Staring out into the Universe has the powe r to simultaneously make you feel small\, but \;empowered. On the one hand\, we are deeply aware of the notion that we are small lifeforms on&nb sp\;an insignificant speck of dust in some lonely corner of the Cosmos. Th at overwhelming sense of \;smallness is at great odds with the realiza tion that we are capable of unravelling and \;exposing the deepest mys teries of the Cosmos. The ability to understand the Cosmos can make us&nbs p\;feel big. We live at a unique moment in history -- we are the first hum ans to ever know that \;we are deeply connected to the stars themselve s. It is easy to forget how hard it was to win \;that knowledge.
\nThe road to understanding our place in the Cosmos has been a long and t angled journey. We are \;stardust\, wrought into complex machines of a toms that are capable of pondering the Universe \;itself. When faced w ith the Cosmic vastness\, it is easy to forget how awesome it is that we&n bsp\;can understand -- that is the hallmark of our relationship with the C osmos. In this chat\, \;we'll examine some of the story of how newfoun d knowledge has continually forced us to abandon \;cherished ideas abo ut the Universe\, leading us from a time when we believed Earth and humani ty \;were the center of all things\, to today\, where we are one small part of the greater Cosmos. \;
\nShane Larson is a research pro fessor of physics at Northwestern University\, where he is the \;Assoc iate Director of CIERA (Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Resea rch in \;Astrophysics). He works in the field of gravitational wave as trophysics\, specializing in \;studies of compact stars\, binaries\, a nd the galaxy. He works in gravitational wave astronomy \;with both th e ground-based LIGO project\, and future space-based observatory LISA. He was \;formerly a tenured associate professor of physics at Utah State University. He is an award \;winning teacher\, and a Fellow of the Ame rican Physical Society. He is an avid amateur \;astronomer\, observing with two homebuilt Dobsonians\, a 12.5" named EQUINOX and a 22" named&nbs p\;COSMOS MARINER. He contributes regularly to a public science blog at&nb sp\;writescience.wordpress.com\, and tweets with the handle @sciencejedi .
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