The 2004 Isaac Asimov Memorial Panel Debate

The Isaac Asimov Memorial Panel Debate, an annual event held at the
American Museum of Natural History in New York City, brings the finest
minds in the world together to debate pressing questions on the frontier
of scientific discovery. The series is endowed by a fund established by
Janet and Robyn Asimov. The fourth annual debate will take place on the
evening of April 21, 2004 in the museum's LeFrak Theater.

The topic of the 2004 debate is "The Dark Side", and concerns everything
that is dark and mysterious in the universe, including super-massive
black holes that exist in the centers of galaxies, unseen dark matter
that accounts for most of the gravity in the universe, and dark energy
which is accelerating the expnsion of the universe. Five astrophysicists
will debate the consequences that these dark things will have for the
universe.

The panel will consist of Katie Freese, Professor of Physics at the
University of Michigan, who has been working to identify the dark matter
and dark energy of the Universe; Brian Greene, Professor of Physics and
Mathematics at Columbia University, a superstring theorist and
best-selling author, who is developing a theory of quantum gravity and a
unified theory of all forces and all matter; Robert Kirshner, Professor
of Astronomy at Harvard University, who is a co-discoverer of dark
energy; Michael S. Turner, Associate Director of Mathematical and
Physical Sciences for the National Science Foundation, whose research
attempts to determine fundamental laws of physics by investigating
cosmology; and J. Anthony Tyson, Distinguished Member of the Technical
Staff at Bell Labs, whose research in experimental cosmology concerns
observational probes of dark matter and dark energy in the universe.

The debate will once again be moderated by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, the
Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium.

Tickets for the 2004 debate can be purchased at the museum's website at
http://www.amnh.org/programs/hayden/index.html. Proceeds from ticket
sales benefit the scientific and educational programs of the Hayden
Planetarium.

--
Ed Seiler