Lecture and performance with science writer Dava Sobel
Dava Sobel, a former New York Times science reporter, is the author of Longitude, Galileo’s Daughter, The Planets, and A More Perfect Heaven. In her forty years as a science journalist she has written for many magazines, including Audubon, Discover, Life, and The New Yorker. Within the context of the Academic Chair ‘History and Philosophy of Sciences’ Dava Sobel, the New York science writer and author of Longitude, Galileo’s Daughter, The Planets, and A More Perfect Heaven will reside in Brussels from May 20 to May 22, 2014 .
Public Lecture on building the perfect timekeeper
Until the 18th Century the longitude problem was one of the biggest dilemma’s sailors had been faced with for centuries. Lacking the ability to measure their longitude, they were literally lost at sea as soon as they lost sight of land. In this lecture, science writer Dava Sobel will tell the story of a scientific quest and of John Harrison’s forty-year obsession with building his perfect timekeeper, known today as the chronometer. Numerous illustrations will support the story, which is also a fascinating history of astronomy, navigation, and clockmaking, and opens a new window on our world.
Program:
18.30-19.00: Registration
19.00-19.15: Introduction by Jean Paul Van Bendegem
19.15-20.00: Public lecture by Dava Sobel: The Illustrated Longitude
20.00-20.30: Q&A
20.30-21.30: Free drinks and fingerfood
Registration needed (see link under)