Chaldea

This upcoming conference on Astronomy and Civilisation is part of the 2009 International Year of Astronomy series of events. It will be held August 10th-13th in Budapest, Hungary. The conference has as its goal the exploration of the connections that exist between the natural sciences, astronomy, and civilization — interdisciplinarity at its best.

The conference will include sessions on various topics spanning areas as diverse as physics, human cognition, art, astronomy, and religion. For those who wish to submit a paper for consideration, the call is open until May 30th, 2009.

More information may be found here.

[Edited to add that the early registration deadline, including the call for abstracts, has been changed to June 15, 2009, and the deadline for registration is now July 1, 2009. Thank you to Attila Grandpierre for this information.]

While this is decidedly closer to the popular culture pole, I thought that news of a relevant upcoming film might be of interest to many of you. Entitled Agora, it’s the story of the Pagan astronomer and mathematician Hypatia of Alexandria, daughter of Theon, who lived and died according to her beliefs and ideals. The film promises to be quite the epic, with both ample exposition of fifth century Christian-Pagan relations and — I would imagine — some ancient astronomical content. Either way, it certainly seems promising.

For those who are in, or close to, Gloucestershire, England, you may be interested in a lecture on archaeoastronomy to be given at the Corinium Museum by Professor Clive Ruggles on Thursday, March 26th, from 7-8:30 p.m.

Dr. Ruggles is an Emeritus Professor of Archaeoastronomy at the University of Leicester. Among his books are ‘Ancient Astronomy: An Encyclopedia of Cosmologies and Myth’ and ‘Skywatching in the Ancient World: New Perspectives in Cultural Astronomy’.

For more information, including contacts and the price of admission, please visit the British Science Association site, located here.

Just a quick peek behind the workings of this blog. I’m currently spending much of my time reading materials in preparation for my comprehensive exams. (a.k.a. qualifying exams) For now, as has been the case for a few months, until these exams are completed, I only have a limited amount of time to devote to Chaldea (i.e., I’ll post whenever I can). I thought I’d bring a notable source I’m working with to the attention of others in similar fields.

For those interested in cultural perceptions of the heavens in ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, ancient Israel, Persia, Greco-Roman cultures, as well as early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, I highly recommend The Early History of Heaven, by J. Edward Wright. (2000, Oxford University Press)

I first took it out of the library in 2003, but soon found it indispensable, so I bought a copy. It’s a very thorough overview of the important writings and beliefs about heaven and/or the heavens (including heavenly cosmography) in these cultures, and it incorporates archaeological findings as well as textual sources. It is difficult to distinguish between astronomy proper and astral beliefs in many ancient civilizations; this book provides the reader with a solid awareness of the background views of the cosmos in these cultures, thereby setting the stage for later evolutions in cultural astronomy.

Have a good weekend, all!

Fourteenth century Islamic astrolabe, Whipple Museum

This video item from ABC (Australia), complete with transcript, features Dr. Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, the first Muslim astronaut to travel into space during Ramadan. This led to the need for Muslim scholars to carefully determine the rules that would apply to prayer in outer space, not to mention the ubiquitous question “Which way is Mecca?”

I was especially interested in the reference to Islam’s “golden age” (circa 8th-16th centuries CE) during which Muslim scientists made various vital contributions to the world in the areas of mathematics and astronomy. This, of course, includes the invention of such devices as the astrolabe, pictured above.

For more information on Dr. Shukor, Wired published an earlier story about his career as an astronaut.

Because tempus fugit, here’s some information for those who want to make plans to attend the upcoming 17th annual conference of the European Society for Astronomy in Culture (SEAC).

An IYA-related conference, the meeting will be held between October 25th and 31st, 2009 at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt.

You can find a list of scheduled speakers here, and the registration section and other important items are listed in the menu to the left. For more information about the SEAC, please visit their homepage.

Astrophysics professor and Hubble Fellow Adam Frank has recently published a book that promises to transcend the standard science vs. religion dialogue. Entitled The Constant Fire: Beyond the Science vs. Religion Debate, it seeks a rapprochement between the two camps. I, for one, look forward to reading it.

An article about the book may be found here. Here are a few more publication details, including a table of contents, on the University of California Press web site.

Lest I forget, 2009 has been designated the International Year of Astronomy by the International Astronomical Union and UNESCO.

The opening ceremonies will take place in Paris, France, on the 15th and 16th of January. For more details, please visit the IYA web site.

And there’s even a trailer.

Several days ago, in celebration of the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first astronomical observations using a telescope, Pope Benedict praised Galileo’s work, and asserted that such observations of the heavens can lead to a fuller appreciation of God’s creation. More details here.

Ah, so this was Fred Hoyle Day at Cambridge. I would have very much liked to have been there. (However, I’m on a different continent with teaching commitments at the moment.)

Although the event has already taken place, there is some interesting information about the history of astronomy holdings of the St. John’s College library on this site.