Events

Trained as a theoretical physicist, James Trefil contributed research in elementary particle physics, fluid mechanics, medical physics, and the earth sciences before he was wooed to George Mason to develop a science curriculum for general education.  Dedicated to advancing scientific literacy, Trefil teaches courses in the history of great ideas in physical, geological and biological science and the future of the development of cities, given technological advances in robotics, nanotechnology, and genetic engineering.  He serves as a contributing science editor for USA Today and science commentator for National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting Stations and he publishes regularly in the Smithsonian and Astronomy Magazines.  Author of Human Nature: Managing the Planet By and For Humans (2004), Are We Unique?: A Scientist Explores the Complexity of the Human Brain (1997) and A Scientist in the City (1994), he has also edited The Encyclopedia of Science and Technology (2002) and co-authored The Sciences: An Integrated Approach (4th ed., 2007), the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy (4th ed., 2003), and Other Worlds: The Solar System and Beyond (1999).  He is currently serving as the chief science consultant in the development of a new middle school science curriculum.

Cosponsored by: Graduate Studies, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, Plant Genomics Program, Physics Department and the University Writing Program Director of the Infant Language Learning Center and Professor of Psychology at New York University, Gary Marcus writes about his research on developmental cognitive neuroscience for both academic and popular publications.  “Through the integrated study of psychology, linguistics, and molecular biology,” he writes, “I aim to understand the origins of the human mind.”   His books include, Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind (2008), The Birth of the Mind: How a Tiny Number of Genes Creates the Complexities of Human Thought (2004), and  The Algebraic Mind: Integrating Connectivism and Cognitive Science (2000).  He also edited a collection of the best of contemporary writing about human behavior, The Norton Psychology Reader (2006).  He regularly writes articles for Science, Nature, Cognition, Cognitive Psychology, and the Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development.