DEMOREST - Dr. Dennis Marks, head of the Department of Physics, Astronomy, and Geosciences at Valdosta State University, will present a guest lecture on cosmology and the Big Bang as part of an ongoing course on religion and science at Piedmont College. <br>
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Marks will speak from 6-9 p.m., Thursday, at Stewart Hall on the Piedmont main campus in Demorest. Admission is free and the public is invited. <br>
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Offered through Piedmont's Interdisciplinary Studies Department, the course, titled "Science and Religion: From Conflict to Conversation," examines the history of the relationship between science and religion from a Judeo-Christian perspective. The course is taught by Dr. Carlton Adams and was made possible by a grant from the Center for Theology and Natural Sciences, a non-profit international organization dedicated to research, teaching and public service to bridge the gap between science and religion. <br>
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Cosmology is the study of the formation, evolution, and interpretation of the universe as a whole. Marks will discuss the history of the study of the origins of the universe from ancient times to current ideas about the expansion of the universe and attempts to reconcile Einstein's theories of relativity with quantum mechanics. <br>
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Marks, who holds a Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Michigan, began teaching astronomy and physics at Valdosta State in 1978. He has recently been a visiting scholar at the University of Texas at Austin and at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He served as a member and former chairman of the University System of Georgia Academic Advisory Committee on Physics and Astronomy from 1988 to 2001.
