Presents

The Most Unknown is an epic documentary film that sends nine scientists to extraordinary parts of the world to uncover unexpected answers to some of humanity’s biggest questions. How did life begin? What is time? What is consciousness? How much do we really know?

By introducing researchers from diverse backgrounds for the first time, then dropping them into new, immersive field work they previously hadn’t tackled, the film pushes the boundaries of how science storytelling is approached. What emerges is a deeply human trip to the foundations of discovery and a powerful reminder that the unanswered questions are the most crucial ones to pose.

In this talk, John Allen Paulos speaks about his memoir A Numerate Life - A Mathematician Explores the Vagaries of Life, His Own and Probably Yours. Moving back and forth seamlessly between personal vignettes and mathematics, Paulos offers up a path-breaking way to look at our lives and, not so incidentally, impart some deep mathematical understanding. This is a more personal human endeavor - the telling of our life stories. Paulos will ask: How does a mathematical sensibility change our attitudes toward memoirs and biographies and lead us to reevaluate our own lives?

Join writers and editors from Quanta Magazine for a stimulating panel discussion on the biggest ideas in math and science presented in two new books: Alice and Bob Meet the Wall of Fire and The Prime Number Conspiracy. Panelists will discuss whether our universe is “natural,” the natures of time and infinity, our strange quantum reality, the origin and evolution of life, the role of mathematics in science and society, and where all these questions are taking us.

Eugenia Cheng will take a scalpel to politics, privilege, sexism and other real-world situations, as she demonstrates how math can help us find truth and clarity without losing nuance.

Cheng holds a Ph.D. in pure mathematics from the University of Cambridge and is currently Scientist in Residence at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Alongside her research in Category Theory and undergraduate teaching, her aim is to rid the world of "math phobia." Her most recent book, "The Art of Logic in an Illogical World" was published in 2018.

Inventing Tomorrow follows six young scientists from Indonesia, Hawaii, India and Mexico as they tackle some of the most complex environmental issues facing humanity today – right in their own backyards. Each student is preparing original scientific research that he or she will defend at ISEF, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Framed against the backdrop of the severe environmental threats we now face, we immerse the audience in a global view of the planetary crisis, through the eyes of the generation that will be affected by it most.

The moderated panel discussion will feature the filmmakers Laura Nix (director), Melanie Miller (producer), and Julie Goldman (executive producer). A reception will follow.