Mossman Lecture (Hybrid Event) | Bob McDonald "The Future Is Now: Solving the climate crisis with today's technology"
Through the generous support of the Friends of McGill University’s Mossman Endowment, McGill University presents the Elizabeth B. McNab Lecture in the History of Science. This year's lecture entitled "The Future Is Now, Solving the climate crisis with today's technology" will be given by Canadian author and science journalist Bob McDonald. The lecture will be followed by a Q&A moderated by Dr. Joe Schwarcz, Director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society.
Lecture summary: Let's start with the good news. All the technology to go green already exists. There is no shortage of energy on earth, it falls out of the sky, blows on the wind, flows on the tides, bubbles out of the ground and literally grows on trees. This presentation is an update on alternative green energy and how we can move to a low carbon lifestyle without breaking the economy.
In-person: Seating is general admission.
Online: Please click on the button above to watch the livestream.
Books will be available for purchase at the event.
Presented in association with the Office for Science & Society, Office for Sustainability, and Le James Bookstore.
About the Speaker
Bob McDonald has been bringing science to the public for more than 40 years. In addition to hosting Quirks & Quarks, the award-winning science program that is heard by 800,000 people each week, McDonald is also science correspondent for CBC TV’s The National and host of the children’s series Heads Up. He was also host of the CBC Children’s series Wonderstruck. He has written and hosted numerous television documentaries and more than 100 educational videos in Canada and the United States.
As a writer, he has authored six bestselling science books including the 2022 Canadian bestseller, The Future is Now: Solving the Climate Crisis with Current Technology. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal.
McDonald has also been honoured for his outstanding contribution to the promotion of science within Canada. He was awarded the Michael Smith Award from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the “Sir Sanford Fleming Medal” from the Royal Canadian Institute, and the “McNeil Medal” from The Royal Society of Canada. He also won a 2008 Gemini Award for “Best Host in a Pre-School, Children’s or Youth Program or Series.” He holds twelve honorary doctorates from Canadian universities and two honorary diplomas from Canadian colleges and in 2015, asteroid 332324 was officially named bobmcdonald in his honour.
Bob lives in Victoria, British Columbia.
About the Lecture
The Mossman Collection on the History of Science and of Ideas is the gift of Drs. Donald and Dorothea Mossman. Avid readers, the Mossmans collected a large personal library with an emphasis on the history of science and of ideas. This collection was donated to McGill University in 1974, and it became available to scholars with the opening of the Physical Sciences and Engineering Library in 1982.
For many years, the Mossmans regularly contributed generous funds towards the development of the Mossman Collection. In 1982, an additional gift from The Friends of McGill University Inc.* established an endowment not only to purchase library materials but also to inaugurate a lecture series on the History of Science and of Ideas given by recognized scholars. The Friends of McGill was established in 1945 through the efforts of Principal F. Cyril James, with the encouragement of Mr. E. A. Leslie, recognizing the need for a U.S.-based organization capable of providing U.S. donors with deductibility of charitable gifts for income tax purposes.
