LOS ALAMOS FAITH & SCIENCE FORUM NEWS RELEASE
The Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum 2026 Summer Series presents ‘Expansion on the Book “Just Six Numbers” by Lord Martin Rees’ by Dr. Joyce Guzik on Wednesday, July 8, 2026 at Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church (TOTH) located at 3900 Trinity Dr., Los Alamos.
A light meal will be served at 6:00 p.m. The presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m. It will be recorded and streamed to the ZOOM site given at: https://losalamosfaithandscienceforum.org
This talk will summarize the book “Just Six Numbers” by Lord Martin Rees who retired in 2025 as the 15th Astronomer Royal. Rees explains the numbers that quantify the properties and forces in the universe and argues that if any of these six numbers were slightly different, the universe would be empty, chaotic, or lack the complexity needed for life.
Rees suggests that this apparent tuning implies that we live in one universe among a vast, perhaps infinite, ensemble of universes (a multiverse) with different constants. Since this book was written in 1999, we will provide an update to views on this idea, in preparation for the next Faith and Science Forum talk “God and the Multiverse” by Dr. Deborah Haarsma on Wednesday, July 15.
Dr. Joyce A. Guzik/Courtesy photo
Dr. Joyce A. Guzik is a Laboratory Fellow in the Applied Theoretical Physics (X) Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where she has worked for 38 years. Her research has spanned nuclear weapons science, global security, and astrophysics, including contributions to nuclear forensics and stellar evolution and pulsation modeling. She holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Physics, Math, and Russian Studies from Cornell College, Iowa, and a Ph.D. in astrophysics from Iowa State University. A long-time member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Los Alamos, Guzik has engaged in adult theological education and has participated in programs exploring the intersection of science and faith.
Questions for Saved by the Spirits
Is consciousness the same thing as intelligence? Is it possible to be very intelligent but not very conscious, and vice versa?
Are you conscious of having dreams, visions, or hallucinations? Do you sometimes see images of people and animals in clouds and rocks? Do such things seem important to you, or unimportant? Do you think animals are or are not conscious of such things?
How would you define religion? Do you agree with Durkheim that it is important to distinguish between what is “sacred” and what is “profane”?