The Daily News

The North Dakota State College of Science will play host to Jim Burr on Oct. 2-4, a nationally renown lecturer and inventor who plans to wow the audience with an astronomy space show set to feature rare photography of the solar system.

Burr's three-night lecture, set to take place at 7 p.m. in the Stern Cultural Center, highlights photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope, discusses the connection between astronomy and the Bible and the inadequacies of the Big Bang Theory.

"It's an introduction to astronomy from a biblical perspective," said Dragos Profir, program director and pastor at Seventh-Day Adventist Church of Wahpeton. "It's just really to help people see the awesomeness of this universe we live in."

Advertisement

Burr, 72, an inventor and founder of JMI Telescopes, has been recognized around the world for his achievements in telescope design. He's even manufactured two telescopes for NASA's "Mars Science Lab." Last year alone, Burr conducted 140 lectures and has a daily television show on the LLBN channel.

The first night's lecture, Burr said, focuses on the sun and how astronomers haven't pinpointed how it was formed.

"We've got some of the most fantastic pictures of Saturn," Burr said. "Everyone is blown away...when they see Earth in the background."

The second evening, Burr plans to bring in more photographs displaying the beauty of the solar system and display their connection to numerous Bible verses. The last evening's lecture will bring in findings from astronomers nationwide on the big bang, a phenomenon 12 million light years away.

"The universe is just incredible," Burr said. "Typically in an evening program I will use 100 to 125 slides."

The event, which is free to the public, is a rare opportunity, Profir said, and offers free prizes including three telescopes, books and DVDs.

Comments