50 Years of Discovery: Exploring the Universe's Deepest Mysteries

The Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago welcomes nine of the world's leading physicists and cosmologists for "The Compton Lectures: 50 Years of Discovery," a nine-part series marking the 50th anniversary of one of Chicago's most beloved public science traditions. Each speaker will reflect on half a century of landmark discoveries — from the origins of matter and the hunt for dark matter to gravitational waves and the cosmic microwave background — and on what the next fifty years may hold.

Running every Saturday from October 3 through December 5, this series offers a rare opportunity to hear the scientists who shaped modern physics speak directly to the questions that define it. Free and open to all, each lecture begins at 11 a.m. (CDT) at the Kersten Physics Teaching Center, 5720 S. Ellis Ave., Room 106, and will be broadcast live online. No background in science required.