Speaker's Night: The Colour Out of Space and Other Tales of Cosmic Horror (ONLINE)

Leo Alcorn

Wednesday, September 22, 2021 - 7:30pm to 9:00pm

https://rascto.ca/content/speakers-night-online-4

Dr. Leo Yvonne Alcorn, Postdoctoral Fellow, Astronomy and Astrophysics, York University and The Dunlap Institute

This talk will examine the influence of stranger-than-fiction astronomical phenomena on the development of early science fiction and cosmic horror genres of literature. By discussing several short stories written during the development of General Relativity and quantum mechanics in the early 20th century, we will discuss phenomena such as radiation and quantum mechanics (through "The Colour Out of Space"), the discovery of Pluto ("The Whisperer in Darkness"), and non-Euclidean geometry and general relativity ("Dreams in the Witch House").

Dr. Leo Yvonne Alcorn is a postdoctoral researcher in astronomy at York University and The Dunlap Institute, and received her PhD from Texas A&M University in 2019.

Who can attend: Everyone
Fee: Free
Registration: Not required
Organized by: RASC, Toronto Centre
Link: https://www.youtube.com/rasctoronto/live