Lisa Randall Explains the Cosmos

What’s the Latest Development?

In Lisa Randall’s newest book, Knocking on Heaven’s Door, the renowned physicist explains where the frontiers of science currently rest. Thanks to the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s biggest particle accelerator that smashes atoms together at unfathomable energies, the debates between theorists and experimenters have never been more lively. “That is because everyone realizes these interactions are essential with these challenging experiments to get to the right answers,” says Randall. In the book, she also discusses the experimental status of dark matter. 

What’s the Big Idea?

Randall goes a step beyond explaining the current state of scientific advance. She shares the principles that underlie the methods of researchers across the scientific spectrum. “The ideas that underlie science are critical to rational thinking in general and should be widely known, even by those silly few who don’t care about any specific science research topic,” she writes. Randall believes that if more people understood the base on which science operates, there would be less confusion and vitriol in many of today’s political debates. Finally, Randall asks after the role of creativity in science.