PROGRAMME >> EVENT #38  

sunday aug. 31.time 23.00.spalti Fortezza Firmafede - 3,00
Piergiorgio Odifreddi - Reads Darwin. Life and God

listen to the audio file

Although his theories eventually shook the very bases of biblical religion, at the beginning of his life Darwin wanted to become a priest; at the end he lost his faith. We will read passages from his Autobiography, which came out in 1887, after his death and was censored by his wife, and from his Letters. This meeting deals with his life and his thought, but it’s also a reflection on the way his theories have been confirmed by later scientific research, from Mendel to Nirenberg, and on the hostility they have met and still continue to meet outside the scientific world. 2009 will mark both the bicentenary of his birth and the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the publication of his masterpiece, On the Origin of Species.

Piergiorgio Odifreddi
studied Mathematics in Italy, then in the USA and in the USSR. He is currently Professor of Logics at the University of Turin and at Cornell University. He writes regularly for La Repubblica, L’Espresso, Le Scienze as well as for the Italian radio and television. In 1998, UMI-Italy’s Mathematicians’ Association awarded him the Premio Galileo. Among his books: Il Vangelo secondo la Scienza. Le religioni alla prova del nove (Einaudi, 1999); C’era una volta un paradosso (Einaudi, 2001); Il diavolo in cattedra (Einaudi, 2003); La scienza espresso (Einaudi, 2006); Penna, pennello e bacchetta (Laterza, 2005); Longanesi: Il matematico impertinente (Longanesi, 2005); Incontri con menti straordinarie (Longanesi, 2006); Perché non possiamo essere cristiani (e meno che mai cattolici) (Longanesi, 2007); Il matematico impenitente (Longanesi, 2008); La Via Lattea, with Sergio Valzania (Longanesi, 2008); In principio era Darwin (Longanesi, 2009); Il club dei matematici solitari (Mondadori, 2009).