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Watching Rome Burn & Hell Freeze
Posted in For Your Consideration
What do record fire seasons in the West, record hurricane seasons in the Atlantic, record winter storms in the South and the hottest years in history have to do with each other? Everything.
This article originally appeared in the December 2019 issue of my Astronomy Magazine column, For Your Consideration.
Schools in the Time of COVID
Posted in Thoughts
You don’t tug on Superman’s cape. You don’t spit into the wind. Yes, schools are desperately important to kids. No, COVID-19 doesn’t care, and COVID is making the rules right now. Attempts to open schools this fall will fail of their own accord. The relevant question is how to meet the needs of children, families and the community in the face of that reality.
COVID-19 Arrives
Posted in Thoughts
Currently new cases of COVID-19 in Arizona are doubling every 7 days. ICU beds in the state are already full. The rest of the country isn’t that far behind us. You do the math.
Correctly Predicting Failure
Posted in Thoughts
Now is not the time for scientists to be circumspect and silent. We are on the short end of a battle over whether truth even matters. If scientists do not stand up for what is real, who will?
Typhoid Mary on Two Wheels
Posted in Thoughts
The morning cyclist in my neighborhood may not be standing in the Michigan Statehouse carrying a gun and demanding her right to spread contagion far and wide, but she may as well be.
Pine Boxes
Posted in Success & FailureThoughts
You know those nice charts and graphs that make it look like we are over the hump of COVID-19 and that things are about to get better? Those predictions are dead wrong, with an unfortunate emphasis on “dead.”
Scientists Stuck Inside
Posted in For Your ConsiderationThoughts
Imagine three gregarious scientists, each with the gift of the gab, all coping with stay-at-home orders. Of course we started a livestream/podcast talk show! What else would we do? Welcome to the kickoff episode of Scientists Stuck Inside.
After COVID’s First Wave
Posted in Success & FailureThoughts
Even after COVID-19 kills hundreds of thousands in the U.S. over the coming weeks, we will still be almost as vulnerable to the pandemic as we are today. We’d all love to “get back to normal” after that, but the price could be a second wave, worse than the first. Some see us facing either economic Depression or allowing vast numbers of preventable deaths, but that is a fool’s choice. There are better options if we have the will to find them.
COVID-19
Posted in Success & FailureThoughts
There is a lot of information about COVID-19 out there, much of it misleading. When looking at the future, start with what the science really says.
Great Deceiverism 101
Posted in For Your ConsiderationUnreasonable Faith
If someone can’t tell you how they would know that they are wrong, they don’t have a clue whether they are right.
This article originally appeared in my Astronomy Magazine column, For Your Consideration.
One Step at a Time
Posted in For Your ConsiderationUnreasonable Faith
Once seemingly incomprehensible, the origin of life no longer seems such a mystery. Most of what once appeared as roadblocks are turning out to be superhighways.
This article originally appeared in my Astronomy Magazine column, For Your Consideration.
The Mind’s Siren Call
Posted in For Your ConsiderationUnreasonable Faith
Being certain lights up our brains like a junkie’s next hit. Literally. Unfortunately, being certain and being right are two very, very different things.
This article originally appeared in my Astronomy Magazine column, For Your Consideration.
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What do record fire seasons in the West, record hurricane seasons in the Atlantic, record winter storms in the South and the hottest years in history have to do with each other? Everything.
This article originally appeared in the December 2019 issue of my Astronomy Magazine column, For Your Consideration.
You don’t tug on Superman’s cape. You don’t spit into the wind. Yes, schools are desperately important to kids. No, COVID-19 doesn’t care, and COVID is making the rules right now. Attempts to open schools this fall will fail of their own accord. The relevant question is how to meet the needs of children, families and the community in the face of that reality.
Currently new cases of COVID-19 in Arizona are doubling every 7 days. ICU beds in the state are already full. The rest of the country isn’t that far behind us. You do the math.
Now is not the time for scientists to be circumspect and silent. We are on the short end of a battle over whether truth even matters. If scientists do not stand up for what is real, who will?
The morning cyclist in my neighborhood may not be standing in the Michigan Statehouse carrying a gun and demanding her right to spread contagion far and wide, but she may as well be.
You know those nice charts and graphs that make it look like we are over the hump of COVID-19 and that things are about to get better? Those predictions are dead wrong, with an unfortunate emphasis on “dead.”
Imagine three gregarious scientists, each with the gift of the gab, all coping with stay-at-home orders. Of course we started a livestream/podcast talk show! What else would we do? Welcome to the kickoff episode of Scientists Stuck Inside.
Even after COVID-19 kills hundreds of thousands in the U.S. over the coming weeks, we will still be almost as vulnerable to the pandemic as we are today. We’d all love to “get back to normal” after that, but the price could be a second wave, worse than the first. Some see us facing either economic Depression or allowing vast numbers of preventable deaths, but that is a fool’s choice. There are better options if we have the will to find them.
There is a lot of information about COVID-19 out there, much of it misleading. When looking at the future, start with what the science really says.
If someone can’t tell you how they would know that they are wrong, they don’t have a clue whether they are right.
This article originally appeared in my Astronomy Magazine column, For Your Consideration.
Once seemingly incomprehensible, the origin of life no longer seems such a mystery. Most of what once appeared as roadblocks are turning out to be superhighways.
This article originally appeared in my Astronomy Magazine column, For Your Consideration.
Being certain lights up our brains like a junkie’s next hit. Literally. Unfortunately, being certain and being right are two very, very different things.
This article originally appeared in my Astronomy Magazine column, For Your Consideration.
Over his 30 year career as an internationally known astrophysicist, Dr. Jeff Hester was a key member of the team that repaired the Hubble Space Telescope. With one foot always on the frontiers of knowledge, he has been mentor, coach, team leader, award-winning teacher, administrator and speaker, to name a few of the hats he has worn. His Hubble image, the Pillars of Creation, was chosen by Time Magazine as among the 100 most influential photographs in history.
What you want from a great Keynote Speaker
Holding a meeting is a huge investment of time, money and effort, and the stakes are high for the sponsoring organization.
When choosing that all-important keynote, you can always go with yet another motivational speaker or yet another management consultant.
Or you could make this meeting something different that attendees will remember and talk about long after the meeting is done.
“Dr. Jeff Hester was a hit at our summer leadership conference. He is a five-star speaker with a practical, hard-hitting message that goes to the core of what makes businesses succeed and fail.”
Julie Courtney
Senior Vice President
Independent Bankers Association of Texas
Measure a great keynote speaker by the impact of his message.
A great keynote speaker engages his audience. He draws people in. He entertains. He establishes a rapport. He blows listeners’ minds a bit. They want to know more. A great keynote speaker gets people out of their comfort zone. He inspires his audience with what is possible, shows them new possibilities and challenges them to expect more.
But sometimes entertainment and inspiration don’t last much beyond the coffee break. To judge a keynote speaker, watch and see whether having heard him, people find themselves thinking and talking about their world in new and powerful ways. See if people find themselves becoming aware of things that they used to miss. See if they are asking different sorts of questions, or pausing for a moment before they give what used to seem an obvious answer.
Give your audience a chance to spend some time with an internationally known astrophysicist and member of the Hubble Space Telescope team who Emmy Award Winning broadcaster Hugh Downs described as “one of the greatest explainers in our midst today.”
A great keynote speaker does more than add to the quality of your meeting. He also plants powerful ideas that continue to grow after the meeting is done. Those ideas should include practical tools that your audience can put to work, benefiting both themselves and your organization.
I invite you to look around my site to get a deeper understanding of my message. What you will find boils down to this. Everything that you do or say, every decision that you make, every success that you enjoy or failure that you endure, is rooted in what you think that you know. Without reliable, authentic knowledge, you are adrift with no star to steer by.
But in a world where the defining reality is ever-accelerating change, knowledge is a very slippery thing. That is true whether you are talking about knowledge of your business, your profession, or yourself. When it really matters, there is one and only one standard of knowledge that offers you the best chance of success!
Inspiration!
From hopeless disaster, to miraculous recovery, to revolutionizing our view of the universe, the Hubble Space Telescope is inspirational drama on a cosmic scale.
I will partner with you to help make your event a success
I will work with you to provide your organization with all of that and more. I also understand that when holding a meeting, attendance is everything. I am experienced and media-savvy, and will partner with you to help you promote your event.
You might also ask about an after-dinner or public talk about the wonders of the universe to add something fresh and exciting. If your meeting is in Phoenix, there might even be the possibility of a multimedia presentation using the planetarium facilities at the Arizona Science Center.
Schedule permitting, I am also happy to make myself available for those all-so-important informal conversations. Time and again I’ve seen a conversation that begins with, “I’ve always loved astronomy” quickly evolve into, “Here is what I am facing; how can your message help me?”
Speaking Programs
All keynotes are custom. I will consult with you to understand the focus of your event, and then tailor my message to your strategic goals.
The program titles and descriptions below are examples of the direction a presentation might take.
What you want from a great Keynote Speaker ©
Dr. Jeff Hester
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