Science – Ayn Rand Institute Live!

The Galileo Affair by Dan Schwartz

March 22, 2024 arilive_user 59:45 0 Comments

The Galileo Affair is widely viewed as the classic example of a scientific genius being persecuted by religious dogmatists. Yet, in recent decades, some philosophers and historians of science have put forward a new interpretation that defends the Church’s position philosophically and puts (at least some of) the blame for the conflict on Galileo. Is there any merit to this view? What actually led to Galileo’s persecution, censorship, trial, and house arrest? To address these questions, this talk examines the Galileo Affair in detail.

Recorded live on July 3 at OCON 2023

Aristotle’s Method of Scientific Investigation by Gregory Salmieri

January 26, 2024 arilive_user 1:30:11 0 Comments

This lesson explains Aristotle’s method of scientific investigation, focusing on Aristotle’s logical works—especially the Posterior Analytics. Salmieri discusses Aristotle’s view of the kinds of questions we seek to answer when we investigate; for example, the nature of definitions and their relationship to scientific demonstrations, and the formation of new concepts.

This course includes a handout: https://courses.aynrand.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Greg_Salmieri-Aristotles_Theory_of_Knowledge.pdf

Lesson 3 of 3 in “Aristotle’s Theory of Knowledge”

The Inductive Origins of Darwins Origin by James Lennox

February 22, 2023 arilive_user 1:30:05 0 Comments

Charles Darwin was far from the first person to defend the idea that new species originate by a natural evolutionary process. Between 1750 and 1850 the idea had many defenders, including his grandfather. Why did Charles Darwin succeed in convincing his fellow naturalists, when many before him had failed? Based on a decades-long study of his private notebooks and correspondence, this lecture by James Lennox will describe the inductive method that lies behind Darwin’s brilliant presentation of the theory of evolution by natural selection presented in On the Origin of Species.

Recorded live on July 3, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.

Emil Theodor Kocher: A Chance to Cut by Laura Mazer

January 11, 2023 arilive_user 1:26:01 0 Comments

Emil Kocher, Swiss surgeon in the late 1800s, is known mostly for revolutionizing surgery of the thyroid. In his hands, the mortality rate of thyroid removal dropped from 50% to less than 1%. But tragedy soon followed triumph: before Kocher, no one could take out the thyroid gland. So no one asked if you should. The consequence of his surgical genius was the belated realization that the thyroid plays a crucial role in growth and development — much to the dismay of his young patients. This is the story of one man’s professional crisis, and how he met the challenge.

Recorded live on July 5, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.

The Anatomists: In Defiance of Man and God by Laura Mazer

January 26, 2022 arilive_user 1:02:04 0 Comments

An understanding of human anatomy makes possible modern medicine, surgery and even representational art. But the knowledge is hard-fought: the story of the early anatomists is a story of grave robbing, murder, heresy and heroism. This talk will introduce some of the individuals who have advanced our understanding of human anatomy, and relate the struggles and triumphs they faced along the way. Recorded live as part of The Objectivist Conference on August 28, 2021.

Climate, Energy and the Environmentalist Movement by Keith Lockitch

September 30, 2020 arilive_user 54:27 0 Comments

Today, climate change is viewed in our culture as a crisis of unprecedented scale that is uniquely threatening and intractable. Yet if we explore the history of the environmentalist movement, we find a pattern of forecasting similar environmental catastrophes that failed to materialize. What is it about environmentalism that gives rise to this pattern of ailed predictions, and what lessons can we draw from them about today’s concerns related to climate and energy?

Recorded live at OCON on June 25, 2020.

21st Century Breakthroughs and Challenges in Infectious Disease by Amesh Adalja

June 24, 2020 arilive_user 01:00:34 0 Comments

In this talk, Dr. Adalja provides a guided tour of some of the most game-changing innovations that are on the horizon in the field of infectious disease. Using the field of infectious disease as a backdrop, he discusses such topics as the microbiome, universal flu vaccines, CRISPR-CAS gene editing, bacteriophages, antimicrobial resistance, and immunotherapies. He also discusses the topic of regulation in this field and how it may impact innovation. Recorded live at OCON on June 23, 2019.

Free Speech, Free Minds, Free Markets with Yaron Brook, Dave Rubin and Eric Weinstein

November 23, 2018 arilive_user 1:51:02 0 Comments

A conversation about freedom, between Yaron Brook, Dave Rubin and Eric Weinstein.

Spacetime, Black Holes and Gravitational Waves by Keith Lockitch

November 22, 2018 arilive_user 1:28:21 0 Comments

“More Things in Heaven and Earth”: Spacetime, Black Holes, and Gravitational Waves

The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded for the first-ever detection of gravitational waves, confirming a 100-year-old prediction of Einstein’s. The discovery, announced in 2015, launched a new era of gravitational wave astronomy, but also raises challenging philosophical questions about the nature of space, time and gravity. What are gravitational waves and how are they being used to study the universe? And is there an inherent conflict between General Relativity and key metaphysical principles?

This talk was recorded live at Objectivist Summer Conference 2018 in Newport Beach, California.

A video version of this talk that includes supporting images can be found on ARI’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwJ8Rl-dN9s