The Cosmic Distance Ladder
How do we know the distances from the earth to the sun and moon, from the sun to the other planets, and from the sun to other stars and distant galaxies? Clearly, we cannot measure these directly. Nevertheless, there are many indirect methods of measurement, combined with basic high-school mathematics, which can allow one to get convincing and accurate results without the need for advanced technology. These methods rely on climbing a “cosmic distance ladder”, using measurements of nearby distances to then deduce estimates on distances slightly further away.
In 2006, Terence Tao was awarded the Fields Medal (the mathematical equivalent of the Nobel Prize). Among his other awards are the Bocher Prize, the Sastra Ramanujan prize, the Clay Research Award, the Nemmers Prize, and, in 2010, he shared the Polya Prize.
You can find more information about speaker Terence Tao at https://www.math.ucla.edu/~tao/