Department of Astronomy


The Copernicus Complex


Caleb Scharf

Columbia University


Are we significant or insignificant? For the first time in human history we stand poised to begin to truly answer this question. Extraordinary discoveries in astronomy and biology have revealed a universe filled with dynamic and endlessly diverse planetary systems, and a picture of life as a phenomenon intimately linked with the most fundamental aspects of physics. But where this really leads us is not yet clear. It's possible that we need to find a way to see past the mediocre status that Copernicus assigned to us 500 years ago, and to do that we need to come to grips with the latest scientific research from the microscopic to the cosmic.