Department Lecture Series (DLS) – George Philander (Princeton)

“The Precarious Present”

The recurrent Ice Ages of the past 5 million years are major unsolved scientific puzzles. Musicians provide clues. To Maurice Ravel the vital 2nd movement of this 3-part musical opus has the unrelenting rhythm of a Bolero that gradually grows in volume until it explodes. To scientists the score of that Bolero from 3 to 1Million years ago has two unrelated parts: a prolonged cooling trend that feedbacks sustain. Superimposed is a 40,000yr obliquity beat that sunlight variations (Milankovitch forcing) impose. Feedbacks produce climate variability with a very broad spectrum, from interannual El Niño to recurrent Ice Ages. Milankovitch forcing superimposes a few narrow peaks that can test theories and models. The perspectives of scientists and musicians are complementary. Galileo’s remark that “science can tell us how the heavens go, not how to go to heaven” benefits from Kenny Rogers’ refrain that “you got to know when to hold’em, know when to fold’em”. Music can help us bridge the gulf between the profoundly different worlds of science, and of human affairs.

Recommended listening on You Tube:

1. A surprise performance of Ravel’s Bolero stuns shoppers.
2.Kenny Rogers The Gambler.

About this Series: The Department Lecture Series at EAPS at MIT is a series of weekly talks given by leading thinkers in the areas of geology, geophysics, geobiology, geochemistry, atmospheric science, oceanography, climatology, and planetary science. For more information and Zoom password please contact Madelyn Musick: mmusick@mit.edu