Newton and the Origin of Civilization

6:30 pm – 7:30 pm on Tuesday 27 November 2012
at The Royal Society, London

Public history of science lecture by Prof. Mordechai Feingold and Prof. Jed Buchwald.

Event details:
Isaac Newton's Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended, published in 1728, one year after the great man's death, unleashed a storm of controversy. And for good reason. The book presents a drastically revised timeline for ancient civilizations, contracting Greek history by five hundred years and Egypt's by a millennium. This lecture will tell the story of how one of the most celebrated figures in the history of mathematics, optics, and mechanics came to apply his unique ways of thinking to problems of history, theology, and mythology, and how his radical ideas produced an uproar that reverberated in Europe's learned circles throughout the eighteenth century and beyond.

Jed Buchwald and Mordechai Feingold reveal the manner in which Newton strove for nearly half a century to rectify universal history by reading ancient texts through the lens of astronomy, and to create a tight theoretical system for interpreting the evolution of civilization on the basis of population dynamics. It was during Newton's earliest years at Cambridge that he developed the core of his singular method for generating and working with trustworthy knowledge, which he applied to his study of the past with the same rigor he brought to his work in physics and mathematics. Drawing extensively on Newton's unpublished papers and a host of other primary sources, Buchwald and Feingold reconcile Isaac Newton the rational scientist with Newton the natural philosopher, alchemist, theologian, and chronologist of ancient history.

Attending this event:

This event is free to attend and open to all. No tickets are required. Doors open at 6pm and seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

Recorded video will be available on this page a few days after the event.

Enquiries: Contact the events team

Australian and New Zealand Shakespeare Association Biennial Conference | Shakespeare and Emotions [Call for Papers]

In collaboration with

The Arc Centre of Excellence in the History of Emotions

27 – 30 NOVEMBER, 2012

at the University of Western Australia

THEME: “SHAKESPEARE AND EMOTIONS”

The study of emotions in history and literature is a burgeoning field in Early Modern Studies and other areas, and Shakespeare takes a very central and influential place. We invite papers on any aspect of the ways in which Shakespeare and his contemporaries represented emotions in poetry, drama and other works, and how these have been received by audiences and readers from the sixteenth century to today. There are paradoxes to be explored – how ‘the bodily turn’ of physiological influence on emotions could in turn generate more modern models of inner consciousness alone; how concepts rooted historically in Elizabethan and Jacobean England could be adapted to fit the philosophies and concepts of later ages, through eighteenth century literature of sensibility, nineteenth century and Darwinian approaches, twentieth century psychologism stimulated by Freud, and a host of others. Did Shakespeare tap into a ‘collective unconscious’ of ‘universal’ stories, or did he arbitrarily choose stories to dramatise which his affective eloquence incorporated into world literature? Why have his works proved so durable in their emotional power, both in themselves and adaptations into other media such as opera, music, film and dance? Equal attention is invited to plays in performance and in ‘closet’ critical readings, as well as textual studies and adaptations.

The new Fortune stage will be available for original practice performances, open rehearsals, stage-based research papers, etc.

ABSTRACTS of 200 words can be submitted for consideration at:

http://conference.anzsa.org/  Please bear in mind that although our venues have full capability for powerpoint and projecting files from your computers, wi-fi reception is in some rooms unavailable, so if you will need full internet reception for your presentation please make this clear in your abstract and we will try to programme accordingly.

Science in the news: regional independent television in the British Midlands during the 1950s and 1960s

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm on Friday 23 November 2012
at The Royal Society, London

History of science lecture by Dr Sally Horrocks.

Event details:
Dr Sally Horrocks is Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Leicester.

From the outset science and technology stories were an integral part of the output of regional television news in the English Midlands, reaching an audience that went far beyond those that chose to watch dedicated science programmes. Initially these reports drew heavily on the visual style of newsreels, but gradually developed new approaches and began to exploit the possibilities offered by television, particularly for audience engagement. This talk will consider how reporting on science and technology developed in the early years of regional television and the images of science it presented to the public.

Attending this event:
This event is free to attend and open to all. No tickets are required. Doors open at 12:30pm and seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

Recorded audio will be available on this page a few days afterwards.

Enquiries: Contact the events team.

Redcrosse, performance by the Royal Shakespeare Company

'How do we think about identity in ways that don't reflect anxiety, fear of the other, uncritical adulation of our past and all the other pitfalls that surround this subject? The Redcrosse project manages to negotiate these difficulties with immense imaginative energy and honesty: no sour notes, no attempt to overcompensate by desperately overapologetic rhetoric, simply a recovery of deep roots and generous vision. As much as it takes its cue from Spenser, it's a contemporary working out of some of the great and inexhaustible legacy of Blake, a unique contribution to what is often a pretty sterile discussion of who we are in these islands.'
Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, UK

On the evening of Saturday the 17th of November the Royal Shakespeare Company will be performing *Redcrosse*, the new poetic liturgy for England and St George which Ewan Fernie (Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham) wrote with the major poets Jo Shapcott, Michael Symmons Roberts and Andrew Motion, and the theologian Andrew Shanks, as part of a multi-grant-winning academic project. *Redcrosse* got considerable national press last year, in *The Guardian*, on radio and television, and even in *The Daily Star*, when it was performed in Windsor Castle and Manchester Cathedral. Its RSC production in the modernist masterpiece of Coventry Cathedral will be its most dramatic and exciting instantiation to date, taking its audience on an exciting and affirming adventure into what England is and could be. Don’t miss it!

For further details and tickets, please see the link below.
http://www.coventrycathedral.org.uk/goldenjubilee/EVENTDETAIL2.php?event_id_choice=19400

A book of the project will also be launched on the 17th:
http://www.continuumbooks.com/books/detail.aspx?BookId=167726&SubjectId=1080&Subject2Id=1246.

Iron from the sky: the potential influence of meteorites on ancient Egyptian culture

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm on Friday 16 November 2012
at The Royal Society, London

History of science lecture by Dr Diane Johnson.

Event details:
Diane Johnson is Project Officer (FIBSEM) at the Centre for Earth, Planetary, Space & Astronomical Research, Open University.

Ancient Egyptian belief was frequently derived from observations of the natural world, where the gods were considered to control the forces of nature; and as a society, ancient Egyptians placed great value upon order and balance. So how would the appearance of a fireball bringing meteorite iron to the ground be interpreted, and what was the perception of this iron as such a rare material? This lecture will explore the theory that meteorites may have influenced many aspects of ancient Egyptian culture with evidence in the form of artefacts, ancient texts and architecture.

Attending this event:
This event is free to attend and open to all. No tickets are required. Doors open at 12:30pm and seats will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

Recorded audio will be available on this page a few days afterwards.

Enquiries: Contact the events team.