The past, present, and future of exoplanet science ~ Dr. Jason Eastman (Harvard University)

Planets around stars other than our sun -- exoplanets -- have been a fascination of human-kind since at least 1584 when Giordano Bruno declared "in space there are countless constellations, suns and planets; we see only the suns because they give light; the planets remain invisible, for they are small and dark. There are also numberless earths circling around their suns." 

However, it wasn't until this generation that we now have the tools to replace that philosophical argument with a scientifically rigorous one. In this talk, I will give a brief history of exoplanets, describe the current state-of-the-art, and explain the future prospects of answering some of humanity's deepest questions. I will also describe how dedicated amateurs can contribute to this effort with public data sets and free, open source tools.