With excursions into culture and public policy, a theoretical physicist named one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” explores how we decide which scientific questions to study, how we go about answering them, and how science might radically revise our understanding of the world.
Lisa Randall is the Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University. She studies theoretical particle physics and cosmology and her research connects theoretical insights to puzzles in our current understanding of the properties and interactions of matter. Randall’s current research focuses in large part on the Large Hadron Collider and dark matter searches and models. Her book Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions was included in the New York Times' 100 notable books of 2005. Randall has also recently pursued art-science connections, writing a libretto for Hypermusic: A Projective Opera in Seven Planes that premiered in the Pompidou Center in 2009, and Measure for Measure, an art exhibit she co-curated, opened in Los Angeles in 2010.
Lynda Obst authored the best-selling book, Hello He Lied: And Other Truths from the Hollywood Trenches and blogs frequently about meta-business issues for The Atlantic.com culture channel as well as The Huffington Post. She is a prolific film & television producer who has made films at almost every major motion picture studio including such titles as: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Contact, Sleepless in Seattle, The Siege, One Fine Day, Hope Floats and The Fisher King. Obst executive produced NBC's Emmy Nominated miniseries The 60's, is currently an Executive Producer on TVLAND's Hot In Cleveland, and is producing TV and movies out of her office at Sony. Lynda studied the Philosophy of Science at Columbia and is an abiding science geek.
