The Power of Stars - How Celestial Observations Have Shaped Civilization - SOLD OUT

Dr. Penprase will describe the variety of constellations, cosmologies and calendars from cultures around the world and through the centuries. Using a wide variety of works and visualizations drawing from both ancient and modern astronomy, Dr. Penprase presents a visual feast of astronomy, with constellation maps, aerial views of aligned celestial structures, and images of the universe as created by a wide range of cultures. We will learn about the legends and sky watching practices that developed as ancient people took note of the motions of the sun and moon across the sky and on the horizon. From there, Dr. Penprase will give us an overview of constellations from the perspective of a wide variety of cultures, including the ancient Chinese, Egyptian, Hawaiian, Native American Chumash and Navajo tribes, the Inuit culture, and also covers the Southern skies, such as the Aboriginal Australians and the Incan cultures. The wide variety of descriptions of the early universe, the structure of the physical universe from ancient Greek, Egyptian, Chinese, Babylonian, Mayan and other cultures are explained and illustrated with original art. This lecture will provide a unique wide angle lens to the many ways that society understands and describes the stars, and in the process explores how that process reveals universal qualities of humankind.

Speaker: Bryan Penprase, Prof. of Astronomy, Dept of Physics and Astronomy, Ponoma College