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Critical Decision Making: Science, Religion and the Law We all know consistency is too much to ask from either extreme end of the political spectrum, so it should come as no surprise that conservatives who wave the banners of Constitutional originalism and judicial restraint were caught short when one of their own rendered a decision they didn’t like. Judge John E. Jones III has consistently defended his decision in the “Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District” case, in which he ruled against teaching intelligent design in the classroom, as a by-the-book reading of the First Amendment. Of course, for those to whom peppering speculation with technical jargon transforms creationism into intelligent design, it’s not a huge leap to brand Jones a judicial activist, but he hardly fits the part. The George W. Bush appointee is a Republican who, as PLCB chairman in the late ’90s, banned Bad Frog Beer from state store shelves thanks to a rude gesture on the label. He’ll discuss the thought process that goes into a decision like Kitzmiller, an alien concept for those whose minds are never less than made up. —Shaun Brady ● ● ● Sat., April 23, 2 p.m., free, Community College of Philadelphia, Winnet Student Life Building, Room S2-19, 1700 Spring Garden St.
The Hidden Reality with Brian Greene Flipping through the channels recently, I settled on CSPAn2 for a discussion between physicist/author Brian
Greene and mathematician Amir Aczel at Boston’s Museum of Science. Aczel insisted on rebuking Greene’s embrace of seemingly out-there concepts involving string theory and multiple universes with arcane scientific points and logical arguments (he is a mathematician, after all), at which Greene constantly recoiled — not so much at the questioning, but at Aczel’s insistence on engaging him in a private scholarly debate, alienating an audience still struggling with Einstein. Though the topics he wrestles with — his latest book, The Hidden Reality, covers parallel universes and their implications for the laws of the universe — are disorientingly difficult to wrap one’s real-world head around, Greene is a knee-jerk populist, intensely eager to educate a skeptical public. There’s enough sci-fi bizarreness in his work to draw the crowds; it’s his engaging personality (as it was Stephen Hawking’s personal story before him) that makes the dense information go down a little smoother. —Shaun Brady
then the apothecary, barber and horse doctor were all the same person, and nobody let the facts get in the way of a good story. Or a burning at the stake. —Eric Schuman ● ● ● Thu., April 28, 5:30 p.m., free with online reservation, Wagner Free Institute of Science, 1700 W. Montgomery Ave.
● ● ● Thu., April 28, noon, free, Free Library, Central Branch, 1901 Vine St.
Seemed Right at the Time?! Scenes from Science Past In ye olde times, even exact science wasn’t an exact science. Sure, there was gravity and photosynthesis and such, but superstitions and uninformed claims were inseparably linked to widely accepted theories. This comical showcase delves into once-widely-held beliefs and practices that have since fallen out of scientific favor: divination, astrology, witch identification. Ah, ’twas a simpler time. Back April 21 is Astronomy Night, and Clark Park will be full of (smaller) telescopes for stargazing. ● ● ●