Slightly Off Topic: Adler Planetarium Lecture Announcement

If you live in Chicago, you might be interested in the following lecture to be given later this month:

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12th Annual Roderick S. Webster Memorial Lecture
"Greek Astronomers and the Ancient Public"~ ~
Speaker: Dr. Alexander Jones
Professor of the History of the Exact Sciences in Antiquity
Institute for the Study of the Ancient World
New York University

Wednesday, Sept 23, 2009
6:00 p.m.

Universe Theater
Adler Planetarium
1300 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago

Between about 200 B.C.E. and 200 C.E., Greek astronomers learned how to explain and predict the appearances and motions of the heavenly bodies with remarkable precision. At the same time, they took great interest in explaining astronomy and its uses to the general public. In this lecture, Dr. Alexander Jones will talk about what these early astronomers thought the public should know about their science and why. Dr. Jones will illustrate the variety of approaches they used to convey their messages through words, pictures, numbers, and mechanical models.

Admission is free and open to the public. No registration is required. A reception will follow the lecture.

Sponsored by the Adler Planetarium and the Archaeological Institute of America: The Chicago Society
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Full disclosure: My wife works at the Adler Planetarium

Research Tidbit: Every intellectual historian, U.S. focused or otherwise, and every historian of science should know that the Adler holds collections on the history of astronomy.