Calendar Critics' Picks How Old is the Universe?

"What are the barriers that keep people from reaching anywhere near their real potential fear, or laziness?" This humble but provocative quote comes from Waking Life (a philosophically focused, slightly dilettantish film by Richard Linklater) and is spoken by the philosopher Louis Mackey (late professor at UT Austin, Linklater's alma mater). Another professor, David Weintraub - Vanderbilt's director of physics and astronomy - ponders similar obstacles in his recent book How Old is the Universe? Blind obedience to Aristotle (who declared the universe infinite) as well as to biblical chronology (which conversely underestimates its age) has delayed our accurate approximation until just last century. On Tuesday, Weintraub will discuss contemporary techniques for measuring the universe's age, namely the cooling rates of white dwarfs (the all-time ancient stars) or the expansion rate of the universe. Come and learn of astronomers' bold labor then check out our moon and Saturn through Dyer's telescope. — William Hooker