James D. Stein & Bernd Brunner

Amazingly, there are a small set of numbers, values and constants that define the way our entire universe works and has evolved. Tonight on Inquiry we talk with a man who has written a wonderful book about these very important numbers: Professor of mathematics at California State University JAMES D. STEIN. His entertaining history of science and mathematics is COSMIC NUMBERS: THE NUMBERS THAT DEFINE OUR UNIVERSE. Tonight we talk about the value of Absolute Zero, the coldest anything in the universe can get, and what weird things happen to matter as it is brought to this ultimate “big chill”. We finish our conversation by discussing the Omega value, a number that may well determine the fate of the entire universe.

Tonight on Inquiry we have a fascinating talk with writer BERND BRUNNER about the history and evolution of the aquarium. What started out as an attempt to bring a small bit of the wild and unknown ocean into the home eventually become a worldwide hobby and public entertainment. But are fish really meant to be “kept in a box?” Tune in to find out. Brunner’s beautiful and unique social natural history is titled THE OCEAN AT HOME: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF THE AQUARIUM.