The Cosmic Revolutionary's Handbook: (Or: How to Beat the Big Bang)

Luke A. Barnes is a postdoctoral researcher at Western Sydney University. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Sydney, before undertaking Ph.D. research at the University of Cambridge. The focus of his research has been the cosmic evolution of matter, and he has published papers in the field of galaxy formation and evolution, and on the fine-tuning of the Universe for life. He returned to the University of Sydney in 2008 as a Super Science Fellow, before being awarded a prestigious Templeton Fellowship to expand his research on the physics of fine-tuning of the laws of physics for complexity and ultimately life. Dr Barnes is an accomplished speaker to professional and amateur audiences, and can speak across the boundaries of cosmology, philosophy and religion. He has lectured to numerous amateur astronomical groups and to public audiences, including speaking on fine-tuning at the Royal Institution in London in 2017.

Geraint F. Lewis is a Professor of Astrophysics at the Sydney Institute for Astronomy, part of the University of Sydney's School of Physics. The focus of his research is cosmology and the dark side of the universe, namely the dark matter and dark energy that dominate cosmological evolution. He has published more than three hundred academic papers and is an acclaimed teacher. He also has a significant outreach profile, writing regularly for New Scientist and The Conversation, as well as regularly speaking publicly on all aspects of cosmology and astronomy, including speaking that the Royal Institution in London. He also has extensive experience interactions with the media, including podcast, radio and television experience. He currently is Deputy Director of the Sydney Informatics Hub, developing the infrastructure and knowledge-base to support big data, informatics, deep learning and artificial intelligence at the University of Sydney.