Sarah Stewart, "The Violent Origin of the Earth and Moon"

The physical properties of our planet are intricately tied to the sequence of giant impact events that led to the formation of the Moon. The canonical giant impact model for lunar origin has been called into question by recent geochemical measurements of lunar rocks. Professor Stuart presents a new model for the origin of the Earth and Moon that reconciles the observations and highlights the importance of stochastic early events in shaping our habitable world.