Michael Specter has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1998. His most recent book, “Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet, and Threatens Our Lives,” was published on October 29, 2009. Specter writes often about science, technology, and public health. Since joining the magazine, he has written several articles about the global AIDS epidemic, as well as about avian influenza, malaria, and the world’s diminishing freshwater resources, synthetic biology and the debate over the meaning of our carbon footprint.

Read Jane Maslin’s “Firing Bullets of Data at Cozy Anti-Science” article on Michael Specter in the New York Times.

Monday, November 16, 2009, 7:30pm
UCSB, Campbell Hall, 574 Mesa Rd, Santa Barbara
Free!

Wild, witty, forever beguiling to all who see him, Philippe Petit has extended the boundaries of theater, music, writing, poetry, drawing and filmmaking to become an inimitable high wire artist. In 1974, Petit accomplished what may be the most astounding “artistic crime” of all time: he walked a high wire illegally stretched between the rooftops of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. He will discuss this and other unparalleled feats of artistry. For information about a private, pre-event dinner with Mr. Petit, call 893.3465.

Saturday, November 7, 2009, 8-10pm
UCSB, Campbell Hall
Admission: $15-$25
Information: 805.893.3535
http://artsandlectures.sa.ucsb.edu