-------- Cosmology and the Constants of Nature Monday, 17 March 2014 at 09:00 - Wednesday, 19 March 2014 at 15:00 (GMT); DAMTP, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom The Constants of Nature are quantities, whose numerical values we know with the greatest experimental accuracy - but about the rationale for those values, we have the greatest ignorance. We might also ask if they are indeed constant in space and time, and investigate whether their values arise at random or are uniquely determined by some deep theory. This mini-series of talks (in mornings only) is part of the joint Oxford-Cambridge programme on the Philosophy of Cosmology which aims to introduce philosophers of physics to fundamental problems in cosmology and associated areas of high-energy physics. The talks are aimed at philosophers of physics but should also be of interest to a wide range of cosmologists. Speakers will introduce the physical constants that define the standard model of particle physics and cosmology together with the data that determine them, describe observational programmes that test the constancy of traditional 'constants', including the cosmological constant, and discuss how self-consistent theories of varying constants can be formulated. Speakers: John Barrow, University of Cambridge John Ellis, King's College London Pedro Ferreira, University of Oxford Joao Magueijo, Imperial College, London Thanu Padmanabhan, IUCAA, Pune Martin Rees, University of Cambridge John Webb, University of New South Wales, Sydney Registration is free and includes morning coffee and lunch. Participants are requested to register at the conference website; where the full programme of talks can also be found: http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/events/constants2014/ For enquiries about this event please contact Margaret Bull at mmp@maths.cam.ac.uk ------ Jeremy Butterfield: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Butterfield Homepage: http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/butterfield/ Trinity College, Cambridge CB2 1TQ Tel: 01223 761524 (office); 07557-668413 (mobile); NB: new mobile number. Visit the journal, Studies in the History and Philosophy of Modern Physics http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13552198