Short resource list for Astronomy program

If you would like to do a little background research for our upcoming Astronomy program on Oct. 2-3, but don't have a lot of time, here is a short list of resources in a variety of formats that you might find helpful.

Thomas S. Kuhn’s classic work, The Copernican Revolution: Planetary Astronomy in the Development of Western Thought (1957; currently in 24th printing; 297 pp) recreates the historical context within which new astronomical concepts and observations battled for acceptance, eventually changing the way man perceived his place in the universe. Owen Gingerich takes an unusual approach in The Book Nobody Read: Chasing the Revolutions of Nicolaus Copernicus (2004, 306 pp). He tracks down and physically examines the earliest copies of the book that started it all, Copernicus’ De Revolutionibus, to determine who read the book and how they reacted to its ideas (as revealed in marginal notes and comments). Dava Sobel’s popular Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love (1999, 420 pp; also available as audiobook) uses the surviving letters of his oldest child to create a more personal perspective on Galileo’s life and work. There are also two good PBS specials relevant to our program: Galileo’s Battle for the Heavens (Nova, 2002, 120 min.) and 400 Years of the Telescope (2009, 60 min.), both readily available from Netflix. PBS has also created a web site to provide additional educational materials related to its Galileo program.

Remember, if you purchase any of these materials (or any other products) using our referral link to Amazon, Humanities West receives a small percentage of your purchase price at no extra cost to you. A painless way to help support Humanities West.

What are the Humanities?

It often seems that "the Humanities" is an old-fashioned term that has lost its meaning in the modern world of highly specialized academic disciplines. It's interesting to see that Stanford University is making a conscious attempt to restore meaning and relevance to the term by creating umbrella resources on both the web and Facebook that try to consolidate and integrate the many different threads of Humanities-related activities at the University.

Stanford's web site, called The Human Experience, highlights the activities of 15 different academic departments, over 25 interdisciplinary programs, and over 30 research centers (including, of course, the Stanford Humanities Center, which works closely with Humanities West on many of our programs). Stanford has also created an excellent Facebook page, The Humanities at Stanford, that encompasses the same broad range of activity in a more dynamic environment.

So what are the Humanities? Stanford's web site defines it this way:
"The humanities can be described as the study of the myriad ways in which people, from every period of history and from every corner of the globe, process and document the human experience. Since humans have been able, we have used philosophy, literature, religion, art, music, history and language to understand and record our world. These modes of expression have become some of the subjects that traditionally fall under the humanities umbrella. Knowledge of these records of human experience gives us the opportunity to feel a sense of connection to those who have come before us, as well as to our contemporaries."

Check out these two resources, and let us know what you think.

Become a "fan" of Humanities West on Facebook

Humanities West has created a new Facebook Page.

Just click on the button labeled "Become a Fan" and the rest will take care of itself. It's an easy way to stay in touch and to share your ideas and your feedback with us and with other fans. It's also a great way to be notified of upcoming special events and special offers that are related to our regular programs.

Not currently a Facebook user? It's easy and it's free. You'll probably be surprised at how many of your friends and relatives are already part of the Facebook phenomenon. Just be careful. It can become somewhat addictive.