Hale, Triumph and Breakdown
In our third and final installment of the life of George Ellery Hale, we look at the establishment of the Mt. Wilson Observatory and his other endeavors. We also examine the psychological pressures that drove him and eventually lead to his mental breakdown.
Oct 10, 2017•57 min•Season 3Ep. 87
Episode 3.43.3: Supplemental-George Ellery Hale-The Making of a Reputation
In the decade between 1890 and 1900, George Hale went from being a promising graduate of MIT to the world famous director of the Yerkes Observatory. In this episode, we follow his life and work during this critical time.
Oct 03, 2017•53 min•Season 3Ep. 86
Episode 3.43.2: Supplemental-George Ellery Hale, Rise of a Visionary
This week we begin a biographical series on George Ellery hale by covering his life from his childhood in Chicago up through his graduation and marriage.
Sep 25, 2017•53 min•Season 3Ep. 85
Episode 3.43.1: Supplemental-Masters of Reflection
The shift from astronomy to astrophysics necessitated the development of new tools of observation at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. In this episode, we look at the rise of the reflecting telescopes and the men who use them including, James Keeler and George Ritchey, probably the greatest telescope designer in history.
Sep 17, 2017•1 hr 2 min•Season 3Ep. 84
Episode 3.43: An Expanding Universe
In 1927 Fr. Georges Lemaitre published a paper in a little known Belgian scientific journal that described an expanding universe. Two years later, Milton Humason and Edwin Hubble presented evidence to support support this model. In this episode, we look at the development of the idea of a universe that was not static or steady.
Sep 10, 2017•55 min•Season 3Ep. 83
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