“

Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine - Sir Arthur Eddington

If you think you understand quantum physics, you just haven’t thought about it enough yet - Andy Fletcher

”

Scroll down through each page

Home Page - Overview, TOC, Schedule, Topics and Excellent Links

Listen - Relativity, Quantum Weirdness, Chaos, Complexity, a Brief History of the Universe, Science Links, Bibliography

Voices - What the Scientists Say

People - Youth Endorsements, Adult Endorsements

Places - Schools etc. where the lectures have been given, Schedules from Previous Years

Theory of Knowledge - History of the Seminars, Biographical Sketch of Andy Fletcher

How to Donate - How to Donate (Duh)

Contact - Contact Information (duh)

Where We'll Be and When We'll Be There

We're happy to speak for anyone, anywhere. Possible hosts (most of which we have done) would be IB high schools, international schools, private schools, regular public and state or national high schools, universities, colleges and junior or community colleges, conferences, retreats or camps, civic groups, private home groups, or any type of conference or meeting. Just ask.

Topics List

We are now offering presentations of an hour or two (or maybe 3) in length. The possible topics are as follows:

1. Special and General Relativity and Big Bang (2 hours)

2. Special and General Relativity and Black Holes (2 hours)

3. Quantum Mechanics (1 or 2 hour versions)

4. Chaos Theory (1 hour)

5. Chaos Theory with Covid-19 (2 hours)

6. Chaos Theory with Climate Change (2 hours)

7. Chaos Theory with 9-11 (2 hours)

8. Fractals (1 hour)

9. Chaos Theory with Fractals (2 hours)

10. Complexity Theory and biological systems (2 hours)

11. Complexity and the Human Brain (2 hours)

12. Extended Complexity Theory (3 hours)

13. The Universe, start to finish, with fine-tuning, the Strong Anthropic Principle, Multiverse theories (2 hours). With varying opinions from scientists (3 hours)

14. There’s Nothing There (2 hours)

15. There’s Nothing There with Chaos and Complexity (3 hours)

For many years, we have offered the main presentation below, which can consist of any or all of the topics listed. Given time, it’s best to do all nine, as they link together in a continuum. Each will also stand on its own without the others. Expanded descriptions are down below. We recommend an in-person visit and presentation times of 3-4, 5-6, or 6- 8 hours, depending upon how many topics are chosen. :

1. The Universe is empty - There’s Nothing There

2. Albert Einstein - Special Relativity, Space, Time and Weirdness

3. Albert Einstein - General Relativity, Black Holes, Big Bang, and More Weirdness

4. Albert Einstein - Quantum Theory and the Weirdest Weirdness of All

5. Chaos Theory - Things Falling Apart - Why Disasters Happen and Why You Can't Do Anything About it

5a. Chaos Theory and Climate Change

5b. Chaos Theory and 9-11

5c. Chaos Theory and Covid-19

6. Chaos Theory - Fractals - At the Edge of Chaos, Beauty, Elegance and Simplicity. Sort of.

7. Complexity Theory - Things Getting Better in a Most Disconcerting Way

7a Complexity Theory - Many Many Zombies

8. A Brief History of the Universe - From the Beginning of Time to Just a Tiny Nanosecond Ago

9. What the Scientists Think About It All - The Strong Anthropic Principle vs. The Multiverse

We also offer separate but related presentations on:

1. The Evolving State of Evolution (2 hours)

2. Evolution, Creationism, and Intelligent Design (2 hours)

And entirely unrelated presentations on:

1. Third Culture Kids (2 hours)

2. Cultural Values (1 hour)

3. Crossing Cultures (1 hour)

4. Surviving Transition (1 hour)

Expanded Descriptions of the 9 topics of Life, the Universe and Everything

1. The Universe is empty - There’s Nothing There

Empty? Really? It doesn’t look empty. I mean, at all. There’s clearly a lot of stuff out there. Right? Hello? Right?

2. Albert Einstein - Special Relativity, Space, Time and Weirdness

One of the fundamental assumptions about the way the universe worked was that the speed of light was a variable and changed depending on perspective. Albert Einstein, with his slight disdain for authority, began his assault on our fundamental assumptions with light, and changed the way we think about everything.

3. Albert Einstein - General Relativity, Black Holes, Big Bang, and More Weirdness

Newton's theory of planetary motion worked brilliantly at predicting where the planets would be at any point in time, except for Mercury. Something was wrong with Mercury. When Einstein found the problem and fixed it with General Relativity, it turned into the one of the most challenging and disturbing moments in the history of science and fundamentally changed our understanding of the entire universe. Even Einstein didn't like what he'd discovered and he refused, for awhile, to believe it.

4. Albert Einstein - Quantum Theory and the Weirdest Weirdness of All

If you thought Relativity was strange, it doesn't even come close to the strangeness of Quantum Mechanics (QM). QM describes the way everything in the universe works even better than Relativity, it's always right, it's never wrong, it's the most important science known to man, and it is so totally bizarre that nobody likes it and everybody wishes it would go away. The universe is truly nothing like you think it is. Einstein didn't like this, either, and it was mostly his fault.

5. Chaos Theory - Things Falling Apart - Why Disasters Happen and Why You Can't Do Anything About it

The Newtonian universe is entirely predictable. However, the real universe is only mostly and sometimes predictable. The places where we can't predict what's going to happen turn out to be the places where the universe is at its most creative and destructive.

6. Chaos Theory - Fractals - At the Edge of Chaos, Beauty, Elegance and Simplicity. Sort of.

Ah, fractals. Some of the most beautiful and complicated things man has ever discovered, and as it happens, the universe is a fractalated sort of place. There is a language that the universe speaks, and fractals start to tell us about that language. It is subtle, elegant, gorgeous, both mysterious and mysteriously understandable. Fractals take us into a universe that is sublimely well-ordered.

7. Complexity Theory - Things Getting Better in a Most Disconcerting Way

Speaking of sublime order, Complexity Theory is not nearly as complex as it sounds. The universe is a place that solves problems in the most subtle, elegant, gorgeous and sublime sort of ways. From the universe itself to bacteria, parasites, and even cells, there is elegant order that emerges in mysterious ways in the most unexpected of places.

8. A Brief History of the Universe - From the Beginning of Time to Just a Tiny Nanosecond Ago, starring the Higgs Boson

Now that we know all of this, what does it tell us about the way the universe appeared? We know more about the tiny fractions of the first second than we know about the deep oceans, but the answers we gain only create more and more fascinating questions. It is indeed an amazing place, our universe.

9. What the Scientists Think About It All - The Strong Anthropic Principle vs. The Multiverse

So all of these bright guys, these scientists, they've discovered all of this amazing science - so why don't they like it, and why are they desperately struggling to fix it, to find some other answer to it all that they like better? The evidence takes them places they don't want to go, and so they go places for which there is no, and never will be, any evidence. It is the most fascinating thing.

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For the DVD series or audiobook, email us directly at andyfletch42@gmail.com.