2008 World Science Summit

World Science Summit Composite

Presented by the World Science Festival and Columbia University, in collaboration with The Aspen Institute

The World Science Summit, the opening event of the 2008 World Science Festival, was an invitation-only conference focusing on the role of science across business, government and public policy. High-level scientists and policy makers as well as business, academic and cultural leaders, exchanged ideas and information about cutting-edge scientific and technological innovations, and explored their potential for impact on the world at large. Summit speakers provided accessible and provocative explorations of the science behind the critical issues we face, focusing on the next wave of opportunities anticipated by scientific advances.

Keynote Address

Keynote Michael Bloomberg

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's keynote address encouraged the Summit's distinguished participants to work together in addressing “the tragic lag between what we know and what we do.” His words set a fitting tone for the start of the Festival program as he discussed the importance of facilitating a connection between science and society.

The Kavli Prizes

Fred Kavli

An exclusive simulcast from Oslo, Norway named the laureates of the inaugural multimillion dollar Kavli Prizes, awards which honor the world's most prominent researchers in astrophysics, nanoscience, and neuroscience.

The winners of these prestigious awards were:

Astrophysics Prize

Maarten Schmidt, California Institute of Technology, United States
Donald Lynden-Bell, Cambridge University, United Kingdom

Nanoscience Prize

Louis E. Brus, Columbia University, United States
Sumio Iijima, Meijo University, Japan

Neuroscience Prize

Pasko Rakic, Yale University School of Medicine, United States
Thomas Jessell, Columbia University, United States
Sten Grillner, Karolinska Institute, Sweden

The Big, the Small and the Complex

Alan Alda & David Gross

Participants:

  • Alan Alda, Six-time Emmy Award-winning Actor, Writer & Director
  • David Gross, Director, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California at Santa Barbara; Nobel Laureate, Physics
  • Michael Turner, Astrophysicist, University of Chicago
  • Horst Stormer, Professor of Physics and Applied Physics, Columbia University; Nobel Laureate, Physics
  • Joseph LeDoux, Neuroscientist, New York University

Radical Science for a Warming Planet

Steven Chu

Participants:

  • Walter Isaacson, President and CEO, The Aspen Institute
  • Steven Chu, Director, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Nobel Laureate, Physics
  • Dickson Despommier, Professor, Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University
  • Peter Head, Director and Head of Global Planning, Arup

 

Science — The New Foreign Policy

Nina Federoff

Participants:

  • Robert Bazell, Emmy Award-winning Journalist
  • Harold Varmus, President and CEO, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Former Director, National Institutes of Health; Nobel Laureate, Medicine
  • David Baltimore, Chairman, American Association for the Advancement of Science; Robert A. Millikan Professor of Biology; Former President, California Institute of Technology; Nobel Laureate, Chemistry
  • F. Sherwood Rowland, Professor of Chemistry, University of California Irvine; Nobel Laureate, Chemistry
  • Nina Fedoroff, Science and Technology Advisor to the Secretary of State and the Administration of USAID

 

Building a Better Brain

Elizabeth Vargas

Participants:

  • Elizabeth Vargas, ABC News Anchor and Correspondent
  • John Donoghue, Neuroscientist, Brown University
  • Andrew Schwartz, Professor of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh
  • Nicholas Schiff, Neurologist, Weill Cornell Medical College
  • Joseph Jack Fins, Chief of the Division of Medical Ethics, Weill Cornell Medical College

 

Roundtable Luncheon

Brian Greene, co-founder of the World Science Festival, was joined by Paul Calello, CEO of Investment Banking for Credit Suisse, Principal Sponsor of the Summit and Festival, James Simons, on behalf of the Simons Foundation and Doron Weber of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, both Founding Benefactors of the Festival, in welcoming guests to the Summit's Roundtable Luncheon. Throughout the luncheon, table leaders guided informal discussions of the following topics:

Paul Calello and James Simons

 

Small Wonders, Nanotechnology

Participant(s):

  • Horst Stormer, Professor of Physics & Applied Physics, Columbia University; Nobel Laureate Physics

 

Science of Elections

Participant(s):

  • Dudley Herschbach, Baird Professor of Science, Harvard University; Nobel Laureate Chemistry
  • Steven J. Brams, Professor of Politics, New York University

The Role of the Scientist in Society

Participant(s):

  • Walter Isaacson, President and CEO, The Aspen Institute
  • David Gross, Director, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California at Santa Barbara; Nobel Laureate, Physics

Science in Society

Regenerative Medicine

Participant(s):

  • William Haseltine, President, The William A. Haseltine Foundation for Medical Services and the Arts; Chairman and CEO, Haseltine Associates, Ltd.

Quant — The Science of Finance

Participant(s):

  • James H. Simons, President, Renaissance Technologies LLC

Science Education

Participant(s):

  • Carl Wieman, Director, Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative, University of British Columbia; Director, Colorado Science Education Initiative; Nobel Laureate, Physics
  • Leon Lederman, Pritzker Professor of Science, Illinois Institute of Technology; Director Emeritus, Fermilab; Resident Scholar, Illinois Mathematical and Science Academy; Nobel Laureate, Physics

Leon Lederman

Cancer and Genes

Participant(s):

  • Harold Varmus, President and CEO, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; Nobel Laureate, Medicine
  • David Baltimore, Robert A. Millikan Professor of Biology, California Institute of Technology; Nobel Laureate, Medicine

The Unconscious in Control

Participant(s):

  • Daniel Dennett, Co-Director, Center for Cognitive Studies, Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, Tufts University
  • David Eagleman, Neuroscientist, Baylor College of Medicine

Daniel Dennett

Brain Enhancement

Participant(s):

  • Eric Wassermann, Staff Clinician, Brain Stimulation Unit, NINDS
  • Patricia Churchland, President's Professor of Philosophy, University of California, San Diego

Science Without Borders

Participant(s):

  • Zafra Lerman, Distinguished Professor of Science and Public Policy, Head of the Institute for Science Education and Science Communication, Columbia College, Chicago
  • Alan Lightman, Adjunct Professor of Humanities, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Jim Gates, Toll Physics Professor and Director of the Center for String and Particle Theory, University of Maryland in College Park

Jim Gates

The Truth About Biofuels

Participant(s):

  • Frances Beinecke, President, National Resources Defense Council
  • F. Sherwood Rowland, Professor of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine; Nobel Laureate, Chemistry

Biominicry

Participant(s):

  • Jack Hidary, Chairman, iAmplify
  • Bryony Schwan, Executive Director, The Biomimicry Institute

Eco-innovation

Participant(s):

  • Ben Schwegler, Chief Scientist, Walt Disney Imagineering R&D
  • Mitchell Joachim, Architect and Urban Designer, Partner, Terraform

Ben Schwegler

In The News: World Science Summit

The World Science Festival gratefully acknowledges the support of Credit Suisse, Principal Sponsor; and The Kavli Foundation.

Credit Suisse

The Kavli Foundation