The Fourth Conference on the
INSPIRATION OF ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA
Magdalen College, Oxford, England, 3-9 August 2003
Handbook and abstracts, 3-9 August 2003
The Fourth Conference on the
INSPIRATION OF ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA
Magdalen College, Oxford, England, 3-9 August 2003
http://ethel.as.arizona.edu/~white/insap/insap4x.htm
Handbook and abstracts
compiled by Dr V Shrimplin
July 2003
VS/INSAP/HBK
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Handbook and abstracts, 3-9 August 2003
Organizers
Mr. Nick Campion
Dr. Valerie Shrimplin
Dr Rolf M Sinclair
Professor Ray White
Bath Spa University College
Independent Art Historian
Centro de Estudios Científicos, Valdivia, Chile
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona
Executive Committee members
Dr George V. Coyne S J
Professor Ron Olowin
Professor David W. Pankenier
Dr Richard Poss
Dr Rolf M Sinclair
Dr Gary Wells
Professor Ray White
Vatican Observatory, Vatican City
St Mary’s College, Moraga, USA
Lehigh University, USA
University of Arizona, USA
Centro de Estudios Científicos, Valdivia, Chile
Ithaca College, USA
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona
Acknowledgements
Sponsorship and/or support for INSAPIV has received from the following, for which thanks are
gratefully expressed:
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Vatican Observatory, Castel Gandolfo, Italy
Steward Observatory, Arizona
Magdalen College, Oxford
Royal Astronomical Society
Museum of the History of Science, Oxford
Bath Spa University College
Oxford University Museum
Blackwells Bookshop, Oxford
Craig-Piper Group
Yale University Press
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Handbook and abstracts, 3-9 August 2003
Welcome to the Fourth Conference on the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena!
INSAPIV
The Conference will explore humanity’s fascination with the sky by day and by night, which
has been a strong and often dominant element in human life and culture. It provides a
meeting place for artists and scholars from a variety of disciplines (including Archaeology and
Anthropology, Art and Art History, Classics, History and Prehistory, the Physical and Social
Sciences, Mythology and Folklore, Philosophy, and Religion) to present and discuss their
studies of the influences that astronomical phenomena have had on humanity.
The first three INSAP conferences successfully brought together people from just such a
range of disciplines to address topics of common interest. The main theme and avowed aim
of the conference series is to provoke interdisciplinary debate and to attempt in some
measure to break down the barriers between subjects, disciplines and cultures – across
institutions, media and conventional chronological periods. Many of the sessions therefore cut
across not only science and the humanities but also across subject disciplines, and national
boundaries, bringing together scholars from areas of activity that are often maintained as
distinct and separate. Speakers have been included from a wide range of countries and from
varying academic, professional and institutional backgrounds. Sessions range chronologically
from the ancient world to the present day, and even into the future. Geographically the
themes span from America to China, Australasia and the Middle East (global, rather than
Western or Eurocentric) - but also to some of the furthest points of the universe, as befits the
nature of the conference. The programme includes a rich and varied choice of visiting
speakers and specially organized receptions and visits. Papers will be published in the
proceedings of the conference, (scheduled for 2004).
We hope you enjoy the Conference and that you will also have time to enjoy at least some
of what the beautiful city of Oxford itself has to offer.
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CONTENTS
1
Introduction
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
2
Detailed timetable
Timetable/schedule summary (coloured sheet)
11
17f
Details of the Exhibition
18
Survival Guide: General Information and special events
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
5.7
5.6
5.7
5.8
5.9
5.10
5.11
5.12
5.13
5.14
6
9
9
10
10f
Exhibition: The Sublime Metaphor
4.1
5
Committee members
Keynote speakers
A special note on Professor Gerald Hawkins
List of participants (coloured sheet)
Timetable/conference schedule
3.1
3.2
4
6
6
6
7
7
Participants
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
3
The story of INSAP
INSAPI to INSAP III
INSAPIV and Magdalen College
Acknowledgements
Institutions and Locations involved
Accommodation
Sessions and session venues
Posters and poster venues
Sunday 3 August: Opening session
Monday 4 August: Oxford University Museum Reception and Exhibition
Tuesday 5 August:: free afternoon
Wednesday 6 August: Museum of the History of Science Reception
Thursday 7 August: Visit to Stonehenge and Avebury
Thursday 7 August: Reception at Blackwells Bookshop
Friday 8 August: Conference banquet
Saturday 9 August:: Closing session and final remarks
Meals and refreshments
Transport
Telephone, email and fax facilities and contact details
Photography, audio and video taping.
Emergencies
18
18
18
19
19
19
19
19
19
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
Abstracts for Academic sessions (in order of programme)
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
6.8
6.9
Astronomy and culture: local, general and special topics
Historical themes
Philosophical, religious and spiritual themes
Art and Architecture
Ancient Civilisations
Art/Painting
Astronomy and literature
Myth, ritual and festivals
Poster sessions (alphabetical by author)
22
31
38
47
55
62
70
76
83
7
Index of abstracts (by author)
100
8
Map
100f
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1
Introductory
1.1
The Story of INSAP
As explained on the INSAP website, there have long been scholarly discussions on an
enormous range of aspects in all areas of the arts – painting, architecture, sculpture, literature,
philosophy and spiritual themes. However, as the ‘founder members of INSAP (Dr. George V.
Coyne, S.J., Dr. Rolf M. Sinclair and Professor Raymond E. White) came to realize some years
ago after some literature searching, there had never been a conference over the many and
varied cultural impacts of the perceptions about the day and night-time sky.
Certainly there had never been such a conference providing a mechanism for a broad sampling
of artists, historians, philosophers, and scientists to get together, compare notes, and to have
the chance to ask those questions of one another about each other's work which may have
been simmering away for decades. This lack, in the face of a burgeoning technological era
which more and more isolates the general public from an understanding of "what are those
guys (scientists/artists) doing now?", cried for redress. Thus, the idea for a triennial (or so)
series of scholarly discussions over The Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena (INSAP) was
born – as Ray White, Rolf Sinclair and George Coyne expressed it ‘practically as full-grown as
Botticelli's Venus, stepping daintily out of her shell’.
1.2
INSAPI to INSAP III
The first three meetings took place at the Vatican Observatory, Castel Gandolfo (1994), Malta
(1999) and Palermo (2001). Magdalen College, Oxford provides a superb location for the
fourth. Thanks to the interest and support for the INSAP concept by Dr. G.V. Coyne, S.J., the
first conference took place in Italy in 1994 and was held at the retreat house, "Mondo Migliore"
above the Lago Albano, across the lake from the Vatican Observatory at Castel Gandolfo.
Meetings in Malta and Palermo followed and full details of these are on the INSAP web pages
including some abstracts, tables of contents and details of publications. Papers from the first
meeting were published in "Vistas in Astronomy" (1995) and in "Leonardo" (1996), those from
the second will appear shortly in book form, and those from the third are in a special issue of
"Memorie della Società Astronomica Italiana" A similar publication is planned to follow the
fourth meeting. Full details, giving an idea of the range of subjects presented at INSAP
meetings, can be found at the following web pages:
http://ethel.as.arizona.edu/~white/insap (general information)
http://ethel.as.arizona.edu/~white/insap/insap3.htm (for INSAPIII)
http://www.astropa.unipa.it/INSAPIII/index.html (for INSAPIII)
http://ethel.as.arizona.edu/~white/insap/insap4x.htm (for INSAPIV)
1.3
INSAPIV and Magdalen College, Oxford
INSAPIV has been organized as Magdalen College as a most suitable venue for conference
discussions as well as contemplations. It is situated at the eastern end of the main High Street,
by the river at Magdalen bridge in peaceful surroundings yet in easy walking distance of the
Centre of Oxford and all the main sites, including other venues for receptions and the
associated Exhibition. It is also within easy striking distance of Stonehenge and Avebury, the
visit to which seems essential to the INSAP theme.
The Conference Organisers are most grateful to Magdalen College for co-operation and
support.
See: http://www.magd.ox.ac.uk/
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1.4
Acknowledgements
Formal acknowledgements of sponsorship and support for the Conference, and the
contributions of organizers and committee members have been listed elsewhere in this booklet.
Supportive grants from the Vatican Observatory and the Royal Astronomical Society are
acknowledged. However, there are also a number of individuals who should be particularly
mentioned. Thanks are due to our fantastic keynote and guest speakers (see section 2.2
below) – especially Clive Ruggles and Mike Pitts for their participation in the excursion to
Stonehenge and Avebury, and Dr Jim Bennett and colleagues at the Museum of the History of
Science for very kindly offering the wine reception. Special thanks are due to Ms Catherine
Hughes at Magdalen College Oxford for her enormous support and patience. Particular thanks
are also due to Jan White and her colleagues for undertaking the immense task of organizing
the Exhibition (sponsored and brought all the way from New Zealand to the Oxford University
Museum) and to our student exhibition volunteer, Natasha Wilder. Blackwells Bookshops kindly
offered the Thursday evening reception and the Craig Piper Group were generous in their
support in terms of their co-operation and provision of screening for posters and the exhibition.
Yale University Press also made a contribution.
1.5
Locations and Institutions involved
Steward Observatory, Arizona
The University of Arizona Steward Observatory (established 1916) and its associated
academic division, the Department of Astronomy, form one of the finest centers for
astronomical studies in the world. Astronomers here are among the national and international
leaders in observational and theoretical research in astronomy. At the same time, they are
making breakthroughs in related technology development -- from new light detectors to giant
telescope mirrors -- that promise to be a catalyst for a renaissance in optical and infrared
astronomy. Steward Observatory scientists also have key roles in major space astronomy
missions, including the Hubble Space Telescope and the Space Infrared Telescope Facility.
Observing facilities were relocated in 1963 to a darker mountain site on Kitt Peak.
www.as.arizona.edu
Vatican Observatory
The Vatican Observatory, one of the oldest astronomical research institutions in the world, has
its headquarters at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, outside Rome. Its
dependent research centre, the Vatican Observatory Research Group (VORG), is hosted by
Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona, Tucson, USA.
http://clavius.as.arizona.edu/vo
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College was founded originally as Magdalen Hall half-way up the High Street in
Oxford in 1448. The founder, the Bishop of Winchester, had already been involved (at Eton) in
the new educational ideas of the Renaissance era as well as new methods of teaching. He was
greatly influenced by Renaissance ideas about education and acquired a large tract of land
(with permission from Henry VI) beyond the walls of Oxford on which to build the College,
dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen. Magdalen was among the first colleges in Oxford to teach
science and in the 17th century established connections with the Physic Garden on the south
side of Magdalen Bridge, which is today the Oxford Botanic Garden. In the 1990s Magdalen
continued this pioneering tradition in science by establishing the Oxford Science Park which it
also manages (with others).
www.magd.ox.ac.uk/
Museum of the History of Science, Oxford
Situated in Broad Street within easy walking distance (and number 46 on the map) is the
Museum of the History of Science. The Museum houses an unrivalled collection of historic
scientific instruments in the world's oldest surviving purpose-built museum building, the Old
Ashmolean. By virtue of both the collection and the building, the Museum occupies a special
position, both in the study of the history of science and in the development of western culture
and collecting. As a department of the University of Oxford, the Museum has a role both in
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making the material relics of past science available for study by historians who are willing to
look beyond the traditional confines of books and manuscripts, as well as presenting them to
the public. The objects represented (approximately 10,000) cover almost all aspects of the
history of science, from antiquity to the early twentieth century. Particular strengths include the
collections of astrolabes, sundials, quadrants, early mathematical instruments generally
(including those used in astronomy and navigation) and optical instruments (microscopes,
telescopes and cameras), together with other scientific apparatus.In addition, the Museum
possesses a unique reference library that includes manuscripts, incunabula, prints, ephemera
and early photographic material
http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/about/index.htm
Oxford University Museum
Part of the University of Oxford, the Museum Oxford University Museum of Natural History was
built in 1855 to accommodate the teachings of science in Oxford. Built in the Venetian Gothic
style, it is widely regarded as a key example of Victorian Architecture, and the critic John
Ruskin was both influential and instrumental in its creation. It presently houses the natural
history collections of the University (from geological specimens to dinosaurs and the Dodo) and
the general grandeur of the Museum, with its high glass roof and delightful detail of its carving
and ironwork, make it a very special venue for the reception and exhibition.
www.oum.ox.ac.uk
Stonehenge and Avebury
The ancient sites of Stonehenge and Avebury will need no introduction for most INSAP
delegates. Stonehenge and Avebury, both in Wiltshire and just 28 miles apart, are among the
greatest ancient sites in Britain, and the ways in which they appear to have been inspired by
astronomical phenomena have long been debated. Different theories have been proposed
about the ancient stone circles, almost from time immemorial. The first Stonehenge (dating
from about 3000 BC) consisted only of a bank and ditch, but later stone circles and features
added at various times make up the monument - the remains of which we see today. The great
stone circle at Avebury is actually undated. There is evidence to suggest it is not as old as the
earthwork, which (in its present form) has recently been dated to c 2800 BC. There is a human
burial against one of the megaliths (thus not as old as the stone) dated to c 1850 BC. So it
seems likely that the stone circle was built sometime between 2800 and 1800 BC.
See, for example, www.english-heritage.org.uk; www.hengeworld.co.uk
Bath Spa University College
In 2002 Bath Spa University College set up the Centre for the Study of Cultural Astronomy and
Astrology with a remit to study the impact of beliefs about the sky on all aspects of human
culture, under Dr Michael York, Dr Patrick Curry and Nicholas Campion.
www.bathspa.ac.uk
Blackwells Bookshop
The family firm of Blackwell's started in one small room at 50 Broad Street Oxford and has
risen to become one of the world's leading academic booksellers and publishers. It is now in
the hands of the fifth generation and since its founding in 1879, Blackwell's has remained a
family-owned business whose philosophy and role is to support the book-buying and
information needs of students, academics, professionals and librarians. In 2004, Blackwell's will
be celebrating 125 years of book-selling excellence. In 1995, Blackwell's became the first UK
bookseller to launch a transactional online bookshop - www.blackwell.co.uk. The Blackwell
family also now own two independent and separate companies: Blackwell Publishing and
Blackwell UK Limited, the retail and library supply business.
www.blackwells co.uk
2
Participants
2.1
Committee members
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Local Organising Committee
Mr Nick Campion
Dr Valerie Shrimplin
Bath Spa University College, UK
Independent Art Historian
with
Mr Peter Hingley
Royal Astronomical Society, UK
International Organising Committee (refereeing of abstracts)
Dr George V. Coyne S J
Professor Ron Olowin
Professor David W. Pankenier
Dr Richard Poss
Dr Rolf M Sinclair
Dr Gary Wells
Professor Ray White
2.2
Vatican Observatory, Vatican City
St Mary’s College, Moraga, USA
Lehigh University, USA
University of Arizona, USA
Centro de Estudios Científicos, Valdivia, Chile
Ithaca College, USA
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona
Keynote Speakers and experts
We are most fortunate in being able to draw on a number of well known experts who are able
to attend, make presentations and also engage in discussion. Since participants come from a
huge range of disciplines and subject areas, we include some brief information about each
(alphabetical order).
Dr Jim Bennett, Museum of the History of Science, Oxford
Director of the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, Dr Jim Bennett’s main interests and
expertise lie in the areas of scientific instruments, astronomy, practical mathematics - and
museums
Professor Allan Chapman, University of Oxford (History of Science)
An historian by training, Professor Chapman ‘s particular research interests are in scientific
biography and Astronomy. He is a fellow of Wadham College and teaches the History of
Science in the Faculty of Modern History, Oxford.
Professor John Heilbron, Fellow of Worcester College Oxford
J.L. Heilbron is professor of history and vice chancellor emeritus of the University of California
at Berkeley. He now lives near Oxford where he is senior research fellow at Worcester College
and at the Museum for the History of Science. His book most relevant to the subject at hand is
The sun in the church (Harvard, 1999). His most recent book is the Oxford Companion to the
History of Modern Science (Oxford, 2003), of which he was general editor.
Professor Ronald Hutton, University of Bristol
A Professor of History in the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Bristol, Ron
Hutton is a leading authority on history of the British Isles in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries, on ancient and medieval paganism and magic, and on the global context of
witchcraft beliefs. Also the leading historian of the ritual year in Britain and an expert on the
history of modern paganism.
Professor Kristen Lippincott, Royal Observatory Greenwich
Director of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich in the U.K.—the start of Greenwich Mean
Time. Professor Lippincott is particularly well known for the recent major exhibition at
Greenwich which examined the nature of time, and the accompanying book, The Story of Time.
Other works, such as Astronomy (1999), focus on contemporary and historical developments in
astronomy
Professor Paul Murdin, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge
Astronomer, author, broadcaster and astronomy consultant, Paul Murdin is Senior Fellow at the
Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge and Former Director of the Particle Physics and Astronomy
Research Council.
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Professor John North, University of Groningen
John North's career has been divided almost equally between Oxford and Groningen, The
Netherlands. He is now emeritus professor of the history of philosophy at the Rijksuniversiteit
Groningen and Senior Research Associate of the Museum of the History of Science (Oxford
University). He has written on many aspects of the history of cosmology.
Mike Pitts
Mike Pitts is a former curator of Avebury’s museum and has directed excavations at both
Stonehenge and Avebury monuments. He writes for newspapers, radio and TV, and was joint
winner of the Archaeology Press Award in 2000.
Professor Clive Ruggles, University of Leicester
Having had a varied academic career passing from astronomy to archaeology to computer
science and back to archaeology again, Clive Ruggles’ research interests centre upon people’s
interests in, perceptions of, and uses of the sky and celestial objects in various social contexts
– topics now encapsulated in the fields of study now known as archaeoastronomy and
ethnoastronomy.
2.3
A special note on Gerald Hawkins
As preparations were being made for the conference, the sad news was received that Dr
Gerald Hawkins had passed away, on his farm in Virginia. His book Stonehenge Decoded and
other publications played a seminal role in defining the study of prehistoric astronomy and
bringing that study to wider critical attention. He was fortunate to have lived long enough to
see others take up the challenge of decoding human intellect embedded in ancient
architecture. He was particularly interested in proposals for English Heritage's plans for a new
Stonehenge Visitor Centre.
Gerald Hawkins was delighted by the acceptance of his latest paper to be read at INSAP4
(Oxford) in August 2003, His paper, produced jointly with Vance Tiede, will be presented by
Vance Tiede on Wednesday 6 August, and a special session ‘In Memoriam; Gerald Hawkins’
on his life and work will follow the same afternoon – to be presented by Vance Tiede, Hubert
Allen and others.
A minute’s silence will be observed at the first opening session on Sunday afternoon.
2.4
List of registered participants (with contact details as appropriate)
A full list of registered participants (with contact details, unless otherwise requested) follows on
the next (coloured) pages
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3
Timetable/conference schedule
3.1
Detailed timetable and list of posters
Saturday 2 August 2003
Early arrivals – by arrangement only – limited number of spaces
Sunday 3 August 2003
From 10.00 am
Arrivals possible from 10.00 am
From 11.00 am
Registration (Auditorium) and setting up of posters (poster room)
(no organised lunch)
4.00 pm
Tea available for registered delegates
4.30 – 6.00 pm
Opening address main auditorium, Magdalen College
(preceded by one minute’s silence in memory of the late
Professor Gerald Hawkins)
Chair: Ray White
7.30 onwards
independent evening arrangements
Monday 4 August 20034
8.45 – 9.00
Announcements
Morning Session:
Astronomy and culture: local, general and special topics
Chair: Rolf Sinclair
9.00 – 9.40
Allan Chapman (keynote speaker)
Astronomy in Oxford
9.40 – 10.05
Patricia Flores
An Ordered Universe: The Sheldon Bedchamber at Chastleton
House, Oxfordshire
10.05 – 10.30
Antje Steinhofel
Art in the Service of Astronomy: The Moon images of John Russell
10.30 – 10.50
Coffee/Tea (in foyer to auditorium)
10.50 – 11.15
David Butterworth
Victorian Astronomy Through the Magic Lantern
11.15 – 11.40
David Pankenier
A Brief History of Beiji (Northern Culmen)
11.40 – 12.05
Nicholas Campion
The Sun is God
12.05 – 12.30
Daniel Oberti
Assuming Time
12.30 – 12.50
Jan White
The Sublime Metaphor (about the associated exhibition)
1.00 – 2.00
Lunch at Magdalen College
Afternoon Session:
Historical themes
Chair: Nick Campion
2.00 – 2.40
Kristen Lippincott (keynote speaker)
Between Text and Image: Incidents and Accidents in the History of
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Astronomical Illustration
2.40 – 3.05
Peter Hingley
Urania’s servants: external and internal images in representations of
astronomers and astrologers, 1472-2002
3.05 - 3.30
Nick Kollerstrom
An Astrologico-Dynastic Encounter: how Galileo dedicated the
Jupiter-moons to Cosimo II de Medici.
3.30 – 3.55
Keith Hutchison
Medieval Heliocentric Universes: a Novel Perspective on an Old
Problem
3.55 – 4.20
Tea/Coffee (in foyer to auditorium)
4.20 – 4.55
Anne Chapman-Rietschi
Cosmic Gardens
4.55 – 5.20
A Fletcher Cole
An American Lighthouse: John Quincey Adams, Astronomy and
Public Policy in Nineteenth Century America
5.30 – 7.00
Viewing of posters
7.30 – 8.30
Oxford University Museum (a short walk from Magdalen – all
registered delegates)
The Sublime Metaphor – Exhibition and Reception
Tuesday 5 August 2003
Morning Session:
Philosophical, religious and spiritual themes
Chair: Ron Olowin
9.00 – 9.40
John North (keynote speaker)
The Cross and the Scales
9.40 – 10.05
Petra Schmidl
Dusk and Dawn in Medieval Islam: some examples of their
representation in texts and on instruments
10.05 – 10.30
David Madacsi
Sky, Atmosphere and Aesthetic Distance in Planetary and Lunar
Environments
10.30 – 10.50
Coffee/Tea (in foyer to auditorium)
10.50 – 11.15
Norman Giradot
Other Worlds in the work of Self taught Visionary Artists, with
special reference to Howard Finster’s Vision of 1982
11.15 – 11.40
Holly Henry
Bertrand Russell in Blue Spectacles: His Fascination with
Astronomy
11.40 – 12.15
William Brewer
Similarities in Children’s Initial Cosmological Models and in
Historical Cosmological Models)
12.05 – 12.30
Chris Impey
Why are we so Lonely?
12.30 – 12.50
William Saslaw (in absentia, to be confirmed) and Paul Murdin
The Double Heads of Istrus: The Oldest Eclipse on a Coin?
1.00 – 2.00
No organized lunch
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Afternoon Session:
Free Afternoon in Oxford
2.00 – 5.00
viewing of posters
7.30 – 8.30
dinner at Magdalen College (pre booked only)
Wednesday 6 August 20034
8.45 – 9.00
Announcements
Morning Session:
Art and Architecture
Chair: Chris Impey
9.00 – 9.40
John Heilbron (keynote speaker)
The Harmony of the Spheres of Francesco Bianchini
9.40 – 10.05
Patricia Likos Ricci
Lux ex tenebris: Etienne- Louis Boullee’s Cenotaph for Newton
10.05 – 10.30
Robert von Gent
Heaven and Earth Encompassed: The Seventeenth-Century
Celestial and Terrestrial Planispheres in the Royal Palace,
Amsterdam
10.30 – 10.50
Coffee/Tea (in foyer to auditorium)
10.50 – 11.15
Kirsten Hoving
Joseph Cornell’s Object Boxes: Cosmology and Collage
11.15 – 11.40
Jan White
Sublime Omens: Natural and Astronomical Phenomena
11.40– 12.05
Patricia Aakhus
The Gates of Helios and an Irish Celestial Machine
12.05 – 12.30
Gerald Hawkins and Vance Tiede
On Astronomy at Stonehenge
12.30 – 12.50
Debate/discussion of morning sessions
1.00 – 2.00
Lunch at Magdalen College
Afternoon Session:
Ancient Civilisations
Chair: David Pankeneir
2.00 – 2.40
IN MEMORIAM: Gerald Hawkins
Vance Tiede, Hubert Allen and others will talk about his life and work
2.40 – 3.05
Ari Belenkiy
Development of the Jewish calendar in the 1st millennium CE
3.05 - 3.30
J Edward Wright
All the Hosts of Heaven: Astronomy in Ancient Israel Revisited
3.30 – 3.55
Joshua Stein
Some Thoughts on Re-reading Cicero’s The Nature of the Gods
3.55 – 4.20
Tea/Coffee (in foyer to auditorium)
4.20 – 4.55
Harald Gropp (to be confirmed)
The Calendar of Coligny: a Nearly Unknown Witness of Celtic
Astronomical Culture
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4.55 – 5.30 [approx]
Clive Ruggles (keynote speaker)
Stonehenge [this session will provide the context of the visit to
Stonehenge – and also cover announcements about arrangements
as necessary]
6.00 – 7.00
Viewing of posters
7.30 – 8.30
Museum of the History of Science (a short walk from Magdalen)
Reception (all registered delegates). Dr Jim Bennett will give a brief
introduction to the gallery and collections
Thursday 7 August 20034
All day
Excursion to Stonehenge and Avebury for those who booked in
advance; free day in Oxford for others
5.00
Depart from Magdalen College (prompt)
7.00
Arrive Stonehenge – guided tour by Professor Clive Ruggles
plus free time
9.00
Depart Stonehenge
10.30 (approx)
Arrive Avebury – guided tour by Mike Pitts and Clive Ruggles
plus free time
12.30
Lunch at the Red Lion, Avebury for participants
2.00
Free time to visit other sites in the area etc
3.00 approx
Depart
5.00 approx
Return to Oxford
7.00 for 7.30
Reception hosted by Blackwells Bookshop (all registered delegates)
The bookshop will be specially opened for INSAP participants, with
relevant material on display, from 6.30 pm
Friday 8 August 20034
Morning Session:
Art/Painting
Chair: Valerie Shrimplin
9.00 – 9.40
Paul Murdin (keynote speaker)
The Moonlight Pictures of Samuel Palmer
9.40 – 10.05
Gary Wells
Daumier and the Popular Image of Astronomy
10.05 – 10.30
John Hatch
Desire, Heavenly Bodies and the Surrealist Fascination with the
Celestial Theatre
10.30 – 10.50
Coffee/Tea (in foyer to auditorium)
10.50 – 11.15
Anne-Laurence Caudano
Sun, Moon and Stars on Kievan Russian Jewellery (10th –13th
century)
11.15 – 11.40
Marilyn Gridley
Planets in paradise
11.40 – 12.05
Hubert Allen and Terry Ballone
Star Imagery in Petroglyph National Monument, New Mexico, USA
INSPIRATION OF ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA , FOURTH CONFERENCE
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12.05 – 12.30
Arnold Lebeuf
Dating the five suns of Aztec Cosmology
12.30 – 12.50
Debate/discussion of morning sessions
1.00 – 2.00
Lunch at Magdalen College
Afternoon Session:
Astronomy and literature
Chair: Gary Wells
2.00 – 2.40
Stephen McCluskey
Wordsworth’s Rydal Chapel and the orientation of Churches
2.40 – 3.05
Richard Poss
Poetic response to the size of the Universe: Astronomical Imagery
and Cosmological Constraints
3.05 – 3.30
Daniel Matlaga
A Journey of Celestial Lights: The Sky as Allegory in Melville’s Moby
Dick
3.30 – 3.55
Conrad Rudolph
Old Theology, New Theology and the Cosmos in the Mystic Ark by
Hugh of St Victor
3.55 – 4.20
Tea/Coffee (in foyer to auditorium)
4.20 – 4.55
Ron Olowin
Astronomical Intuitions in the Poetic Works of Robinson Jeffers
4.55 – 5.20
Debate/discussion of sessions
5.20 – 6.30
Last chance for viewing of posters
6.45 - 7.30
Drinks reception, Magdalen College (those who booked in advance)
7.30 – 8.30
Conference Banquet, Magdalen College (those who booked in
advance)
Saturday 9 August 20034
Morning Session:
Myth, ritual and festivals
Chair: Nick Campion
9.00 – 9.40
Ron Hutton (keynote speaker)
The Festival of Lammas
9.40 – 10.05
Ronald Hicks
Astronomy and the Sacred Landscape in Irish Myth
10.05 – 10.30
Barbara Rappengluck
The Material of the Solid Sky and its Traces in Cultures
10.30 – 10.50
Coffee/Tea (in foyer to auditorium)
10.50 – 11.15
Sarah Richards
Die Planetentheorie: its uses and meanings for Saxon mining
Communities and the Culture of the Dresden Court 1553-1719
11.15 – 11.40
Brad Ricca
The Night of the falling Stars: Reading the 1833 Leonid Meteor
Storm
11.40 – 12.05
Roz Frank
Hunting the European Sky Bears: Reflections of Ursine Cosmology,
Beliefs in English Mummers’ Plays and Pyrenean Basque
Performances
INSPIRATION OF ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA , FOURTH CONFERENCE
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Handbook and abstracts, 3-9 August 2003
12.05 - 12.50
Ray White and Rolf Sinclair
Closing session and concluding remarks
Poster Presentations (alphabetical order)
Almudena Alonso-Herrero: see Sean McClachlan
Marea Atkinson
ELLIPSIS, exploring the ideas of spatiality, materiality and frontiers – a reading of space, in
the work of the Italian artist, Lucio Fontana.
Martin Beech
Cigarette and trade card astronomy
Marvin Bolt
History of Astronomy (title to be confirmed)
Elen Feinberg
New Frontiers in Space as reflected in a New Series of paintings
Raimondo Ferrario
Greek Constellations in Thales’ Times – Suggesting an astronomical reading of the animal
friezes on archaic Greek vase painting
Deborah Garwood
Paris Solstice
Sharon Harper
Moon Studies
Charles W Leming and Paula S Leming
Ancient Cosmology in Contemporary Fiction: Umberto Eco’s Foucault’s Pendulum and Island
of the Day Before
Andrea Lobel (in absentia)
Trailing the Paper Moon: Astronomical Interpretations of Exodus 12:1-2'
Martin Lunn
Viking Constellations
Sean McClachlan and Almudena Alonso-Herrero
The Century the Sky disappeared: Changing Perceptions of the Heavens During the
Pagan/Christian Transition
Ron Miller (in absentia)
Space Art before Space flight
Ben Peperkamp
The Cultural Appreciation of Astronomy in the Nineteenth Century: ‘The great moon hoax’ in
Europe 1835-1`840
Valerie Shrimplin
Borromini and the New Astronomy
Burkhard Steinrücken
The Bronze Age Sky Disc of Nebra, Germany: its Interpretation as an Icon for the Moving
World-soul as described in the Timaeus of Plato
Maelee Thomson Foster
Significant Solar Sites Celebrating the June Solstice (June 21/22)
INSPIRATION OF ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA , FOURTH CONFERENCE
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Attendees (as observers)
Amanda Baugh
Hendrix College, USA
Giles Davison
Independent scholar, London
Prabhakar Gondhaleker
Independent scholar, Oxford
Elizabeth Gordon
Independent scholar, Norwalk, CT, USA
Gail Higginbottom
University of Newcastle
Paul Knappenburger
Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, Chicago
Naomi Knappenburger
Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum, Chicago
Erin Nell
University of Arizona
Peter Nockolds
Independent scholar, London
David Rowan
Bath Spa University College
Rolf Sinclair
Santa Fe Institute (emeritus)
Ray White
Steward Observatory, Arizona
Natasha Wilder
University of California, San Diego
3.2
A summary version of the week’s timetable and programme follows on the next (coloured)
sheet
INSPIRATION OF ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA , FOURTH CONFERENCE
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4
Exhibition: The Sublime Metaphor
4.1
The INSAP conference organisers are very enthusiastic about the exhibition and are
supporting the venture in several ways such as securing the gallery space and organising the
opening, which will combine both the exhibition opening and a major conference reception with
wine and refreshments in the gallery setting. INSAP committee members have contributed to
the preamble for the separate exhibition catalogue, tying in the exhibition and the conference
intentions, in order to bring different disciplines together. Great support has been obtained from
sponsors in New Zealand and elsewhere, as detailed in the separate publication on the
exhibition .
The INSAP conferences are designed to explore humanity’s fascination with astronomical
phenomena and art or artistic artifacts are often a key player here. Art works have been
exhibited at previous conferences, but this is the first time that a public exhibition has been
arranged to run alongside the conference in this way. The organization of an exhibition to
explore the effect that visual images of astronomical phenomena have had on humanity over
the ages can only be beneficial to a very wide ranging audience. In addition, conference and
exhibition activity will contribute to subsequent international research activity and collaboration.
The inclusions of an exhibition of work by artists from several countries, which will also partly
be moving on to other locations, will also help to promote interest in links between the arts and
astronomy. The Oxford University Museum has enabled access to space for the exhibition –
which is an excellent and highly appropriate location in central Oxford and within walking
distance of the main conference venue.
The artists whose work is included in this exhibition explore the inspiration of astronomical and
natural phenomena in a variety of media. Using the physical bodies familiar to us in the night
skies as metaphors for social and political issues faced globally today. These metaphorical
emblems and symbols are also employed to represent the inner space of the psyche, to
examine the human condition and the spiritual dimension in the context of this time and their
place. This exhibition underlines the intention of the INSAP Conference organisers, to bring
together the sciences, the visual and literary arts - in this way facilitating discussion and
academic debate amongst scholars, writers and artists across the disciplines as well as
opening up new international networks and co-operative collegial exchanges between the
sciences and the humanities. A full catalogue, with essays by writers from America, New
Zealand and England with inserts of the artists’ images, will accompany the show.
5
Survival Guide: General Information and special events
5.1
Accommodation
Delegates have for the most part either booked accommodation in Magdalen College itself, or
made their own arrangements locally in hotels etc. Those staying at Magdalen College should
report to the Porter’s Lodge on arrival (from 10 am on Sunday 3 August unless special
arrangements have been made) and ensure that rooms are vacated by 12 noon on Saturday 9
August (unless other arrangements have been specially made). See separate information
sheet in the conference pack from Magdalen for information about security, health and safety,
fire precautions, special needs etc. Some additional College facilities will be available to
residents. There are some excellent college and riverside walks – and also the delightful Old
Kitchen Bar. The College is a popular tourist attraction in the summer months (afternoons only).
5.2
Sessions and session venues
All sessions will take place in the Magdalen College Auditorium, which is easy to find at the rear
(north west) corner of the main site. Standard sessions will be strictly limited to 25 minutes. If
no time for questions and discussion is included in this, then debate must take place
elsewhere. Do give support to all speakers and attend and participate in as much as possible.
5.3
Posters and poster venue
Posters (approximately one metre square, or A0 portrait) will be put up on the afternoon of
Sunday 3 August in the designated room. Special times have been allocated when those who
have presented posters will be available to discuss them. Since the conference is small,
delegates should in any case be able to contact those to whom they wish to speak or to
discuss matters quite easily.
The Craig Piper Group (www craig-piper.co.uk) has been co-operative in helping to provide
screening for the exhibition.
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5.4
Sunday 3 August: Opening session
The opening session will be held at 4.30 on Sunday 3 August 2003. There will be short
‘housekeeping’ announcements every morning in the Auditorium at 8.45 (except Thursday),
prior to the commencement of the daily programme which will commence punctually and be
strictly adhered to for each session. Conference badges must be worn by delegates for
admittance to all sessions in the Auditorium.
5.5
Monday 4 August: Oxford University Museum Reception and Exhibition
The Monday evening reception is at the Oxford University Museum. The reception (for all
registered members of INSAPIV) will include wine and light refreshments, from 7.30 until 8.30.
The Museum is a short walk from Magdalen College. It is about 0.8 mile, and takes 10-15
minutes but please contact a committee member if you have any mobility problems that have
not yet been notified. To get there, turn right as you go out of Magdalen at the Porter’s Lodge
into the High Street. Turn right again into Longwall Street (notable for the long wall!), left into
Holywell Street and right into Parks Road. A colour map is provided in the centrefold in the
booklet in your conference bag. The Museum is no. 49 on the map and can be easily found
from the College or if you are coming from the town. We look forward to seeing you there for
what should be a very exciting exhibition and reception, set amongst amazing natural history
collections. Conference badges must be worn by delegates to obtain admittance.
5.6
Tuesday 5 August: free afternoon
There are no sessions (or lunch) scheduled for the afternoon of 5 August, to enable delegates
to have some free time in order to enjoy what Oxford has to offer (see booklet and map where
key sites are all marked and information provided). You can spend time visiting the beautiful
colleges, churches and museums in the center of the city or why not visit the river (to go
punting or just watch), or drop into the covered market for inexpensive gifts/souvenirs and
snacks. The Ashmolean Museum and Christ Church Picture Gallery are highly recommended,
or why not try the Museum of Modern Art, the Botanic Gardens just opposite Magdalen, or
Blackwell’s walking tours of Oxford (01865 333606). If you would like to go further afield, you
could try making your way to Blenheim Palace at Woodstock a few miles north of Oxford.
Those of you who have booked the evening meal at Magdalen for the Tuesday should make
sure they return in time (7.30). Prebooked only with admission by ticket.
5.7
Wednesday 6 August: Museum of the History of Science Reception
The Museum of the History of Science especially supports the INSAP conference and has
been extremely generous in hosting and providing a wine reception on Wednesday 6 August,
from 7.30 pm to 8.30 pm. There will be time to look at the amazing collections – of great
astronomical significance, but if you feel you can’t see everything, it’s near enough to drop by
again on another occasion. A short introduction to the collections will be provided by Dr Jim
Bennett at the beginning of the reception. Conference badges must be worn by delegates to
obtain admittance.
5.6
Thursday 7 August: Visit to Stonehenge and Avebury
We are extremely fortunate in having obtained special permission to visit inside the stone
circles, and also to have Clive Ruggles as our guide. Mike Pitts, former curator of the Avebury
museum, has kindly offered to be our guide at Avebury. We will be having a basic lunch at the
Red Lion Pub Avebury, before returning to Oxford in the afternoon – with possible additional
stops. Prebooked by ticket only.
5.7
Thursday 7 August: Reception at Blackwells Bookshop
Blackwells Bookshop have very kindly agreed to host a wine reception for all registered
delegates of the conference. The Bookshop is easy to find on Broad Street – and much bigger
inside than it looks from the exterior! They have also generously indicated they will provide a
discount to INSAP delegates on book purchases. See additional information provided
separately. Conference badges must be worn by delegates to obtain admittance.
5.8
Friday 8 August: Conference banquet
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On the last evening of the conference, there will be a superb banquet in the dining hall at
Magdalen College, preceded by a drinks reception on the lawns. This promises to be a
wonderful event – a night to remember! Prebooked and admission by ticket only.
5.9
Saturday 9 August: Closing session and final remarks
All good things come to an end and INSAP IV will be no exception. The final session will take
place from 12.00 on Saturday 9 August when a summary and summing up will be provided, as
well as information about the process for the production of the volume of proceedings.
Guests/delegates are expected to depart thereafter except those who have made special
arrangements to stay for one extra night.
5.10
Meals and refreshments
Teas and coffees will be served to conference delegates at the times indicated, in the foyer to
the auditorium – with spillage onto the lawns outside (adjacent to the deer park) weather
permitting. The three lunches included in the conference package for registered delegates will
be in the Dining Hall, served promptly at 1.00 pm every day. Badges must be worn for
admission. The optional evening meal on Tuesday will be by ticket only.
In order to save expenses to individuals, not all meals were included in the package, so you are
at liberty to make your own arrangements. There are many eating places and snack bars
nearby, since Magdalen College is walking distance of the City Centre. Good inexpensive
provision is to be found in the covered market (55 on the map), or you can try one of Oxford’s
excellent restaurants.
5.11
Transport
Advice has already been provided in advance about transport from various airports and
locations in the UK (see FAQs on website). No transport has been arranged to go to any of the
venues since they are all so close, except for those going on the visit to Stonehenge. If you
have any difficulties getting to any of the venues please let one of the organisers know.
Delegates are advised not to bring a car. A list will be arranged for those needing to share taxis
(it should be less than £5.00 to/from the railway station) on the final day if there is sufficient
demand.
5.12
Telephone, email and fax facilities and contact details
There are public telephones available in the College and surrounding area. There will be limited
availability of internet and email facilities (key committee members will hold keys for some
access to the College’s facilities), but there are internet cafes widely available in Oxford.
5.13
Photography, audio and video taping.
Due to copyright and data protection legislation, no photography of art works, or audio and/or
video taping of oral or poster presentations for professional usage may be made without the
written consent of the presenter. A form to record agreement and be used in such an event, to
be signed by both parties is available.
5.14
Emergencies
Since this is a relatively small conference with no administrative support, once initial registration
has taken place, the registration desk will only be staffed intermittently as necessary.
There are staff available at the Porter’s Lodge at the College, 24 hours a day (see information
sheet from Magdalen).
Urgent messages can be left at
01865 276000 (Porter’s Lodge, Magdalen College, Oxford, 24 hrs
or
07885 579 841 (mobile number of organizer who will be participating in sessions)
INSPIRATION OF ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA , FOURTH CONFERENCE
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Handbook and abstracts, 3-9 August 2003
Abstracts for Academic sessions
INSPIRATION OF ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA , FOURTH CONFERENCE
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Handbook and abstracts, 3-9 August 2003
Astronomy and culture: local and special topics
INSPIRATION OF ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA , FOURTH CONFERENCE
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Handbook and abstracts, 3-9 August 2003
Astronomical Research at Oxford
Allan Chapman
University of Oxford
Oxford University is the oldest place in Great Britain where astronomy has been taught,
studied, and advanced for over 800 years. While pre-twelfth-century monastic schools taught
the science, their activities ceased at the reformation. Merton College, Oxford was not only
actively teaching astronomy by 1340, but has surviving astrolabes to prove it. And one must
not forget that Chaucer’s idle Oxford student, Master Nicholas in The Miller’s Tale, owned an
astrolabe and a copy of Ptolemy. Renaissance Oxford’s Savilian Professorships of Astronomy
and Geometry were to be of crucial influence in the advancement of the science, while the
17th century witnessed a veritable cascade of eminent Oxford astronomers: John Greaves
(who also made the first accurate survey of the Great Pyramid), Sir Christopher Wren, and
Robert Hooke, while the Revd Dr John Wilkins, Master of Wadham College, drew up the first
plans for a proposed machine that might fly to the Moon! Dr Edmond Halley was both a
student then a Savilian Professor, while James Bradley and Thomas Hornsby were two of
Europe’s leading 18th-century astronomers. Sir Isaac Newton’s gravitational ideas were
taught by David Gregory in Oxford, while Oxford’s Radcliffe Observatory, on its completion
in 1771, was said to be the finest in Europe. Victorian Oxford astronomy was largely
dominated by the genial Revd Charles Pritchard, though increasing atmospheric pollution
reduced the opportunities for fundamental research with the city in the 20th century. Even so,
Oxford astronomers began to do their observing from ‘prime sky’ observatories overseas, and
then work on the interpretation of their results back at home. Dr Madge Adam (d. 2001),
however, was still taking daily photographs of the solar surface until the 1980s. For while
people popularly think of Oxford as an arts university, one should not forget that it is not only
Britain’s oldest institution of astronomical research, but was also the birthplace of the Royal
Society.
INSPIRATION OF ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA , FOURTH CONFERENCE
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Handbook and abstracts, 3-9 August 2003
An Ordered Universe: The Sheldon Bedchamber at Chastleton
House, Oxfordshire
Patricia R. Flores
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
While many examples survive of astronomical imagery within the interiors of sixteenth and
early seventeenth century royal and aristocratic houses throughout continental Europe, most
notably Italy, the same cannot be said for England. With the exception of the written accounts
of the decoration of the Great Chamber at Theobalds, which was remodeled after 1592, few
other instances have been uncovered. However, a quite rare example of this imagery survives
in a house of the lower gentry, Chastleton House, which is the focus of this paper.
Built between 1607 and 1612 by Walter Jones, a lawyer and Member of Parliament,
Chastleton's sophisticated architectural design and lavish interiors embodied the ambitions of
a country gentleman rising quickly up the ranks of the aristocracy. Hanging within the best
bedchamber, called Mr. Sheldon's Chamber in the inventory taken upon the death of Jones in
1633, are three tapestries depicting 5 of the seven planetary gods and their zodiacal houses.
Chastleton and its extant collections was acquired by the National Trust in 1991, and archival
research has determined that these tapestries are indeed those listed in the inventory.
Astronomy and astrology, disciplines with long traditions based on classical thought, were
two of the many subjects avidly studied by the gentry in Elizabethan and Jacobean England.
In particular, they reflected the Elizabethan notion of the correspondence between macrocosm
and microcosm. New research suggests that Jones, educated at Lincoln's Inn, acquired and
exhibited these tapestries not only as a display of his education, but also as a vehicle for the
hierarchical ordering of the interior of Chastleton, much like Shakespeare's Ulysses succinctly
expressed in Troilus and Cressida when he proclaimed "The heavens themselves, the planets,
and this centre; Observe degree, priority, and place; Insisture, course, proportion, season
form; Office, and custom, in all line of order."
INSPIRATION OF ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA , FOURTH CONFERENCE
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Handbook and abstracts, 3-9 August 2003
Art and Astronomy in the Service of Religion: Observations on the
Work of John Russell (1745-1806)
Antje Steinhoefel
University of Leicester
John Russell’s lunar images have so far been neglected and misunderstood by both historians
of art and of astronomy. On the one hand this is due to the fact that the images do not come
within many current definitions of the notion of art, particularly when the function of art is
seen as an agency of subjective experience. Ironically, the reverse of this argument explains
why historians of astronomy neglected Russell’s moon images. Compared with the more
technical look of lunar maps, equipped with latitude and longitude grids as well as legends,
Russell’s ‘photo-realistic’ pastels came across as works of art. They were therefore neglected
because of their very nature, their double identity combining aspects from both art and
astronomy.
On the other hand, the moon images have to be seen in the context of Russell’s life and as
more than just the work of an artist and astronomer, but also as the work of a Methodist.
Russell’s lifelong devotion to Methodism is well known. Never before, however, has this
pivotal attitude of the artist towards religion been taken into account in connection with the
study of his moon images. In my paper I argue that Russell was part of the movement that
attempted to unite nature and religion in the late eighteenth century. While prominent artists
such as William Blake argued that nature was the work of the devil and to study it was
blasphemy, Russell shared his beliefs with other evangelicals who saw the study of nature in
no contradiction with God at all. In fact, Russell actively searched for proof of God’s part in
the creation of the world and His presence within it. This association between God and nature
has been termed natural theology and peaked in the late 17th century, with the work of Isaac
Newton himself. I attempt to show that Russell conducted years of astronomical study,
leading to the moon pastels, out of religious motivation. This contextualisation of Russell’s
work within the tradition that believed in the ‘God of Nature’, will, I hope, explain the
previously unsolved puzzle of the artist’s incentive to portrait the moon.
INSPIRATION OF ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA , FOURTH CONFERENCE
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Handbook and abstracts, 3-9 August 2003
Victorian Astronomy Through The Magic Lantern
David M. Butterworth
Independent Scholar, Stirling, Scotland
The presentation consists of approximately 40 original magic lantern slides of astronomical
subjects. These are projected using an original Victorian Magic Lantern. The slides all date
from the late 1840's or 1850's. They all consist of hand painted images on glass. They show
the various astronomical phenomena and theories considered significant in the 1850's. The
slides were used at the time to give astronomical lectures to the general public. A charge was
levied for many of these lectures (usually one penny) and the lecture gives a strong
impression of what the general public was prepared to pay to see and hear in the midnineteenth century. The slides give a vivid idea of the current thinking of the time and clearly
demonstrate the type and level of information presented at such public lectures.
The slides date from the period before the application of photography and spectroscopy to
astronomy.
The introduction will outline the history of the magic lantern and the history of astronomical
lantern slides. The conclusion of the lecture is a brief explanation how the slides work and of
some of the effects shown during the lecture.
INSPIRATION OF ASTRONOMICAL PHENOMENA , FOURTH CONFERENCE
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A Brief History of Beiji (Northern Culmen)
David W. Pankenier
Lehigh University
In ancient Chinese astral lore, the imperial titles assigned to the circumpolar stars of the
"Palace of Purple Tenuity" point to the crucial importance of the North Pole in astrological,
calendrical, and spiritual contexts. But this numinous region has a history far longer than the
Chinese empire, founded in 221 BCE. This presentation will survey what is known about the
pre-imperial history of the region of the “Northern Culmen,” with particular reference to
spiritual and metaphysical conceptions relating to the Northern Dipper, and to the apex of the
heavens, which lacked an obvious pole star throughout much of the formative period of
classical Chinese civilization.
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Handbook and abstracts, 3-9 August 2003
The Sun is God
Nick Campion
Bath Spa University College
The belief that precession of the equinoxes - the slow shift of the stars against the sun's
position at the vernal equinox - was well known in ancient times is a staple of modern
'alternative' archaeology. It underpins Norman Lockyer's early archaeoastronomy in the 1890s
and 1910s, C.G. Jung's theories on early Christianity in the 1950s, Georgio di Santillana and
Hertha von Deschend's Hamlet's Mill in the 1960s, and best sellers by Graham Hancock and
Robert Bauval in the 1990s. However, the idea can be traced back to radical anti-Christian
Enlightenment thinkers at the end of the eighteenth century, such as Jean Sylvain Bailly
(1736-1793), who expounded his arguments on the astronomical origin of religious forms in
two major works, Histoire de l'astronomie ancienne (1775) and Traite de l'astronomie
indienne et orientale (1787). Charles François Dupuis (1742-1809) extended the debate in
1781 in his Mémoire sur l'origine des constellations, et sur l'explication de lafable, by
attempting to establish the astronomical origins of mythology, while setting out a detailed
argument that the twelve signs of the zodiac originated as an allegory of the seasonal cycle.
The radicals' purpose was to undermine Christianity's claim to unique truth by demonstrating
that it shared a common origin with all other religions, that the first religion was sun worship,
that all gods, including Christ, were essentially solar, and that the changing forms of deities
and religious ritual could be observed in the shift of constellations in relation to the vernal
equinox. However, what was to anti-clericalist free thinkers a means of demonstrating
religion's essential meaninglessness became a way of demonstrating that all religions were
meaningful in the hands of the romantics: the English painter Turner is reputed to have
uttered the words 'the sun is God' on his death bed. Two hundred years later the belief in the
ancient knowledge of precession is still capable of exciting great passion.
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Handbook and abstracts, 3-9 August 2003
Assuming Time
Daniel Oberti, Scultore
Sebastopol, CA, USA
It is the hand of man that generates, illustrates, provokes and illuminates thought in the
physical realm. What exists is drawn through the imagination toward the possible.
This process is something that others before me have endeavored to refine. I am part of a
lineage that finds solace in defining oneself by forming materials of the earth into works of art
that inform and inspire inquiry within. I work to unveil the elusive, and at the same time, I
seek an audience and affinity with others who recognize the value of this pursuit.
Since building the first ziggurat, artists have interpreted, knowingly or not, the scientific
paradigms of their time. I see that while science can prove a line of thought and most certainly
excite our intellect, it is the masterful stroke of the artist’s hand that reflects a soulful
interpretation of such knowledge.
Art is a gift that presupposes the dignity of its recipient. It also recognizes that each
expression is one among many—unique and unrepeatable, or capable of begetting untold
generations of its relatives.
The 12th century Sufi poet, Rumi, writes, “Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are
hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.” I will offer a slide presentation and poster
exhibition of my work.
www.danieloberti.com
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Handbook and abstracts, 3-9 August 2003
The Sublime Metaphor
Jan White
University of Auckland, New Zealand
An introduction to the exhibition will be provided. The Sublime Metaphor exhibition has been
organized to open at the Oxford University Museum in conjunction with the international
interdisciplinary INSAP conference. Artists have been invited to contribute in some way from
the U.S.A., New Zealand, Japan, Australia, UK, India and Korea. The Exhibition will travel
on to additional locations after the Conference. The exhibition considers a range of
international artists’ responses to the challenges presented by and intrinsic to “sublime”
metaphors – focussing particularly on those represented by astronomical phenomena – and all
that the “sublime” overtly and covertly implies through its successive association with Gothic
and Surrealist critiques of social norms and the “establishment”. The variations in response
between positive and negative, fearful and ecstatic are also represented in the selection of
works for this exhibition.
An assemblage of stylistically disparate individual artists’ works revealing varied responses in
the one exhibition space is an attempt on the part of the curator to underline the fundamental
failure on the part of philosophy, religion, science, literature or the arts to answer any of those
fundamental questions: “why are we here”, “who are we” and “where are we going”,
questions critical to the psychic and spiritual well-being of any age. But even more especially
in this present time when a loss of faith in the goodness and godliness of human and supreme
beings, demands for social and political “rights” that are detached from their necessary
counterpart – duty, together with diminishing integrity and basic good values, has created a
vacuum quickly filled by a prevalence of greed and exploitation of all members of society not only the working and indigenous classes, a growing absence of any semblance of work
ethic or the assuming of personal responsibility for one’s actions – necessary regardless
whether or not one had a problematic childhood – is bringing the long, highly cultivated and
uniquely self-reflexive Western tradition to its collective knees.
The artists in this exhibition have, directly and indirectly, recorded their individual responses
to some of the sublimely critical issues of this time in their place as marks on paper, canvas,
plastic and light. Some artists are eternal optimists with faith in a fundamental goodness
beating within every human heart. Others draw back a veil of mystery to reveal the darker
side of the human condition using timeless, all-pervasive cultural iconography that can be
easily read by anybody capable of understanding a contemporary billboard advertisement
composed of these same emblems, symbols and textual references to Western culture’s
philosophical, literary and artistic traditions.
Curator: Jan White is a freelance curator, a video installation artist and academic with the
University of Auckland, New Zealand. She has been working on this exhibition, The Sublime
Metaphor, for the past two years. While taking part in the last INSAP Conference in Palermo,
Sicily, White took up the challenge to curate an innovative fine art exhibition for the next
conference at Oxford. The idea for the title sprang out of the INSAP Conference title, The
Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena. The exhibition will reopen in the Leedy-Volkous Art
Centre in Kansas City, The CUNY Graduate Centre Gallery in Manhattan, New York before
travelling to New Zealand to reopen in Auckland. A selection of works will also be shown in
New Zealand House, Haymarket, London.
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Historical themes
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Between Text and Image: Incidents and Accidents
in the History of Astronomical Illustration
Kristen C. Lippincott
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
Art historians who study the iconography of the heavens owe a great debt to the pioneering
work of such great scholars as Aby Warburg, Fritz Saxl, Erwin Panofsky and Jean Seznec. As
they were primarily interested in issues relating to the survival of classical culture, however,
these scholars tended to focus their attention on continuities and the revivals of forms. This
paper will explore the other side of the history of astronomical iconography – those periods
when invention and conjecture, as well as error and dissonance, play a major role in the
transmission of ideas and images.
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Urania's Servants; external and internal images in representations
of astronomers and astrologers, 1470 - 2002
Peter Hingley
Royal Astronomical Society
Personal depictions of astronomers/astrologers, both named and anonymous, down the years
display a variety of internalised and externalised imagery that often varies with the purpose
for which the image was created. There are some portrait paintings, more recently
photographs, and also many illustrations in books, tracts and engravings. This talk will
explore the ways in which the astronomer figure is shown in relation to the heavens, to their
equipment, and to Urania, the Muse of Astronomy.
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An Astrologico-Dynastic Encounter: how Galileo dedicated the
Jupiter-moons to Cosimo II de Medici.
Nick Kollerstrom
University College, London
It was no mere coincidence, Galileo argued, that he had been allowed to discover the four
moons of Jupiter, with his being the tutor to the young Cosimo II de Medici: the moons
belonged by destiny to him and his three brothers. Thereby Galileo was able to move from his
prestigious employment as Padua maths lecturer to being court philosopher to the Medicis in
Florence. Soon the four new 'Stella Medici' were being honoured in poetry, opera, theatre and
ceiling design in Florence, and Medici patronage helped to silence Galileo's critics.
Jupiter held a dominant position at the top of Cosimo's natal horoscope, as Galileo explained
in his Introduction to his bestseller 'Sidereus Nuncius,' and the Medicis were a family that had
traditionally taken astral symbolism very seriously. The Medicis accepted this argument, and
soon they were promoting both Galileo's telescope and his Sidereus Nuncius, to ensure that
the 'Stellae Medici' would be seen by European nobility.
The title phrase is by Mario Biagioli, and my argument will be developed out of his book
'Galileo, Courtier' 1993. This work is a development of earlier findings presented at the
'Galileo 2001 Eurosymposium' in Tenerife.
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Medieval Heliocentric Universes:
a Novel Perspective on an Old Problem
Keith Hutchison
University of Melbourne
Some years ago I observed that heliocentricity emerges in the 'backgrounds' of religious
paintings, somewhat before it was taken up in computational astronomy. Examples are the
Botticelli illustrations to Dante's Paradiso, or Pintoricchio’s Coronation of the Virgin in the
Vatican Pincoteca. My project is to work out what is going on here.
I have a tentative hypothesis. The central 'sun' in these illustrations is not the material sun of
the Aristotelian universe, but the Platonic form of that sun, the immaterial sun of the neoPlatonic heaven, identified with the Christian God. The paintings express a belief that the true
design of the universe is heliocentric, even if the exemplification of that design in the
imperfect material world is so flawed that the earth replaces the sun at the centre. The idea
that the material cosmos is a blemished copy of its original is routine in Gnosticism, and
reflections of it can be found in Christianity, e.g., the idea that the ecliptic was tilted as
punishment for original sin.
At the conference I want to (a) present some of the evidence for this pre-Copernican
heliocentricity (most of it in pictorial form), and (b) present some of the evidence for my
interpretation of what is going on.
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Cosmic Gardens
Anne Chapman-Rietschi
Independent scholar, Birsfelden, Switzerland
Examples of gardens featuring cosmic principles or motifs are discussed in this presentation.
Among the examples are the first garden mentioned by the Sumerians, the biblical Garden of
Eden, the astral-related gardens of the Ancient Egyptians, and Tycho Brahe’s Uraniborg on
the island of Hven (modern Ven). The motifs usually focus on planetary spheres and starshaped designs. Allegorically, these thematic elements stirred a way of thinking to enable the
elite to ponder religious and astral mysteries.
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An American Lighthouse: John Quincy Adams, Astronomy, and
Public Policy in Nineteenth Century America
A. Fletcher Cole
University of Maryland
"To me, the observation of the sun, moon, and stars has been for a great portion of my life a
pleasure of gratified curiosity, of ever-returning wonder, and of reverence for the Creator and
mover of these unnumbered worlds. There is something of awful enjoyment in observing the
rising and setting of the sun. That flashing beam of his first appearance upon the horizon; that
sinking of the last ray beneath it; that perpetual revolution of the Great and Little Bear round
the pole; that rising of the whole constellation of Orion from the horizontal to the
perpendicular position, and his ride through the heavens, with his belt, his nebulous sword,
and his four corner stars of the first magnitude, are sources of delight to me which never tire."
(Diary entry, 8 November 1838)
Perhaps nowhere else in his writings does John Quincy Adams make such an eloquent
statement not only of his own inspiration by astronomical phenomena but that experienced by
astronomers, both amateur and professional, for ages. But what sets Adams apart from so
many of those other astronomers, of course, was his political clout. And any thorough
examination of his life and career must take note of the effects of astronomy upon it.
Astronomy is a consistent interest throughout Adams's career: as college student, as diplomat,
Secretary of State, President, and United States Representative. Once a young man concerned
that "[f]ew discoveries are probably left to be made, and those will be owing perhaps, rather
to chance, than to an extraordinary effort of genius", Adams spent much of his political
career--and capital--trying to encourage both public and private investment in bringing about
new discoveries both in astronomical research and applications. It is my purpose to trace the
development of this interest and its effects on Adams's public life, both his policy and his
rhetoric. And, in so doing, I hope to place Adams in some historical context, thereby
considering what his devotion to astronomy meant in his contemporary times. Indeed, he fits
nicely into a number of controversies of the day: the role of science in developing American
nationalism, the freedoms and limitations of government to invest in public interest programs,
and his most famous cause, abolitionism (which he saw as closely related to issues of inquiry
and education).
A number of excellent pieces have been written on this topic--.A.F. Bemis and Paul Nagel’s
biographies and articles by Marlana Portolano and Dr. Steven Dick-- but I wish to unite and
expand them because I feel there is a space in which to bring together questions that have
already been asked about Adams and astronomy but also to develop those questions and
others. That is what this paper seeks to do.
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Philosophical, religious and spiritual themes
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The Cross and the Scales
John North
Oxford University
The crucifixion of Christ, marking the beginning of what for Christians is the most important
event in human history, has been represented in various ways in connection with the visible
heavens. Two examples will be presented here, one in the work of a fourteenth-century poet,
the other in the work of a sixteenth-century painter. The constellation of Libra, the Scales-an
appropriate symbol of Christ in judgment on the cross-was used by Geoffrey Chaucer in a
highly technical allegory in his Canterbury Tales; and the painting known as The
Ambassadors by Hans Holbein not only appears to make use of similar imagery but
supplements it in several related respects, notably by using another crucifixion image in the
form of Cygnus, the constellation of the Northern Cross. Unlikely as it might at first seem,
there are potential links between the poet and the artist.
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Dusk and Dawn in Medieval Islam
Some Examples of Their Representations in Texts and on
Instruments
Petra Schmidl
Institute for the History of Science, Frankfurt University
Dusk and dawn are one of the most important astronomical phenomenon used in Islamic ritual
worship. They are connected with two of the five pillars of Islam, the fasting in Ramadan, and
the ritual prayer. They are to be performed at the right time to be accepted. To know about
dusk is necessary in Ramadan to determine the end of fasting, and about dawn to determine
the beginning of fasting "when a white thread may be distinguished from a black" (Sura
2,187). Further they are in need of determining three of the five daily ritual prayers in Islam,
the evening prayer, the night prayer and the morning prayer. All of them are defined by
twilight phenomena. These prayers rest on the Qur'an (see Sura 11,114, Sura 17,78 and Sura
50,39f) and the Sunna, the Hadith collections with the acts and sayings of the Prophet
Muhammad. These collection contain different descriptions or definitions of these prayer
times. Most of them are phenomenological, for example "Do the morning prayer when the
stars become indistinct!" (Malik, Muwatta’, Wuqut al-salat, Wuqut al-salat (no. 6)).
According to their position in Islamic religious duties dusk and dawn were widely discussed
in different medieval Islamic astronomical sources, in texts and on instruments. On the one
hand, in an astronomical tradition often called mathematical, the definition of these prayer
times by twilight phenomena lead to exact and approximative methods to calculate time and
duration of twilight by the angle of the solar depression below the horizon. These values are
represented in tables and on instruments, especially on astrolabes. On the other hand texts on
time keeping and the determination of the Qibla, the sacred direction in Islam towards Mecca,
not written for the astronomical expert and probably produced in a legal context, so called
folk astronomical texts, deals with the time and duration of twilight in two different kinds.
First, there are rough approximative methods to determine the beginning, duration and end of
dusk and dawn by the Lunar Mansions using them as a 'star clock'. Second, these texts contain
detailed descriptions of the twilight phenomena in the morning and in the evening probably
based on observations which are very useful to interpret the definitions given in the Hadiths.
Especially these descriptions are a beautiful example of an astronomical phenomenon which
influenced the ritual worship of one of the three great monotheistic religions.
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Sky: Atmospheres and Aesthetic Distance in Planetary and Lunar
Environments
David Madacsi
University of Connecticut
While traditional aesthetics has been based on concepts of beauty and disinterested
contemplation of works of art, some contemporary aestheticians have argued for an aesthetics
of environment, both built and natural.1 Sensory perception is by definition implicit to
aesthetic perception, and the artist, working in a human environment which is not only a
source of sensory information but additionally a source of personal aesthetic experience,
produces works which may have aesthetic value as reflections of aspects of the intelligible
universe—aesthetic value which may be intertwined with the artist’s own aesthetic experience
of environment.
To the earthbound observer, that portion of the environment referred to as “the sky” is a
subjective uniquely-framed window to the rest of the universe, individually cropped by local
horizons and nearby physical/structural barriers. An individual’s sky field-of-view can vary
from a restricted few degrees of visual angle such as is seen through a ship’s porthole to the
unrestricted panorama of sky seen from a mountaintop and viewable in its totality only by
fully turning ones gaze through all points of the compass. While the clear night sky is
essentially transparent, the daytime lighting of the atmosphere, whether cloudy or clear,
blinds earthbound observers to extraterrestrial astronomical phenomena with the exception of
those involving the sun, moon, and (somewhat briefly) the brightest stars and planets.
Throughout the solar system, the absence, presence, and properties of atmospheres are
fundamental determinants of aesthetic distance, and therefore of aesthetic experience of
planetary and lunar environments on the one hand, or of extraplanetary and extralunar
astronomical phenomena on the other.
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Other Worlds in the Work of Self-Taught Visionary Artists: With
Special Reference to Howard Finster's Vision of 1982: 200 Light
Years Away Space Born of Three Generations From Earth to the
Heaven of Heavens.
Norman Girardot,
Lehigh University
By training I am a comparative historian of religions with a special interest in the relation of
religion and art as revealed in the work of contemporary self-taught visionary artists. One of
the most famous of these visionary figures is the American preacher-artist, Howard Finster
(1916-2002), who self-published a fascinating account of his "vision of 1982": an intensely
eclectic, apocalyptic, and humorous work that is replete with mythic, shamanistic, and
popular cultural themes associated with his visionary voyage into outer space. My
presentation will analyze the significance of this work's astronomical/other worldly imagery
as it relates to religious and artistic aspects of self-taught visionary art.
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Bertrand Russell in Blue Spectacles: His Fascination with Astronomy
Holly G. Henry
California State University, San Bernardino
Bertrand Russell frequently formulated his epistemological investigations of the material
world with examples drawn from astronomical phenomena. He persistently evoked images
of stars and starlight, the planets, the sun, eclipses, even planetariums to stage his arguments.
This is true for early publications such as Our Knowledge of the External World (1914) and
The Analysis of Mind (1921), as well as later works such as An Outline of Philosophy (1927),
and Human Knowledge (1948). Russell was clearly fascinated by astronomy and
cosmological phenomena. He noted that his interest in astronomy was inspired by his uncle
Rollo Russell, who lived in Bertrand's childhood home, and whose conversations with
Bertrand "did a great deal to stimulate [his] scientific interests" (The Autobiography of
Bertrand Russell 1: 21). The Honorable Rollo Russell "was a meteorologist, and did valuable
investigations of the effects of the Krakatoa eruption of 1883, which produced in England
strange sunsets and even a blue moon" (Autobiography 1:21). At a very young age, Bertrand
knew something of the planets. He noted that at about age five or six, he would wake early in
the morning to watch Venus rise: "On one occasion I mistook the planet for a lantern in the
wood" (Autobiography 1:30). "The world of astronomy," Russell later observed, "dominates
my imagination and I am very conscious of the minuteness of our planet in comparison with
the systems of galaxies" (My Philosophical Development 130). Russell also once noted, "I
have always ardently desired to find some justification for the emotions inspired by certain
things that seemed to stand outside human life and to deserve feelings of awe. . . the starry
heavens. . . the vastness of the scientific universe. . ." (My Philosophical Development, 262).
This fascination with the stellar universe would be productive for Russell's philosophical
inquiries into the nature, and multiplicity, of physical phenomena. This paper will explore
the importance of Russell's analogies of astronomy for British literary writers such as
Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West. The paper will offer a reading of two fiction
selections, "Solid Objects" by Woolf and Seducers in Ecuador by Sackville-West, against the
backdrop of Russell's fascination with astronomy.
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Similarities in Children's Initial Cosmological Models
and in Historical Cosmological Models
William F. Brewer
Recent research on the nature of young children's beliefs about observational astronomy
(Vosniadou & Brewer, 1992, 1994) has revealed a very rich developmental picture. Children
age 6 to 9 years believe that the earth is a flat, stationary object and that the day/night cycle is
caused by occlusion mechanisms such as clouds coming in front of the sun or movement
mechanisms such as the sun going out into space, or moving down behind mountains or trees.
These initial models are creative inventions of young children based on their observation of
astronomical phenomena and are held in opposition to the cultural views of the adults around
them.
In societies influenced by scientific astronomy children are, from an early age, exposed to the
view that the earth is a rotating sphere and that the rotation of the earth causes the day/night
cycle. Children in these societies come to develop "synthetic models" which attempt to hold
on to the core beliefs (the earth is flat, things fall down to the ground) and yet incorporate the
adult information that the earth is a (rotating) sphere. The most common synthetic models
developed by children are that there are two earths (one flat and a round one in the sky), that
we live inside a hollow earth, and that we live on a flattened sphere.
Our findings suggest that children's initial cosmological models are the result of the
interaction of young human mind with the observable phenomena of everyday astronomy and
(depending on when the adult culture begins to have an impact) should be universal. There
are cross-cultural data to support this claim (Samarapungavan, Vosniadou, & Brewer, 1996).
These recent findings in cognitive psychology have an interesting implication for the history
of astronomy. The constraints that we have uncovered should have been operating in the
adults who produced the very earliest cosmologies in different cultures and therefore we
should expect very early cosmological models to show strong similarities to those we have
uncovered in young children. Examination of accounts of the shape of earth and the day/night
cycle found in the earliest Greek cosmologies (Heath, 1932), early Egyptian cosmology
(Plumby, 1975), early Hebrew cosmology (Langermann, 2000) early Chinese cosmology
(Needham, 1975) and contemporary Quechua culture in Peru (Urton, 1981) provide
considerable support for our hypothesis.
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Why Are We So Lonely?
Chris Impey
Steward Observatory, University of Arizona
We are currently facing the prospect of a new stage in the Copernican revolution – the
demonstration that we live in a biological universe, where the chemical processes that lead to
life have played out in many other cosmic settings. Yet astronomers have also been carrying
out a much more difficult and quixotic experiment - the search for signals from intelligent,
technological civilizations. This talk will look at the cultural backdrop for SETI, which has
primed all of us, scientists included, to anticipate the existence of communicable aliens. It will
be argued that we might reasonably be optimistic about the existence of life beyond Earth but
pessimistic about direct communication.
The conditioning of our own history might also be limiting us in considering the full range of
cosmic life processes.
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Astronumismatics: Another Means for Assessing
Issue Dates for Ancient Coins
William C. Saslaw and Paul Murdin
University of Virginia and Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge
We have recently identified a symbol on a 4th – 3rd century BC coin from Istrus, a Black Sea
colony of Miletus. Earlier numismatists had several rather implausible interpretations for it,
but we suggest it may represent a total solar eclipse. Subsequently, Andrew Sinclair was
asked to check his program for total solar eclipses visible from Istrus and, remarkably, he
found a dramatic one, just before sunset, visible just from Istrus and nearby regions in the
classical world: the eclipse track came down from Scandanavia and crossed central Europe in
337 BC.
If this interpretation is correct, it would be the first time this coin, or any other, was dated
more accurately than ± 50 years when based on stylistic arguments. The image struck on the
coin is unique: two young male heads, one inverted with respect to the other, representing, we
believe, the sun god Apollo. The inversion symbolizes the positions of the solar disk during
the entering and exiting parts of the eclipse.
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Art and Architecture
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The Harmony of the Spheres of Francesco Bianchini
John Heilbron
Worcester College, Oxford
Francesco Bianchini (1662-1729) was a man of exceptional achievement who deserves to be
better known. As an astronomer, he built the most beautiful of all meridian lines in the
church of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome, perfected the aerial telescope, documented the
change in the obliquity of the ecliptic, anticipated the discovery of the aberration, and mapped
the Papal States and the invisible surface of Venus. As an historian, he had charge of all the
antiquities of Rome, wrote a pioneering universal history, and converted it into a card game.
As an exact chronologist, he tied down ancient dates by astronomical events and devised
calendrical schemes for the calculation of feast days and for the count of time since Creation.
As a churchman, he had a steadfast faith, lucrative benefices, and few ecclesiastical duties.
As a good Catholic, up-to-date astronomer, and lover of the quiet life, he found a way
simultaneously to hold and not to hold the Copernican system. A responsible, learned,
charming, and honorable man, he won the esteem of his contemporaries and, what was more
useful, direct access to two popes.
These are the spheres -- of activity, not of the heavens -- mentioned in the title. The harmony
among them is the subject of the lecture."
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Lux ex Tenebris: Étienne-Louis Boullée’s Cenotaph for Newton
Patricia Likos Ricci
Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
In 1784, the visionary French architect Etienne-Louis Boullée (1728-1799) designed a
colossal monument to Isaac Newton (1642-1727) that was both a cenotaph and a planetarium.
A tribute to Newton’s contributions to astronomy, the building was conceived as a microcosm
in which the night sky would be visible by day and the daytime sky by night. Entering the
“center of gravity” of a vast hollow globe set in cylindrical tiers, the viewer would experience
the virtual reality of the starry heavens created by natural light sparkling through shafts in the
exterior of the masonry sphere. At night, the interior would be transformed into day by a
luminous artificial sun suspended from the vault in an armillary sphere. Belonging to the
brotherhood of freemasons whose motto was “lux ex tenebris” or “light out of darkness,”
Boullée believed in the mystical origins of knowledge. His monument was a vindication of
Newton whose law of universal gravitation had been attacked as “occult” by Leibniz and
others.
Boullée’s design can be traced to Archimedes, who was the son of an astronomer and the
inventor of the first planetarium ca. 250 B.C. Archimedes’ tomb in Syracuse was surmounted
with a sphere inside a cylinder representing his discovery of the formulas for finding their
volumes and surface areas. The Newton cenotaph was also a development of the Gottorp
Globe (1654-1664), a revolving planetarium made of a pierced hollow sphere that held twelve
people. Although the enormity of Boullée’s plan was impossible to construct in the 18 th
century, architects treasured his evocative drawings. More than 200 years later, the architect
James Stewart Polshek acknowledged the Newton cenotaph as the inspiration for his design
for the planetarium of the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York.
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Heaven and Earth: The Celestial and Terrestrial Planispheres in the
Royal Palace of Amsterdam
Robert H. van Gent
Institute for History and Foundations of Science, University of Utrecht
The Citizen's Hall of the former Town Hall, now the Royal Palace, of Amsterdam features
three spectacular marble-inlaid maps of the heaven and the Earth, each measuring nearly 7
metres in diameter and dating from the middle of the 17th century.
In this paper I will describe the planispheres, their state of preservation and their relation with
other astronomical and astrological imagery incorporated in the building. Some other
examples of celestial imagery in 17-century Dutch architecture will also be briefly discussed.
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Joseph Cornell's Space Object Boxes: Cosmology and Collage
Kirsten A. Hoving
Middlebury College
Throughout his long career, the reclusive artist Joseph Cornell was fascinated by the stars. In
numerous shadow box collages, he evoked the night sky through titles such as "Observatory
Corona Borealis Casement," "Casseopeia #1," or "Radar Astronomy." From the yard behind
his home on Utopia Parkway, in Flushing, New York, Cornell would contemplate the night
sky, while at the Hayden Planetarium in Manhattan Cornell further expanded his interest. But
it was in his collages, beginning in the 1930s and continuing into the 1960s, that Cornell most
fully explored the scientific and metaphorical associations that the planets and stars held for
him. Combining his interests in Surrealism and Christian Science, Cornell produced one of
the most fascinating bodies of work that contemplate humanity's relationship to the stars.
In this paper I plan to explore one group of collage boxes, which I think of as Cornell's
celestial hotel series. These works include such objects as "Hotel de l’Étoile," Hotel Sun
Box," "Grand Hotel de l'Univers," "Hotel Night Sky," "Hotel de l’Étoile, Night Skies:Auriga,"
and "Hotel Neptune." Using star charts, lunar maps, and visualizations of constellations taken
primarily from nineteenth-century texts, such as La Science Amusante (1890) and Popular
Diagrams (1850), together with metaphorical objects such as soap bubble pipes, bracelets,
and doll's heads, Cornell created tiny universes. While the boxes were known and exhibited
as Surrealist poetic objects, the cosmology implied in them goes far beyond Surrealism's
fascination with the unconscious. In particular, the hotel metaphor relates, I believe, to
Cornell's attempt to combine science and scripture in his art, to produce Christian Science
"hotels" that "oh, tell" of the link between the human and the cosmic. In his art, Cornell's
night sky concretizes the more abstract idea of heaven he wished to impart--a spiritual
concept he understood through elaborate scientific metaphors and strange poetic objects.
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Sublime Omens: Natural and Astronomical Phenomena
Jan White
University of Auckland, New Zealand
The English poet, artist, critic, social revolutionary and conservationist, John Ruskin (18191900), was Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford University between 1870-79 and 1883-84.
His text, Modern Painters (arranged in 5 volumes, 1843-60), was hugely influential for much
of the 19th century on generations of artists who either followed his suggestions as they
endeavoured to formulate visual emblems representing aspects of identity and reality. This
developed initially through the Pre-Raphaelite painters in England, then later in the 1900s
impacted on the emerging “New” cultures such as America and New Zealand.
Ruskin’s favourite exemplar, J.M.W. Turner and the Pre-Raphaelite artist, William Holman
Hunt, were two English painters who carried Ruskin’s theories to fruition. The twentieth
century New Zealand painter, Colin McCahon (1919-87) was also influenced by ideas Ruskin
set out in Modern Painters. His work continues to influence on contemporary artworks.
This paper examines selected works including The Scarlet Sunset (1832) by J.M.W. Turner
(1775-1851), May Morning on Magdalen Tower (1890) by William Holman Hunt (18271910) and Storm Warning (1980) by Colin McCahon all of which use astronomical and
natural phenomena as emblematic metaphors. An analysis of these works reveals parallel
elements, influenced by ideas put forth in Ruskin’s Modern Painters. Analyses function to
“unpack” the “visual strategies” natural and astronomical emblems imply, tying these to
social agendas.
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The Gates of Helios and an Irish Celestial Machine
Patricia L. Aakhus
University of Southern Indiana
Observation of the most extreme annual solar rising and setting places on the horizon, called
by Homer the "gates of Helios," is reflected in many ancient literatures including Gilgamesh,
Homer's Odyssey, Macrobius' Commentary on The Dream of Scipio, and the Old Irish
Tochmarc Etain.
According to Macrobius, these gates opened at the solstices, where the constellations
Sagittarius and Gemini intersect with the Milky Way. On those days, the limit of the sun's
journey, the dead passed from earth to the Milky Way, believed by Pythagoras to be the home
of souls, or from the Milky Way, to be born again, falling through the constellation Crater,
where the soul became intoxicated with matter, and thus obtaining weight, fell like a star to
earth. In his search for immortality, Gilgamesh passes through the portals of the sun guarded
by the scorpion people (Babylonian constellation Sagittarius). In The Odyssey, Book 24
Hermes escorts the slaughtered suitors like bats flitting from the roof of a cave through the
portals of Helios to the Otherworld. In Book XIII, we find:
"… a charming, shadowy cave,
Sacred to the nymphs, the Neiades as they are called.
In it there are kraters and two-handled jars
Made of stone….There are two entrances,
One to the north for men leads down,
The other to the east is holier. Not by this way
Can men enter, but it is the way for the immortals."
Transl. Michael Dixon.
This excerpt might well describe the neolithic passage chamber at Newgrange, the setting for
the ninth century Old Irish epic, Tochmarc Etain, (The Wooing of Etain). Newgrange lies on
the River Boyne and is oriented to the winter solstice sunrise. Like Homer's cave, it has two
entrances, one for men and one for gods (the sun), and contains large stone kraters. In
Tochmarc, the Dagdha, the chariot driving Irish sun god, enters it in order to conceive
Aonghus, the god of light, by Boann, the (lunar) white cow goddess, who is properly the mate
of Elchmar, god of the underworld. Aonghus later loves Etain, who is transformed into a
butterfly, swallowed in a wine cup (krater) and born again 1012 years later.
Human ashes have been found in Newgrange. At sunrise on the winter solstice the sun casts a
beam of light 67 feet along the passageway, illuminating a large carved triple spiral in the
farthest chamber. A mile or so away, the Dowth passage chamber faces west, oriented to the
solstice sunset. While it is likely that the uses of neolithic structures will never be known, can
Newgrange be imagined as some sort of celestial machine, intended to send souls on the
solstice journey described by Macrobius, Homer and the unknown authors of Gilgamesh and
Tochmarc Etain?
In this presentation the medieval Irish literature will be examined, as it is concerned with the
transmigration of souls, set in neolithic structures with solar alignments.
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On Astronomy at Stonehenge
Gerald S. Hawkins, DSc. (Astronomy)
Vance R. Tiede. (Archaeology)
We present new evidence to discern the intent behind the construction of Stonehenge in Southern
England by Neolithic peoples 5,000 years ago. Citing the historian Hecatæus [ca. 500 B.C.], Diodorus
of Sicily [ca. 50 B.C.] describes a temple in Hyperborea (identified as Stonehenge by R. Hennig,
“Die Anfänge des kulturellen und Handelsverkehr in der Mittelmeerwelt,” Historiche Zeitschrift
139:19[1929]):
And there is also on the island a magnificent sacred precinct of Apollo and a notable temple
which is adorned with many votive offerings and is spherical in shape… They also say how
the moon (σελήνην), as viewed from this island, appears to be but a little distance from the
earth… The account is also given that that the god (θεόν) visits the island every nineteen
years, the period in which the return of the stars (άστρων) to the same place in the heavens
is accomplished; and for this reason the nineteen-year period is called by the Greeks the
year of Meton. (Diodorus of Sicily II: 47.1-6, [C. H. Oldfather, trans.] Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1979, p.41, cf. XII.36)
We suggest a new translation of Diodorus to mean that Stonehenge pointed to the Solstice Sun and
High Moon when they were both at their turning points against the background of the zodiac stars
every 19+18+19 years. Archaeologically, astronomically and etymologically speaking, it is not the
return of the stars, but rather of the luminous bodies (άστρων/astron, i.e., sun, moon and stars) to the
same place in the heavens nearly every 19 years that is marked by the horizon alignments at
Stonehenge (cf. The Classic Greek Dictionary, Chicago: Follett Publishing Company, 1943, pp. 109110). We also present new evidence linking lunar eclipses and the 56-sided polygon of Typhon (the
god of eclipses and disasters reported by the Greek astronomer Eudoxus [of Cnidus, 408-355 B.C.])
with the 56 Aubrey holes at Stonehenge, according to a 56-year cycle of 19+18+19 years.
When astronomer Gerald Hawkins first published the moon-sun interpretation of Stonehenge (Nature
200:306 [1963] and 202:1258 [1964]), archaeologists questioned it because the accuracy of the existing
site plan was poor. After British archaeologist R. J. C. Atkinson (Nature 275:50 [1978]) resurveyed the
Station Stone rectangle and Avenue Axis, we repeated the astronomical analysis. Our new calculations
confirm that the stones mark Solstice Sun and High Moon orientations more accurately than originally
reported.
Confirmation of Solstice Sun & High Moon Alignments at Stonehenge
from Atkinson’s 1978 Survey*
___________________________________________________________________________________
___
Stone
Seen
*True
Object
From
Azimuth
Center
Avenue Axis Centre
Heel Tip
Centre
91
92
94
93
92
91
93
94
94
91
93
92
Target
Declination
49.91o Midsummer Sunrise
50.90
“
“
49.48
“
“
48.89
“
“
229.48
Midwinter Sunset
228.89
“
“
318.89
Midwinter High Moonset
319.93
“
“
“
+23.95 o
+23.95
+23.95
+23.95
-23.95
-23.95
+29.10
+29.10
Vertical
Horizon
0.63o
1.19
0.63
0.63
0.53
0.53
0.37
0.37
Displacement
0.00o
- 0.02
- 0.22
- 0.53
+ 0.06
+ 0.36
+ 0.18
- 0.27
Thanks to Atkinson’s survey, archaeologists may now accept the astronomical interpretation of
Stonehenge with confidence. Accordingly, both the sun and moon alignments should be presented to
the public at English Heritage’s Stonehenge Visitor Centre when it opens in 2005.
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Ancient Civilisations
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In Memoriam: Gerald Hawkins
Vance R. Tiede, Hubert Allen and others
A special session will be held, to commemorate the life and work of the late Gerald Hawkins.
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Development of the Jewish calendar in the 1st millennium CE
Ari Belenkiy
Mathematics Department, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
The present-day Jewish calendar has a 19 year intercalation cycle and is built upon an
application of the Molad or the “mean month” technique. It is credited to Hillel bar Yehuda
Nasi, c. 359 CE. We know practically nothing about the calendars used by Jews before the
4th century, yet c.922 Saadia Gaon, leader of Babylonian Jewry, claimed that the Jewish
calendar “originates from Mount Sinai.” This claim later turned into a powerful myth.
In this lecture we show that the Jewish calendar system changed several times in the first
millennium and and its development comprised three historical epochs related to Eretz Israel:
the Roman, Byzantine and Arabic.
In the Roman period we discover two other calendar systems which were in use before the
modern one. The first can be called a “week day shift” system. The second is known from
Talmud as the “theory of others” and we give it, for the first time, a consistent explanation
based on a 30 year cycle. Next we discuss the changes in the Jewish calendar in 5-8th
centuries CE, a period which experienced an abrupt transition from Byzantine rule over Eretz
Israel to Arab rule. In this period a single but singular feature of the Jewish calendar
appeared, the “Deĥiyot” [postponements] of Rosh Hashana. Some of them appeared after
Emperor Justinian banned Passover falling on Saturday, others at the time of the first Gaonim
[heads of talmudic academies in the Arab caliphate] between 658 and 770 CE.
The last period (late 8-10th centuries) started with the translation of Almagest into Aramaic
and Arabic in Abbasid Califate and led to creation of the modern Jewish calendar system.
Additionally, in this period two astronomical accounts of Creation of the World were
formulated, based on astronomical phenomena discovered in the 9th century, like the motion
of the solar apogee.
All this leads to the conclusion that Jewish calendar tradition was lost after the destruction of
the Second Temple in 70 CE and gradually recovered over an entire millennium with several
interesting additions. This process, which received a new momentum in the 9th century, was
slowed down by Saadia Gaon’s intervention and was over by the end of the 10th century.
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All the Hosts of Heaven: Astronomy in Ancient Israel Revisited
J. Edward Wright
University of Arizona
The biblical editors did not create a record of the entire spectrum of ancient Israelite culture.
Theirs was by necessity a selective and bias account. It is left to scholarship to sift through all
the evidence to create a more complete picture of ancient Israel. Until the late-twentieth
century scholarship on Israelite culture was dominated by the study of biblical texts mostly by
scholars with strong religious convictions or formal theological training. This resulted in
scholarly reconstructions that unwittingly adopted the socio religious biases of the Hebrew
Bible/Old Testament’s latest editors. The end of the twentieth century witnessed major shifts
in scholarship in this field. Biblical scholarship is now led by a new generation of biblical
scholars, historians, archaeologists, and literary scholars whose research 1) is non-sectarian in
motive and methodology, and 2) depends on a wealth of new inscriptional and archaeological
data. These new approaches and new data have led to new perspectives on ancient Israel, its
history, religion and culture.
One topic that has yet to receive significant attention is the role and nature of astronomy in
ancient Israelite society during the Iron Age. My research looks beyond what the final editors
of the Hebrew Bible wanted people to believe or what they deemed appropriate to record and
explores the available artifactual, inscriptional, literary, and iconographic evidence to
reconstruct what ancient Israelites actually believed about the heavenly realm and its impact
on human affairs. This presentation builds on my earlier research (The Early History of
Heaven, Oxford, 2000) and is the first fruit of my new research project into the role of
astronomy in ancient Israel during the Iron Age.
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Some Thoughts on Re-reading Cicero's The Nature of the Gods
Joshua B. Stein
Roger Williams University
Some two thousand years before scientists in Rome and Tucson came up with the idea of
INSAP, Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE) was well on his way to exploring the reciprocal
possibilities of astronomy's inspiration on human understanding. Two years ago I presented a
paper on how he used astronomy as a model for ideal government in his Dream of Scipio; this
year I propose to expand the field. As he sometimes did, and as Galileo would imitate in his
Dialogue on Two World Systems, Cicero sets up a fictional conversation. His principals are
advocates of Epicurean and Stoic philosophy and the philosophy of the Neo-Platonic school
called "The Academy". Cicero himself is pictured as a young man, the neutral observer who
eventually decides who wins the debate. In the course of each man's presentation, especially
the Stoic's the stars, planets, the sun and the moon are evoked. Are they gods? Is the universe
itself God? Is the universe the living God with the planets being lesser gods? What is man's
place in the cosmos? Why was the world (the totality of creation) formed, and by whom?
What does the unchanging nature of the celestial order teach us about ourselves and our roles
on earth and in the universe? These are some of the questions the discussants ask, and
answer. Granted, to a modern reader Cicero's astronomy is absurd, but his philosophy, based
on his understanding of the heavens, is profound. The questions he asks, his obvious
fascination with the heavens, are as contemporary as any modern poets'. But, as he is unable
to attend INSAP IV, I will present his views on the inspiration of astronomical phenomena.
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The Calendar of Coligny: a Nearly Unknown
Witness of Celtic Astronomical Culture
Harald Gropp
University of Heidelberg
The calendar of Coligny was found in the small village of Coligny in Southeastern France in
1897 as a bronze plate of 148 cm times 90 cm, however broken into many pieces. This plate
describes 5 years of a calendar in Gaulish language in Latin script. The calendar is about 2000
years old and was probably used in Gaul in the first century BC before the conquest of Gaul
by the Romans. Today the calendar can be seen in Lyon in the "Musee de la civilization galloromaine."
The five years of the calendar consist of 62 months or 1832 days. The basic period contains
nearly five cycles of these 5-year periods resulting in 309 months of 9130 days. The exact
values are as follows: 309 lunar months are 9124.9517 days, and 25 solar years are 9131.0550
days. Both values are near to integers (9125 and 9131 respectively). By using certain
counting schemes the exactness of the calendar of Coligny is about 1 day in 500 years in
relation to the movement of the sun and the moon.
Altogether, this calendar is an important witness of the scientific achievements of the Celts, a
nearly forgotten culture, which inhabited large parts of Europe before they were driven to the
edges of our continent by the Romans. The calendar of Coligny and the astronomical
knowledge which it contains could open the way to a better understanding of Celtic culture in
the future. In particular, this calendar is one of the few written sources of the Celtic culture
which, I think, should be compared with the already well known architectural witnesses of
Celts and their predecessors in many parts of Europe, e.g., Stonehenge in England and
Newgrange in Ireland.
Since the calendar of Coligny was the earliest document of the Gaulish language which
modern mankind found again, the calendar was discussed in the last century mainly by
Celtologists and language scientists who were interested in Indoeuropean languages. Only in
the last 15 years the calendar was also investigated from the point of view of astronomy,
mathematics and the history of these two sciences. This is mainly due to theinitiative of
Carlos Jaschek who started a colloquium on "astronomie et sciences humaines" in Strasbourg
in 1986.
In the 1990s at least 4 books were published discussing the calendar from different points of
view ((3), (5),(4), (1)). In (2) the calendar of Coligny has been discussed in the broader
context of Celtic mathematics and astronomy. The calendar was found around 2000 years
after its construction. More than 100 years after this excavation it is time for a detailed study.
For the first century of the third millennium AD there should be a focus on investigating all
aspects of the calendar from the points of view of several different sciences in order to learn
more about Celtic culture of the first millennium BC.
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Stonehenge and Avebury
Clive Ruggles, University of Leicester
Mike Pitts, former curator, Avebury Museum
Clive Ruggles and Mike Pitts have kindly offered to act as guides for those who will be
undertaking the early morning visit to the ancient sites. They will be talking about various
ideas and explanations of the monuments, as well as recent excavations.
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Art and Painting
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The Moonlight Pictures of Samuel Palmer
Paul Murdin
Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge
Palmer and his pictures
Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) was an English, romantic, landscape painter. In his early years,
Palmer was one of the followers of William Blake. In his so-called Shoreham period, he
painted images of a timeless English rural landscape of shepherds, wheat fields and country
life. After visiting Italy in 1837 Palmer’s style changed and his subject matter widened, but
his landscape continued to represent a serene and abundant, ideal countryside.
In the sky above many of his landscapes, Palmer painted the Moon, following a childhood
inspiration. This enhances the feeling of timelessness, and the unfailing rhythm of the
seasons, as well as evoking a time of day and a bittersweet mood. Nevertheless in about half
the pictures the Moon is incorrectly depicted. Why did someone so obsessed by the Moon
fail to observe it?
Position and shape of the Moon
Phases, New Moon, Full Moon, The crescent Moon, Position of the crescent Moon relative to
twilight, The Harvest Moon and Earthshine, The tilt of the Moon’s orbit
The Moon in Palmer’s pictures
Phases.[In]consistency
Conclusions, Bibliography, Catalogue
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Daumier and the Popular Image of Astronomy
Gary Wells
Ithaca College
Honore Daumier (1808-1879) is best known for his illustrations of Paris life during the midnineteenth century. Among his many thousands of prints, a small number deal with
astronomical topics of the day. This paper will examine the astronomical images of Daumier
from a social and historical perspective, emphasizing their role as a mirror of public
perceptions of astronomy. As was typical of Daumier’s art, these prints frame the topic of
astronomy by exploring the popular understanding of current events. They are thus a unique
window into the public perception of such events as the Great Comet of 1857, as well as the
activities of astronomers as professional men of science. Daumier’s images portray the
popular understanding of astronomy as both limited and rife with misunderstanding. Through
humor and a penetrating understanding of human nature, Daumier casts light upon the conflict
of science and superstition in mid-nineteenth century France.
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Desire, Heavenly Bodies, and the Surrealist Fascination
with the Celestial Theatre
John G. Hatch
The University of Western Ontario
In 1922, the German Surrealist artist Max Ernst produced a montage work that included a
woman's bare buttocks protruding out of the rings of Saturn. It is to say the least an unusual
combination of images but one that addresses some very basic human impulses. In part, it
expresses Ernst's understanding that inscribed upon the night sky are some of our deepest held
fears and fantasies.
The American artist Joseph Cornell created a variant of the Ernst image in the 1930s,
replacing the woman's posterior with a bird, in an homage to Ernst who had inspired Cornell
to become an artist in the first place. Both saw the night sky as a foil and metaphor for the
human imagination. In his own work, Cornell drew on the night sky in a series of box works
that would include representations of such constellations as Auriga, Andromeda,
Cameleopardalis, and Cassiopeia, all manifesting a romantic interest in the fables and myths
associated with these names, while also delving into his own intense fear of infinity.
Cornell was more traditional in his use of celestial imagery, albeit remarkably original, while
Ernst wanted to invent a new cosmic mythology that has left many art historians puzzled as to
the meaning behind some of its components. However, both of these artists shared a similar
fascination with and approach to the night sky that furthers our understanding of the Surrealist
movement as a whole and illustrates well the hold the universe has over the human
imagination. This paper navigates some of the celestial imagery found in the work of Ernst
and Cornell in the hopes of demonstrating, in its own small way, just how rich of a source
astronomy has been for modern and contemporary art.
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Sun, Moon and Stars on Kievan Rus Jewellery (10th – 13th Centuries)
Anne-Laurence Caudano
Trinity College, Cambridge University
The principalities of Kievan Rus, a state formed by the area that covered the Western Bug to
the Volga between the 10th and the 13th centuries, legated numerous earrings and medals
shaped as a sun, a star or a moon crescent, probably a reminiscence of Slavic paganism.
Unfortunately this abundant material has not been satisfactorily analysed in studies of Rus
cosmological worldview, even though the information provided by these jewels is essential to
complement the documents alluding to the heavens. Indeed, the Slavonic translations of
Byzantine patristic texts with cosmological contents, or descriptions of astronomical
phenomena in chronicles deal only with a more restricted – literate – audience in Rus.
Furthermore, on the basis of such written sources, one would easily conclude that Rus showed
but very little interest in the stars: it did not produce any original speculation on the heavens,
and most of its material was copied or imitated from Byzantine models. The study of jewels
indicates that, on the contrary, the sky and its celestial bodies fascinated a broad range of Rus
population.
Despite the limited interpretations one can offer to these sources, which do not provide a
coherent picture of the cosmos, the frequent solar, lunar and stellar motifs on jewelry reveals
a representation of heavens specific to the Kievan period. Indeed, they appeared in the region
in the late 8th - early 9th centuries and disappeared almost completely in the 13th century, after
the Mongol invasions. My presentation focuses on two aspects of this material: the origin of
these jewels and their role in Rus society. In fact, if these motifs seem to be typical of Rus,
comparable designs were found also in Byzantium and among Finno-Ugric tribes. It is thus
essential to determine in what measure these neighbouring states and tribes influenced Rus
crafts. More puzzling is the sudden end to their production in the thirteenth century, which
could be explained by political and economical factors, or its coincidence with a stronger
implantation of the Christian faith in Rus. This, as such, would reveal radical changes in the
consideration of heavens at that period.
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Planets in Paradise
Marilyn Gridley
Kansas University
Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Mercury and Venus stand out among the deities attending the Buddha
of Blazing Light in a grand mural painting of his paradise. Originally painted in the late
thirteenth century for the main hall of a monastery in Shanxi province, the paradise scene now
adorns the Chinese Temple Room in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City,
Missouri. What are these Daoist planetary deities doing in a Buddhist paradise? In this talk
will examine what the roles played by Khubilai Khan and the Daoist Dragon King will be
examined, as well as the effect the Buddhist/Daoist disputation in 1258 had in determining the
planets' presence and purpose in this paradise.
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Star Imagery in Petroglyph National Monument, New Mexico, USA
Hubert A. Allen, Jr. and Terry Edward Ballone
Petroglyph National Monument, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA is dedicated solely to
preserving an estimated 17,000 carvings on rock (petroglyphs) made by ancestral and historic
Native Americans, early colonists and regional visitors. Among the images that recur along
the 17 miles of volcanic escarpment is a four-pointed star, sometimes called the "star-being"
or "star-head" by locals and park guides, as it usually involves some degree of
anthropomorphism. This image may be as simple as a circle with four symmetrically disposed
points and no other details; to as elaborate as the basic star-head with facial features, crown
and body with, perhaps, limbs holding objects- a cane, staff or club. This project involved a
photographic field survey of the "star-head" image in the Monument. Two-to-three surveyors
combed the escarpment rock (height ranging from 10m - 100m high) and identified and
photographed approximately 100 "star-head" images. Results include a classification of
"star-head" images according to level of detail; size of images; and associations with other
petroglyphs and archaeological remains. Literature review discusses the possible role of this
icon as a war symbol and Venus deity and provides a rough time line of their creation and
cultural associations.
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Dating the five Suns of Aztec cosmology
Arnold Lebeuf
Instytut Religioznawstwa, Jagielonian University, Krakow, Poland
The present paper shows that the Mesoamerican astronomers were indeed able to calculate the
positions and periods of the Nodes of Moon orbit and based their cosmology according to
eclipse possibilities and impossibilities during their successive world eras. Here mythology
and imperial ideology proves to be firmly constructed on scientific observations and
conclusions.
It is broadly accepted that the “Suns”, or eras of Aztec cosmology begun and ended on the
days of their respective names in the years 2-Acatl, the years of the great New Fire
Ceremonies returning every 52 years. It has also been claimed that eclipses accompanied
these repeated cataclysms marking the end of the successive Suns. Although no such
statement appear in Aztec sources, different informations may lead to the conclusion
supported by Susan Milbrath that the Aztecs feared the end of their world would come with a
solar eclipse on a day 4-Ollin, the day name of the fifth Sun of Aztec mythology. The
proposition is even more acceptable if we consider that such similar beliefs are documented in
other Mesoamerican traditions, for example among the Mayas.
If the solution proposed here for the names and order of the five Suns of Aztec cosmology can
be accepted, it would prove that the Aztecs based their astronomical and calendrical
calculations on the same bases as the other cultures of Ancient Mesoamerica and that the
location and periods of the Nodes of Moon orbit were essential to these constructions. It also
suggests that an astronomical abstraction was at the centre of their religious ideology. This
very schematical presentation of a new hypothesis concerning the names and order of Aztec
eras is just temptative, as I am fully aware of the many odd hypotheses previously presented. I
hope this new one deserves at least a careful examination, discussion and critics for further
development or eventual rejection.
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Astronomy and literature
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Wordsworth's "Rydal Chapel" and the Orientation of
Churches
Stephen C. McCluskey
University of West Virginia
In the winter of 1822/23, William Wordsworth wrote a pair of poems on the foundation of
Rydal Chapel. The second of these poems focused on the solar symbolism of the orientation
of churches. Wordsworth's romantic medievalism is manifest in his description of how "in the
antique age of bow and spear" the founders of the Mother Church of Rydal Chapel had
performed a nocturnal vigil before the feast of the church's patron saint, waiting for the Sun
to rise, a practice which was neglected by his contemporaries. For him, this divinely ordained
rising was a sign of where to place the church's high altar and to trace out its foundations. He
prefixed to the poem a brief note asserting that this orientation toward sunrise on the patron
saint's feast day was the reason that churches sometimes deviated from true east.
Wordsworth's claims were influential in disseminating the concept that churches should be
oriented to sunrise on the feast day of the saint to whom the church was dedicated. This idea
was also adopted by nineteenth-century ecclesiologists, as part of their drive for the renewal
of formal liturgy in the Church of England.
In this paper, rising from a broader examination of the validity of the hypothesis of patronal
orientations, I will place Wordsworth's discussion in their nineteenth-century context and
discuss the texts and church orientations which contributed to it.
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Poetic Responses to the Size of the Universe:
Astronomical Imagery and Cosmological Constraints
Richard Poss
University of Arizona
How have the poets responded to the vastness of modern astronomical estimates of the size of
the universe? How do astronomy and poetry relate to each other now, almost half a century
after C. P. Snow became concerned about the two cultures? This paper attempts to review a
number of poetic meditations on the nature of human life spurred by recent revelations from
astronomy, specifically relating to the increasingly enormous size of the physical universe and
how this impacts upon humanity’s psychological and spiritual being.
From the sweet shipwreck of endless silences and vast spaces in Giuseppe Ungaretti’s lyric
poem “l’Infinito”(1820), to the conversations on the cosmic “annihilation” of the human
between Swithin St. Cleve and Lady Constantine in Thomas Hardy’s novel Two on a Tower
(1882), the first group of texts examined reveal the orientation of the “alien within,” a
cosmological agoraphobia. This paper will examine the interior and exterior of this attitude,
that is, how much of it is really prompted by the inhumanly enormous size of the cosmos and
how much of it was there anyway, an alienation opportunistically projected onto the
astronomy of the time. Reactions against this posture, both humanistic and religious, are
related to the cross-currents of articles and reviews which surrounded their publication.
The second group of poetic responses to the vast size of the astronomical universe comes
from a younger generation of poets, writers who have grown up acquainted with the basics of
modern astronomy. This group includes writers as various as John Frederick Nims, whose
“Observatory Ode” (1978) mixes the two lovingly (“No heat like science and poetry when
they kiss”), and Diane Ackerman, whose planetary poems enfold the solar system in a loving
embrace. Other writers in this vein include Emily Grosholz (“Poems overheard at a
Conference on Relativity Theory”), Peter Dillingham (“Black Holes and Hologramarye”), and
Michael Collier (“The Heavy Light of Shifting Stars”). Then the paper moves to conclude
with even more current poets, like Jane Shore (“An Astronomer’s Journal”), and Pattiann
Rogers, whose insightful astronomical verse probes psychological reactions to the most recent
astronomical theories.
The discussion will shape and contextualize these writings as variations on a theme of
vastness, and conclude with the suggestion for a posture, an orientation, for both science
writing and lyric poetry in the coming century.
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A Journey of the Celestial Lights:
The Sky as Allegory in Melville’s Moby Dick
Daniel R. Matlaga
Arizona State University
Scholars have long sought a blueprint that cohesively ties together various events and
characters in Moby Dick; a “key” that will unlock its secrets and allow a greater
understanding of the novel. After 150 years, we have Melville’s key: the sky.
In his Ph.D. thesis, John F. Birk suggested that as the Pequod sails from one ocean to the next
in search of the great white whale, it sails through the twelve traditional constellations of the
zodiac. Birk identifies thirteen characters with zodiacal constellations, and a few nonzodiacal constellations with individual chapters.
However, Melville’s genius goes further in his use of astronomical phenomena than Birk
suggests. The Pequod leaves Nantucket at noon on 1838 December 25th, and is destroyed by
the white whale at sunset 1840 January 4th. His use of six of the nine “gams” or meetings
between the Pequod with other whale ships on the high seas provide the necessary planetary
data to precisely determine, for the first time, the year at sea. The white whale provides the
day of destruction and constellations the hour. Further, Melville was able to relate phases of
the moon, solar eclipses, comets, meteor showers, constellations, stars and other celestial
events of that year to story events, structure and characters.
Using this new understanding, one can see Moby Dick and indeed the sky as Herman Melville
did. No longer must it remain his “…most admired and least understood novel.”
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Old Theology, New Theology, and the Cosmos
In The Mystic Ark by Hugh of St. Victor
Conrad Rudolph
University of California, Riverside
Sometime around 1130, Hugh of St Victor wrote a treatise that is unique in the study of
medieval art, The Mystic Ark. Ignored until relatively recently because of the immense
difficulty of its text, this very widely read work is a fifty-six page description of the most
complex work of art from the entire Middle Ages (a painting also known as The Mystic Ark),
making both the text and the painting among the most unusual sources we have for an
understanding of medieval visual culture--including astronomical phenomena--and its
polemical context. Structured in the semblance of a "step-by-step" set of instructions for
reproducing the painting of The Mystic Ark--which depicts all of physical existence (the entire
cosmos, including the visually dominant images of the Signs of the Zodiac and the Twelve
Months), all of human history, and all of human learning--the purpose of the text was to
enable scholars and students to undertake discussions related to the current controversy over
the role of "scientific" learning in the education of the elite.
One of the great struggles of the twelfth century was that between the "old theology", an
experiential theology of blind faith which is best represented by traditional monasticism, and
the "new theology", a theology of inquiry whose faith was based on logic which is best
represented by Abelard and his circle. Among other things, these two parties argued over the
questions of to what degree worldly knowledge (the liberal arts) was permissible in the search
for spiritual knowledge, and whether the greatest proponents of worldly knowledge (the
pagan philosophers) should be studied. The question is, then, why would Hugh, who never
discusses cosmic or macro/microcosmic theories to any degree in vast body of his
pedagogical writings--and who was openly opposed to the "new theology"--give such a
visually predominant place to the cosmos in his highly theoretical painting? Traditionally, art
historians have seen depictions of the Zodiac and Months as references to the passage of
divine and human time, and little more. But it seems that Hugh intended a meaning for these
particular astrological forms which has, I believe, never been observed before. In this talk, I
will discuss the role of the cosmos and its astronomical phenomena in the ideological context
of The Mystic Ark and the current controversy over scientific learning. In particular, I will
examine this major statement of Hugh's position as an attempt to leave the rejection of secular
learning and logic of the "old theology" behind while at the same time co-opting the
intellectual basis of the "new theology", thus attempting to prevent the "new theology" from
claiming this prestigious intellectual position exclusively as its own.
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Astronomical Intuitions in the Poetic Works of Robinson Jeffers
Ronald P. Olowin
St. Mary’s College
Robinson Jeffers is considered one of the few twentieth-century poets who include
contemporary scientific astronomical observations and theory as not merely an image vehicle
but as an interpretive element in their work. He uses scientific terminology and refers to
what were advanced theories regarding the nature of the universe and humankind's place in it.
It is suggested that his brother, an astronomer working at the Lick Observatory, may have
been the source and stimulant for his inspiration and ruminations on the mysteries of the
cosmos. Jeffers' use of these astronomical ideas lends a potent veracity to his work as he
develops a poetic response to the cosmological revolution let by Einstein and Hubble. For
example:
We know the stars, hotter and more fatal than earth;
we have learned lately the fire-wheel galaxies,
Infinite in number or all but infinite,
among which our great sun's galaxy's
Flight is as a gnat's, one grain of sand in the Sahara:
it is necessary to stretch our minds
To these dimensions . . .
("Not Solid Earth" 4:538)
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Myth, ritual and festivals
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The Festival of Lammas
Ronald Hutton
University of Bristol
The feast which opened the month of August ought to have been the most remarkable and
magical of the festivals of ancient Europe, because its season is most suited to outdoor
revelry. Instead it has become a conundrum to historians and folklorists, in which many
difficult issues meet: the concept of the study of folk customs as pagan survivals, the notion
of a 'Celtic' cultural province covering much of Europe, and the functional interpretation of
traditional seasonal rites. This paper wades resolutely into the lot, to celebrate the fruits of
three decades' crop of revisionism.
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Astronomy and the Sacred Landscape in Irish Myth
Ronald Hicks
Ball State University
The abundant tales from Irish myth recorded in manuscripts dating from the seventh century
onward make frequent references to the calendrical festivals that mark the changing of the
seasons in the ancient agricultural cycle. They also feature a number of gods whose
characteristics suggest they are associated with the sky, particularly the sun and moon. And
there are references to days on which the sun is stopped in the sky or that last far beyond the
usual limits. By themselves, these references only suggest a concern with astronomy.
However, the tales also detail a sacred landscape, telling where the gods live and describing
their adventures and journeys. When the sites mentioned are identified and their relationships
examined in conjunction with their role in the stories, it becomes apparent that the sacred
landscape reflects the astronomical concerns the stories imply. Interestingly, a number of the
sites mentioned, some dating to the Neolithic, are far older than the stories, also suggesting a
continuity of astronomical knowledge and belief over a period of at least three thousand
years. This paper will present several examples illustrating these relationships of astronomy,
myth, and the landscape and describing the roles these play in the belief system and early
Irish culture.
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The Material of the Solid Sky and its Traces in Cultures
Barbara Rappenglück
Independent Scholar, Gilching-Geisenbrunn, Germany
The solid sky-vault is a concept, which is well-documented in myths, folklore and fairy-tales
from all over the world. According to this idea the sky consists of firm material such as stone,
rock-crystal, glass, or metal. Sometimes pieces of the sky break off and fall down to the
earth, or shamans climb up to the sky to fetch pieces of the sky’s material.
The most well-known inspirations for such ideas were meteorites. From numerous cultures
the veneration of meteorites and the use of the meteorites’ material in cultic contexts has been
handed down to us. Concerning other materials like rock-crystal or, e.g., lapis lazuli, the idea
of their celestial origin was inspired by their color or, in the case of special fossils, by their
star-like appearance. Because of their supposed celestial origin such objects were worshipped
and regarded as very powerful instruments for several purposes: they were used for divination
and meditation, for healing, as well as for the repulse of harm, etc.
In this talk, I will give an introduction to the concept of the solid sky and its material. On the
basis of examples from different cultures it will be shown, how the idea of the celestial origin
of these materials had influenced their interpretation and use in a religious context.
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Die Planetentheorie: its uses and meanings for Saxon mining
communities and the culture of the Dresden Court 1553-1719
Sarah Richards
Manchester Metropolitan University
A significant feature of the early Bergbüchlein - the central European miners' practical and
spiritual guide to their means of livelihood - is the relationship between their underground
world, and the heavenly bodies in the night sky. On the one hand the stars and planets
provided the miners with a subterranean form of navigation, determining the position of the
metal and mineral lodes. On the other hand, the influence of the planets in particular, die
Planetentheorie, was perceived to enhance the 'growth' of metals in the corresponding
darkness underground, to that of the night sky above.
Silver mines first brought wealth to the Saxon territories in the heart of the German Holy
Roman Empire in the eleventh century. As the significance of these deposits began to decline
in the sixteenth century, other metals gained in importance, especially tin, copper, lead, and
cobalt. When the Elector August I succeeded his father in 1553, he was alert to the political
and economic potential of these resources, and took care to nurture the development of
mining in Saxony. He also began to exploit the rich symbolic potential of this source of
wealth in the court festivals and parades held to mark outstanding events in the Saxon court
calendar.
In this paper, the symbolic importance of mining and the solar system is considered in the
context of elite culture, that of the major Saxon court festivals, ending with the 'Saturnfest' of
1719, and in the mining communities of the Erzgebirge region to the southwest of Dresden. It
does so with regard to issues raised by the conflict between the development of improved
empirical knowledge about mining and metallurgy, an enhanced understanding of the solar
system, and that of the continued attachment to alchemical theory and practice.
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The Night of Falling Stars:
Reading the 1833 Leonid Meteor Storm
Brad Ricca
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland
In "A Lincoln Reminiscence," Walt Whitman shares a story of a young Abe Lincoln being
asked, early during the Civil War, if he had lost confidence in the ultimate survival of the
Union. According to Whitman, Lincoln responded with an anecdote:
"When I was a young man in Illinois," said he, "I boarded for a time with a Deacon of
the Presbyterian church. One night I was roused from my sleep by a rap at the door, &
I heard the Deacon's voice exclaiming 'Arise, Abraham, the day of judgment has come!'
I sprang from my bed & rushed to the window, and saw the stars falling in great
showers! But looking back on them in the heavens I saw all the grand old constellations
with which I was so well acquainted, fixed and true in their places. Gentlemen, the
world did not come to an end then, nor will the Union now." (1072)
The astronomical event Lincoln witnessed was the Leonid meteor storm of 1833, a massive
meteor shower seen by most of the western hemisphere. Accounts of eyewitness reaction
were numerous, with another account appearing in the New York Sun a day later:
An amiable young woman, daughter of a respectable merchant in Canal Street, while
witnessing the atmospherical phenomenon, swooned, and was carried to her chamber.
She soon recovered, however, but appeared very much dejected. She had become
impressed with the belief that the phenomenon was prognosticative of the dissolution
of all things, which so preyed on her mind as to cause her death. (Sun 13 Nov. 1833)
These two disparate reactions illustrate an example of the methods (and problems) of
understanding the sky at this time; specifially, at a time when there was no real accepted
scientific definition of what a shooting star was. Because of this fact (or lack thereof), the
1833 Leonids provide a rich example of how methods of reading the sky vie for both personal
and public acceptance. Finding solace in the unmoved "facts" of the "grand old
constellations," Lincoln considers the comets as passing anomalies, trusting that "there must
be some cause" for them which makes sense in the greater (albeit unknown) scheme of things.
But sadly, the opposing reading of the event proves to be just as powerful. Like the Deacon,
the nameless (perhaps by design) woman of Canal Street sees only the end of all things. And
these signs she reads are quite powerful - within days she is dead, reportedly "impressed" by
the doomsday in her head and the power of the signs she has witnessed. And since the world
doesn't end (the Sun Times itself lives to print another edition) the woman is portrayed via its
alarming, anonymous text as foolish: both as the "amiable," uneducated (in terms of her
specious reasoning) daughter of a "merchant," and as the helpless victim ("impressed,"
"preyed") of an Apocalypse the rest of the public is spared. The print paints her as oddly
tragic, worthy only of our skepticism and sympathy.
Such differing readings of the same sky compete against each other on the night of the 1833
Leonids as amateur astronomers attempt to understand the staggering display above them.
What's being tested on that awful night of 1833 is not only the powers of science to help
explain the unknown phenomenon, but also the role of the poetic imagination in its subjective
apprehension. By examining numerous, first-hand accounts of the 1833 Leonid Storm, I hope
to further unravel the subtle symbolic and historical relationship between metaphor and
science as they meet -- inevitably – in the skies above.
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Hunting the European Sky Bears: Reflections of Ursine Cosmology,
Beliefs in English Mummers’ Plays and Pyrenean Basque
Performances
Ros Frank
University of Iowa
The Great Bear constellation is classified as belonging to the most archaic strata of the star
figures known to European peoples (Gingerich 1984). Although previously in Europe no
archaic set of stories connected to the Sky Bear had been clearly identified, extensive field
work in the Basque region has revealed a cycle of tales and related ritual performances
dealing with the adventures of an archetypal hero, Hartz-Kume, the Bear Son (linked
symbolically with both Ursa Major and Ursa Minor). The half-human, half-bear main
character functions as a shaman-apprentice who undertakes an astrally-coded vision quest
(Frank & Arregi 2001). Variants of the Bear Son saga and related ritual practices have been
documented across Europe (Frank 1996, 1998, 2000, 2001; Glosecki 1989; Praneuf 1989;
Stitt 1992). For example, the hero’s adventures are linked those of Juan el Osito, Jeun l’Ours,
Giovanni l’Orso, Hans Bär and Ivanuska.. The stories hearken back to an earlier panEuropean ecocentric cosmovision and the belief that humans descended from bears. The
ursine genealogy is directly linked to a set of prophylactic performance pieces called ‘Good
Luck Visits’ which include a cast of masked figures, musicians, accompanied by a ‘dancing
bear’ shaman-healer, often represented as a ‘Strawbear’ (cf. Halpert & Story 1969; Frank
2001; Vukanovic 1959)
These traditional performances contain temporally condensed versions of the Bear Son’s
ritual journey, that is, exteriorizations of the message of mutual reciprocity and spiritual well
being embodied in the tales. The paper will focus first on European variants of these
performance pieces, specifically, comparisons will be made between the Pyrenean
performances, called Maskaradak, and those found in England, e.g. St. George dramas along
with the English Mummers’ Play and ‘Morris Dances’, keeping in mind that the strong
similarities holding between the English performances and the Pyrenean ones have been noted
previously by the renowned English folklorist Violet Alford (1928, 1930, 1931, 1937, 1978),
although without her recognizing the centrality of the ursine, astral cosmology linked to the
folk plays (cf. also Caro Baroja 1965; Halpert 1969; Miles 1912). Finally, this study will
conclude with an examination the older ecocentric, hetarchical value system found in the
astrally-coded ontology that undergirds these modern day sociocosmic practices (Frank &
Susperregi 2001; Frank forthcoming).
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Poster sessions (alphabetical by author)
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ELLIPSIS, exploring the ideas of spatiality, materiality and frontiers
– a reading of space, in the work of the Italian artist, Lucio Fontana.
Marea Atkinson
University of South Australia, South Australian School of Art
The provocative and violent gestures of the Italian artist Lucio Fontana, (1899 -1968) who in
the 1950’s and 1960’s started to cut and puncture his canvases, can be viewed as a
performative act to break the Western traditions of the flat picture plane and to unsettle the
dominance of Christian symbolism, (the cut being associated with the wound of Christ),
(Whitfield).
Fontana, was compelled to break with traditions and allied an ambiguous link with the Space
Era, aligning the slashes and holes in his canvases with the creation of an infinite dimension
corresponding with the cosmos. He created ambient installations to fuse environment, art and
architecture. In his writing, in the 1952 document titled Why I am spatial, he predicted ‘a
future art based on the evolution of the medium in art, lights, neon, television, radar’. (Lucio
Fontana, Exhibition Catalogue 1986).
From an astronomical view, the deep slit into blackness, (photographs taken of his work in his
studio) reveal an extraordinary visual nexus through the picture plane into the notion of outer
space. Other more earth-bound interpretations of his work describe the slit as a performative
act on western art, the holy wound as influenced from funerary art, as a sexual form, others
describe his work as kitsch, and its connection to base materialism. Some writers argue that
his work failed to integrate with space, perhaps this is linked to some of the perplexing issues
of being able to imagine deep space.
This speculative paper covers some of the interpretations of Fontana’s work with spatial
concepts, materialism, the positioning of art and the Space Era, with reference to writings by
and on Fontana, public media, photography, and reflections on time and space.
Also:
Exhibition Project # 1. The Shard Series
A body of artwork exhibited by Marea Atkinson
Exhibition Project # 2 – The Space Project 2.
The Space Project 2 will be a suite of prints and texts by members of the South Australian
School of Art Printmaking Studio at the University of South Australia. Exploring individual
interpretations on art, space and interpretation of space, curated by Marea Atkinson with
sponsorship from the Magnani Paper company in Italy.
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Cigarette and Trade Card Astronomy
Martin Beech
Campion College, The University of Regina,
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada S4S 0A2
Of the many hundreds of Cigarette and Trade card sets that have been issued since circa 1900
just a rare few deal with the subject of astronomy, but it is upon these that we wish to
concentrate. The cards are literally a pictorial history of early 20th century popular astronomy
and a summary of what ‘everyone’ was supposed to have known about the heavens. The
various astronomy card sets not only provide us with a overview of the development of
astronomical thought, but they also offer us some insight into the evolution of how scientific
ideas are presented to non-specialist audiences. In my talk I will examine the evolution of the
pictorial and textual representations of astronomical ideas, and I will explore how the concept
of what constitutes ‘popular’ astronomy has changed during the past century.
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Exhibit: Bringing the Heavens to Earth
Marvin Bolt
Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, Chicago
The exhibit is an existing one that opened in March 2002 with the helpful input of Rolf
Sinclair, Ed Krupp, Tony Aveni, Clive Ruggles, and others. It portrays dozens of cultural
astronomies from around the world, organized around a theme with 3 variations: how people
have used the sky to meet physical, social, and spiritual needs. We have examples spanning
centuries and from each continent (not Antarctica, though - we decided we would stay away
from contemporary astronomy, for various reasons) represented through images, video, and
interactives. We believe that we have succeeded in bringing astronomy and its history into
interdisciplinary classroom projects, as well as providing a different type of experience for
planetarium visitors.
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New Frontiers in Space as Reflected in a New Series of Paintings
Elen Feinberg
University of New Mexico
Contrary to what C.P. Snow once said about the "two" cultures of modern Western society,
art and science need not be opposed to one another. Indeed, I am striving to strike a new if
very subtle balance between art and science in my paintings by drawing on certain aspects on
nature that have seldom if ever before been the subject of artworks. Perhaps because of their
very "abstractness", telescopic glimpses of the stellar sphere have almost never been
employed as material for the arts even as the new application of technology to studying the
heavens have opened up ever new horizons. It is precisely the dramatic, even "sublime," new
frontier of space disclosed by the most current technological advances that I wish to use as a
point of departure for my new series of paintings.
Over the past decade, enormous advances have been made in refining instruments which
produce high definition imagery all of which could lead to the innovative creation of images
in the visual arts. These instruments range from high-powered electron microscopes capable
of scanning infinitesimal particles to television cameras mounted on satellites that flash
images back to us from the cosmos. These technological refinements have resulted in the
production of images which are at once utterly specific and remarkably abstract. My
presentation will focus on the results of my research as viewed through my paintings.
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Greek Constellations in Thales’ Times - Suggesting an astronomical
reading of the animal friezes on archaic Greek vase painting
Raimondo Ferrario
Crema, Italy
There is a close resemblance between many figures of the animal friezes on archaic Greek
vases and the names of the constellations offered by Mesopotamian astronomical texts. In my
study I suggest we should read the animal friezes figures of the Orientalizing Period as
representing constellations, according to indications provided by MUL.APIN and filling the
gaps of still “obscure” images (i.e. sphinx, siren and griffin) with logical associations mainly
derived from their collocations in Greek literature.
The so collected clues, have later been tested with an astronomical software (SkyMap Pro8),
to show the presence of peculiar celestial configurations on given dates. The schemes that
emerged seem to be connected to the heliacal rising, setting or culmination of those asterisms
about a month after the summer solstice, when Sirius had its heliacal rising. A date often
found in Greek calendars as characteristic of the beginning of the year. Another emphasized
date seems to be the winter solstice. These results coincide with what we already know about
the early Greek astronomical observations.
To demonstrate my thesis, after a brief introduction and a note on method, the posters will be
completed with pictures of some vases and graphs (celestial maps) as examples. A brief essay
by the author and small copies of the posters will be freely placed at the disposal of the
attendees.
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Paris Solstice
Deborah Garwood
Visual Artist and Writer, New York
Paris Solstice is a visual art project touching on themes of history, society, astronomy, and
technology. Research and travel for two papers I undertook in 2000 and 2001 were the
unintentional beginnings of Paris Solstice. This new series of about images in color process,
gelatine silver, and digital formats merges two different sets of photographs: views over the
rooftops of Paris and photographs of 19th century scientific tables. My ongoing interest in
aesthetic, documentary, and conceptual aspects of photography is reflected in Paris Solstice.
http://home.earthlink.net/~dagarwood
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Moon Studies
Sharon Harper
Ohio Universitty
Some time ago as an Artist in Residence at the Headlands Center for the arts in Sausalito,
California I began photographing and video taping the full moon, the night sky and the ocean
illuminated by the full moon. What began as an intuitive exploration of the abstract qualities
of the moonlit natural world has developed into a ritualized body of work. Each month during
the full moon I plan a trip to the nearest ocean with a video camera or a 4 x 5 camera and
make work using moonlight. These Moon Studies are a continuation of previous bodies of
work I¹ve made that also explore a sense of grandeur evoked by the natural world. Two of
these bodies of work, Flug (Flight) and Moonfall (As Imagined by the Off-Duty Ferryman
Charon in Flight over the River Styx) were the subject of a solo exhibition last year at the
Whitney Museum of American Art. Moonfall, an installation of various-size, toned, aerial
photographs of clouds, led directly to my interest in photographing the night sky. The
Moonfall photographs are black and white photographs toned different colors in chemical
baths to create a dark, muted ‘twilit’ tonal range that looks like moonlight. It was a logical
step to begin using the moon as a light source.
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Ancient Cosmology in Contemporary Fiction: Umberto Eco’s
Foucault’s Pendulum and Island of the Day Before
Charles W. Leming and Paula S. Leming
Henderson State University
Modern science fiction ordinarily depicts settings populated by scientists and featuring the
technological fruit of scientific labor. The two science-based mysteries by Umberto Eco
considered here are based instead on influences of science in early modern times. Both
novels intermingle ideas from early science with older notions of magic and the occult. For
example, in Foucault’s Pendulum the transmission of ancient Celtic and Mediterranean
magical schema by underground religious orders is disrupted by the belated adoption of the
Gregorian Calendar in England. As part of the seventeenth century setting of Island of the
Day Before, the mystery of the longitude is investigated not only through accurate
timekeeping and various astronomical observations, but also by invoking sympathetic magic.
This paper describes the elements of early scientific thought and practice upon which the
novels are based and explores the relationship between pre-scientific magical thinking and
science of early modern times as developed in Eco’s fictional yet scholarly accounts.
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Trailing the Paper Moon: Astronomical Interpretations
of Exodus 12:1-2
Andrea D. Lobel
McGill University, Canada
This poster presentation will trace the historical interpretive arc inspired by Exodus 12:1-2
and its commandment to observe the new moon and keep a calendar. An examination of
religious sensibilities as filtered through the prism of these two Bible verses, this presentation
will outline manifold interpretations found in Jewish and early Christian literature from the
Biblical era through medieval times. The literary sources to be examined will span the poetic
and fanciful sensibility of Midrash, the magical and literary bent of the Pseudepigrapha, as
well as the thematic reframing of lunar motifs in the Patristic literature. Other religious and
literary writings to be summarized will include those of ancient Jewish commentators such as
the Tannaim, Amoraim and later Medieval thinkers, as well as those of the Church Fathers
and Biblical faith groups such as the Samaritans. Throughout, the emphasis will be upon
understanding the interpretive literary trajectory of these verses, as well as upon the light
these religious, calendrical and astronomical interpretations have shed upon the writers¹
changing understanding of humanity¹s place in the cosmos.
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Viking Constellations
Martin Lunn
Astronomy Curator, Yorkshire Museum
One of the finest of the early sea faring nations, the Vikings or Norse people have left
virtually no record of their knowledge of their constellations (more properly called
“asterisms” in contemporary nomenclature) and star names.
The Vikings suddenly appeared around the year 800 CE with raids on monasteries and coastal
towns in Britain, Ireland, Normandy, and Brittany. Yet these Norse people who would go on
to explore vast parts of the World from Europe to Iceland, Greenland, and America, did so by
means of their superb navigational skills using the Sun and stars.
They had, like other civilizations, their own legends and myths. However, while most other
civilizations left details of their legends that can be seen in the form of star patterns or
asterisms, the Vikings appear not to have done so. While researchers have stumbled across a
few tantalizing references to star names and asterisms, the Norse peoples left very few written
records as theirs was an oral tradition. This circumstance makes it very difficult in obtaining
an overall picture of the appearance of their asterisms.
The preponderance of the information about Viking sky lore has been obtained from sources
in 13th century Iceland, some 500 years after the first Vikings appeared there. There are
suggestions that some of the names given to bright stars and asterisms by the Vikings were
due to influences from the Arab world after the former encountered Arabic astronomers
during the 10th century.
Eventually, I hope that my own research will allow me to present a Viking star map, showing
how it compared with a more traditional Greek representation of the night sky.
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The Century the Sky Disappeared: Changing Perceptions of the
Heavens During the Pagan/Christian Transition
Sean McClachlan, Arizona
Almudena Alonso-Herrero, Steward Observatory, Arizona
In the late 4th century A.D., the Roman official Claudius Mamertinus, complaining about
conditions under the Christian Emperor Constantius II, said paganism was so persecuted that
farmers and sailors neglected to study the sky for fear of being mistaken for pagans. Even
leaving room for exaggeration---Mamertinus was writing to Constantius' pagan successor,
Julian---the statement carries a ring of truth. Constantius was the son of the Emperor
Constantine, who in 313 made Christianity a legal and favored religion. Paganism was
tolerated during Constantine's reign, but Constantius II destroyed the old temples and banned
non-Christian rituals.
In the previous two centuries, pagans increasingly looked to the sky for religious symbolism.
Mithraism, the most widespread mystery religion of the time and a major competitor with
early Christianity, used the zodiac as a vital part of its theology. Even Constantine worshipped
the Sun God during his youth and tried to fuse its worship with Christianity. The sun appeared
next to the cross in many of his coins. As Christianity became dominant, however, such
symbolism was seen as suspect. During the late 4th century, astrologers were banned and
study of the night sky was discouraged as it was feared to cause pagan thoughts. Scholars and
laymen alike changed from viewing the sun, moon, planets and stars as visible manifestations
of the divine to distant and irrelevant objects or, worse, temptations of the Devil.
There are few studies of the heavens written in the 5th or 6th centuries, the first 200 years of
Christian dominance. This lull in astronomy allowed later investigators to look at the sky with
a new eye. Although astrology survived, the majority of early Christian astronomy was
dedicated to a more secular, if not rationalistic, course of study. Thus the rapid transition
from a pagan to a Christian mindset led to a fundamental break in perceptions of the sky.
In this paper, we will look at the historical and artistic record to study changes in perception
of the sky during the pagan/Christian transition. We will also study contemporary accounts to
observe shifts in opinion during the Late Antique period.
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Space Art Before Space Flight
Ron Miller (in absentia)
Black Cat Studios
A collection of images of the worlds of our solar system as visualized by artists from the 19th
century to the early 1960s. These represent not only the evolution of astronomical painting
itself, but are a visual record of science's increasing knowledge of the planets. Included are
the first tentative attempts by artists who had no special knowledge of astronomy as well as
examples by later artists who made a specialty of creating planetary scenes and worked
closely with astronomers and other scientists. Over all, the exhibit demonstrates the genuinely
symbiotic relationship between astronomy and the arts.
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The Cultural Appreciation of Astronomy in the Nineteenth Century:
'the great moon hoax' in Europe 1835-1840
Ben Peperkamp
University of Utrecht
During the final week of August 1835, a long article appeared in serial form on the front page
of the New York Sun. It bore the headline:
GREAT ASTRONOMICAL DISCOVERIES LATELY MADE BY SIR JOHN HERSCHEL,
L.L.D. F.R.S. &c. At the Cape of Good Hope
[From Supplement to the Edinburgh Journal of Science]
The article began by triumphantly listing a series of stunning astronomical breakthroughs that
the famous British astronomer Sir John Herschel, had apparently made "by means of a
telescope of vast dimensions and an entirely new principle." Herschel, the article declared,
had established a "new theory of cometary phenomena"; he had discovered planets in other
solar systems; and he had "solved or corrected nearly every leading problem of mathematical
astronomy." Then, almost as if it were an afterthought, the article revealed Herschel's final,
stunning achievement: he had discovered life on the moon.
Much has been said about the reception of the news in America, which appeared to be entirely
false. There had been no attention for the problems concerning the reception in Europe,
although several translations of the items in the New York Sun were published (in Italian,
French, Irish and Spanish) and European literary writers reflected on the implications of
'extrateressational moonlife' in their own articles.
In my INSAP-contribution I'll discuss some of the problems - what has been discussed and
why? – to understand more of the cultural appreciation and representation of astronomy in
nineteenth-century Europe (and the Netherlands in particular).
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Borromini and the New Astronomy
Valerie Shrimplin
Evidence of interest in astronomical symbolism appears in much of the work of the Baroque
architect Francesco Borromini (1599-1667), in individual decorative motifs as well as his
overall architectural designs. Astronomical themes are evident, such as the inclusion of stars
as decoration on the dome at S Ivo della Sapienza or the depiction of a sun symbol on his
drawing for the Baldacchino at St Peter’s in Rome. The former appears to relate to the
established tradition of the dome as a reflection of natural eye observation of the universe (of
earth surmounted by the ‘dome of heaven’) and the latter to concepts of sun and light
symbolism that were popular during the Italian Renaissance. Traditional influences derived
from classical Roman architecture and Italian Renaissance art are evident in Borromini’s
work but, by the seventeenth century, the scientific relationships between nature and
mathematics were becoming ever more significant in art and architectural design. Borromini’s
dramatic designs often reflect such scientific interests, being based on manipulations of
triangles, circles, ellipses and other geometrical figures, which may well relate to major
scientific writings of the age by Galileo and Kepler, that were much studied in intellectual
circles in Rome in the early seventeenth century. Borromini’s major architectural schemes
reflect such thinking for, although his design for S Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, for example,
was said to reflect artistic anarchy in overthrowing the accepted classical rules of architecture,
the apparently extravagant Baroque design is actually based on mathematical precision and
seventeenth century scientific developments. In particular, the enormous changes in world
view, cosmology and astronomy appear to have had an effect on his work. The use of the
elliptical dome is a key feature of Baroque architecture yet an explanation for the preference
of architects like Borromini for elliptical rather than circular/hemispherical domes appears
incomplete. Seventeenth century scientific developments challenged many classical and
humanist precepts, such as the abandonment of perfection of the circular form in favour of
Kepler’s elliptical orbits as the basis for the structure of the universe - and it seems unlikely to
be a coincidence that that the predilection for elliptical domes in ecclesiastical architecture
comes in at about the same time as Kepler.
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The Bronze Age Sky Disc of Nebra, Germany: its Interpretation as
an Icon for the Moving World-soul as described in the Timaeus of
Plato
Burkard Steinrücken
Public Observatory and Planetarium of Recklinghausen
The recently discovered Sky Disc of Nebra is one of the earliest representations of the night
sky with concrete astronomical content. The site of this important find lies on the mountain
Mittelberg near the town Nebra at the river Unstrut in central Germany (51° 17´ N, 11° 32´
E). The hilltop was enclosed by a circular bank with a wooden palisade structure. The
preliminary date is 1600 BC. The archaeological and archaeoastronomical results so far are
published on the official website of the State Museum of Prehistory of Saxony - Anhalt in
Halle (www.archlsa.de/sterne).
Astronomical evidence connects the site to some of the symbolic representations on the disc.
The sunset on the summer solstice day occurs behind the famous and legendary mountain
Brocken and on May 1st the sun sets behind the highest mountain of the Kyffhäuser Forrest.
The angular span of the two golden segments (one is missing now) on the edge of the disc can
be interpreted as the eastern and western horizon sectors. They cover an angle of 82.7°, which
is the annual solar swing between the two solstitial points for the latitude of Saxony-Anhalt.
The meaning of the other symbols is not clear. The disc shows the night sky but without
concrete constellations except the structure of seven closer stars, widely interpreted as the
Plejades, because of the vicinity of this star cluster to the ecliptic and the vernal point in the
bronze age and its therefore high calendrical significance. The `central gold disc´ could be the
sun or the full moon, the `crescent symbol´ could mean the lunar crescent, but also the
partially eclipsed moon or sun. Most enigmatic is the bowlike symbol on the edge, which has
so far been interpreted as a `ship´ crossing the sky form the eastern to the western horizon, the
Milky Way or a rainbow. In this poster presentation a completely different interpretation of
this ornament and the whole disc is given.
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Significant Solar Sites Celebrating the Solstice - June 21/22
Maelee Thomson Foster
School of Architecture, University of Florida
A number of prehistoric sites designed to celebrate the Summer Solstice(and the June 21/22,
Winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere) are explored visually in this presentation. This is
part of an ongoing investigation of how specific design determinants, such as orientation to
solar, lunar, and other cosmic events, were utilized by ancient builders in their placemaking.
The photographic documentation with accompanying text will be included in a forthcoming
publication, Prehistoric Placemaking: A Designer’s Search for Cultural Meaning and the Site
Significance of Place. Images will include the following examples of Prehistoric
Placemaking: Callanish Stones (Isle of Lewis), Stonehenge (1984 with participants), Ring of
Brodgar, Stenness Stones, Skara Brae (Orkney Islands) U.K., Sacsahuaman and Machu
Picchu (Peru), Kalasasaya, Tiwanaku (Bolivia), Pyramid of the Sun,Teotihuacan, and
Calakmul Maya,(Mexico), Tikal and Uaxactun Maya (Guatemala), Mnajdra and Hagar Qim
(Malta), Cahokia, Serpent Mound, Fort Ancient and Spiro Mound, (Moundbuilders-U.S.A.)
Casa Grande-Hohokam (Arizona,U.S.A.) Hovenweep Anasazi (Utah, U.S.A.) Casa
Rinconada and Fajada Butte Chaco Canyon (NewMexico, U.S.A).
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Index of participants (alphabetical) with abstract page number if applicable
author
Abstract page
Aakhus
Allen
Alonso-Herrero
Atkinson
Ballone
Baugh
Beech
Belenkiy
Bennett
Bolt
Brewer
Butterworth
Campion
Caudano
Chapman
Chapman-Rietschi
Cole
Davison
Feinberg
Ferrario
Flores
Frank
Garwood
Girardot
Gondhalekar
Gordon
Gridley
Gropp
Harper
Hatch
Hawkins
Heilbron
Henry
Hicks
53
68
94
84
68
Observer
85
57
Guest speaker
86
44
26
28
66
23
36
37
Observer
87
88
24
82
89
42
Observer
Observer
67
60
90
65
5465
48
43
78
Higginbottom
Hingley
Hoving
Hutchison
Hutton
Impey
Knappenberger P
Knappenberger N
Kollerstrom
Lebeuf
Leming C
Leming P
Likos Ricci
Lippincott
Lobel
Lunn
Madacsi
Matlaga
McCluskey
McLachlan
Miller
Murdin
Observer
33
51
35
77
45
Observer
Observer
34
69
91
91
49
32
92
93
41
73
71
94
95
63
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Nell
North
Oberti
Olowin
Pankenier
Peperkamp
Pitts
Poss
Rappenglück
Ricca
Richards
Rowan
Rudolph
Ruggles
Saslaw
Schmidl
Shrimplin
Sinclair
Stein
Steinhoefel
Steinrücken
Thomson Foster
Tiede
van Gent
Wells
White J
White R
Wilder
Wright
Observer
39
29
75
27
96
Guest speaker
72
79
81
80
Observer
74
61
46
40
97
Observer
59
25
98
99
54
50
64
30, 52
Observer
Observer
58
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