[AZ-Observing] upcoming DFAC meeting

Fellow Stargazers,
It was suggested by Tom Polakis that I post this here, in addition to the 
notices previously sent to Valley area clubs.  So here it is:

Monday, Jan 26th, 6:30-8:30 pm, in Classroom #1 at the North Valley Regional 
Library in Anthem, DFAC will host Fr. George Coyne, S.J., of the Vatican 
Observatory for a special presentation about ID (intelligent design) as seen 
through the perspective of a professional astronomer who is also a Jesuit.  
Given the coverage of ID in the popular media, this is a topic all scientists 
should be familiar with.  Fr. Coyne's perspective should afford some unique 
insights.  This meeting is open to the public.

Maps are available on our website at:  http:/www.dfacaz.org/maps.html

Below is the abstract supplied by Fr. Coyne:

THE DANCE OF THE FERTILE UNIVERSE: DID GOD DO IT?

George V. Coyne, S.J.
Vatican Observatory

Abstract

Did we come about by chance or by necessity in the evolving universe? Did God 
make us? Can we conclude that there is an Intelligent Design to the universe? 
To what extent can the natural sciences address these questions. As to chance 
or necessity the first thing to be said is that the problem is not formulated 
correctly. It is not just a question of chance or necessity because, first of 
all, it is both. Furthermore, there is a third element here that is very 
important. It is what we might call the "fertility" of the universe. So the 
dance of the fertile universe is a ballet with three ballerinas: chance, 
necessity and fertility. What this means is that the universe is so fertile in 
offering the opportunity for the success of both chance and necessary processes 
that such a character of the universe must be included in the search for our 
origins in the universe. In this light I am going to try to present in broad 
strokes what I think is some of the best of our modern scientific understanding 
of the universe and then return to the questions above.

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