The Copernicus Complex: Are We Special in the Cosmos? @SVAstronomyLectures
The Copernicus Complex: Are We Special in the Cosmos?  @SVAstronomyLectures
Uploaded October 2014 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
October 8th, 2014
Caleb Scharf (Columbia University)

Is humanity on Earth special or unexceptional? Extraordinary discoveries in astronomy and biology have revealed a universe filled with endlessly diverse planetary systems, and a picture of life as a phenomenon intimately linked with the most fundamental aspects of physics. But just where these discoveries will lead us is not yet clear. We may need to find a way to see past the mediocre status that Copernicus assigned to us 500 years ago. Dr. Scharf helps us to come to grips with the implications of some of the latest scientific research, from the microscopic to the cosmic.
The Copernicus Complex: Are We Special in the Cosmos?Einsteins Blunder Undone: The Runaway UniverseWhat Does a Black Hole Look Like: How We Got Our First PictureBlack Widow Pulsars: The Vengeful Corpses of StarsThe Last Stargazers: Behind the Scenes in AstronomyLiving with a Star: Creating and Maintaining a Life-Friendly Planet, in Our Solar System and OthersPlanet 9 from Outer Space: Searching for a Distant Planet in our Solar SystemNew Developments in Understanding Dark EnergyExploding Stars, New Planets, Black Holes and the Crisis at the Lick ObservatoryHow Things in the Universe Came About and How They Ended Up Within UsWhen Mars Was Like Earth: Five Years of Exploration with the Curiosity RoverThe Black Hole Wars: My Battle with Stephen Hawking
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The Copernicus Complex: Are We Special in the Cosmos?

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