Lecture May 16 “Journey to the Center of Earth”

Satellites, nuclear explosions and the ability to reproduce in the laboratory the extreme conditions at our planet’s center are revealing what is inside our planet, how it is changing and why.  We’ll open the hood to look at how Spaceship Earth works.

Raymond Jeanloz, a professor in Earth and Planetary Science and in Astronomy, uses diamonds and lasers to study materials at high pressures, as well as the evolution of planetary interiors.  After getting his PhD at the California Institute of Technology, he taught at Harvard before moving to UC Berkeley.  In addition to teaching and research, he is active in science-based policy in areas ranging from education, resources and the environment to national and international security. A MacArthur “genius grant” recipient, Prof. Jeanloz also chairs the Committee on International Security and Arms Control at the National Academy of Sciences.