By Jo Nova

William Happer

I was lucky enough to spend some time with the wonderful Professor William Happer the last few days thanks to the IPA. The man is a living legend of science having worked on the StarWars program in the Cold War and with the White House in the 1990s and in the Trump era. His talk had something for everyone, speaking about the need for bravery in dangerous times, and the psychology of crowds and yet with enough detail on emission spectrum calculations to appeal to the true science nerds as well. His work on adaptive optics with lasers in the atmosphere was considered so important to national security it was classified as a military secret. Despite that he was one of the first casualties of the political war on science – losing his position as Director of Energy Research in the US Dept of Energy in 1993 for speaking his mind on ozone.

Happer conveys an enthusiasm for physics, astronomy, the Earth that is infectious.

Book Now — and don’t forget the IPA offers a program for 15-25 year olds called Generation Liberty — with membership for just $10 a year and free […]