The medieval science of light: uncovering meaning with an interdisciplinary methodology
PAST EVENT | 07 March 2014 13:00 - 07 March 2014 14:00
Public history of science lecture given by Pembroke Fellow Dr Hannah Smithson, along with Professor Tom McLeish FRS (Durham University) and Dr Giles Gasper (Durham University).
Can science today learn from thirteenth century literature? In the Durham Ordered Universe project, an interdisciplinary team (physicists, medievalists, Latin scholars and historians of science) has engaged with the great medieval English thinker Robert Grosseteste (1175-1253), and found an extraordinarily subtle mind at work.
Light moves Grosseteste throughout his works; it is a ubiquitous theme. In this lecture, three members of the Durham team present Grosseteste's treatise on colour, to reveal and explore the three-dimensional colour space through which he thinks. His later treatise on the rainbow revisits this theory of colour generation, but with surprising results from modern perspectives. By using medieval studies and modern colour science, the treatises can be interpreted in new, stimulating and more complete ways, part of an enduring sense of the richness of the encounter between medieval and modern science.
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. For more information see The Royal Society website.
The medieval science of light: uncovering meaning with an interdisciplinary methodology
PAST EVENT | 07 March 2014 13:00 - 07 March 2014 14:00
Public history of science lecture given by Pembroke Fellow Dr Hannah Smithson, along with Professor Tom McLeish FRS (Durham University) and Dr Giles Gasper (Durham University).
Can science today learn from thirteenth century literature? In the Durham Ordered Universe project, an interdisciplinary team (physicists, medievalists, Latin scholars and historians of science) has engaged with the great medieval English thinker Robert Grosseteste (1175-1253), and found an extraordinarily subtle mind at work.
Light moves Grosseteste throughout his works; it is a ubiquitous theme. In this lecture, three members of the Durham team present Grosseteste's treatise on colour, to reveal and explore the three-dimensional colour space through which he thinks. His later treatise on the rainbow revisits this theory of colour generation, but with surprising results from modern perspectives. By using medieval studies and modern colour science, the treatises can be interpreted in new, stimulating and more complete ways, part of an enduring sense of the richness of the encounter between medieval and modern science.
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. For more information see The Royal Society website.