The powerful James Webb Space Telescope–the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope–promises insight into profound questions that have dogged philosophers and astronomers for millennia. What is the origin of the universe? How are stars and planets created? Is there life elsewhere in the universe? Brian Greene brings together four scientists who will use the Webb to investigate these very questions: John C. Mather, NASA’s lead scientist on the project and a Nobel Laureate; Natalie Batalha, NASA’s lead scientist on the Kepler Mission, which discovered the first rocky planets outside our solar system; Adam Riess, who earned a Nobel Prize for his revelations about the expansion rate of the universe; and Ewine van Dishoeck, a Kavli Laureate for her pioneering work in the field of astrochemistry.
This program is part of the Big Ideas Series, which is supported by the John Templeton Foundation.
