Profs and Pints Nashville presents: “Life in Space, Doubt in Souls,” a look at how our beliefs would be challenged by the discovery that we’re not alone, with David A. Weintraub, professor of astronomy at Vanderbilt University and author of Religions and Extraterrestrial Life: How Will We Deal With It?

“Sometimes I think we’re alone. Sometimes I think we’re not. In either case, the thought is staggering,” said the twentieth century inventor and visionary Buckminster Fuller.

Prepare to staggered by a talk on the religious and philosophical implications of finding that life exists elsewhere in the universe.

Dr. David Weintraub, an astronomer who researches the formation of stars and planets, will start by discussing how astronomers already have discovered thousands of planets in orbit around other stars. He’ll predict the progress astronomers are likely to make over the next 50 years as they use sophisticated new telescopes and other instruments to study faraway planets in detail, looking for evidence of life on or beneath their surfaces or in their atmospheres.

Drawing from his 2014 book on the subject, he’ll then discuss the profound consequences a discovery of life elsewhere would have on several major world religions: Roman Catholicism, Mainline Protestantism, Christian Creationism, Seventh Day Adventism, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism.  

You’ll love being on hand for this exploration of big discoveries and ideas with Professor Weintraub, who founded and directs Vanderbilt’s Communication of Science and Technology program and has been nationally recognized for his outstanding communication of contemporary physics to the general public. By the time the talk is over, you’ll have so many cool things to talk about you just might end up phoning home. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.)