*************************************************************************** * * * ELEKTRONISCHE MITTEILUNGEN ZUR ASTRONOMIEGESCHICHTE * * * * Herausgegeben vom Arbeitskreis Astronomiegeschichte * * in der Astronomischen Gesellschaft * * * * Nr. 64, 9. November 2003 * * * * Redaktion: Wolfgang R. Dick und Hilmar W. Duerbeck * * * *************************************************************************** Inhalt ------ 1. Kolloquium ueber Johann Christoph Sturm 2. Symposium ueber Einstein und die Kunst 3. Commemorating the 375th birthday of Christiaan Huygens 4. 7th Oxford conference on archeoastronomy 5. Einstein archives available online 6. David A. King: New website on medieval astronomical instruments 7. Mohammad Bagheri: Sundial Group of the Thaqib Astronomical Society 8. Andrew S. Cook: The Great Arc: Exhibition of Mapping of India Danksagung Impressum ........................................................................... Item 1 EMA Nr. 64, 9. Nov. 2003 ........................................................................... Kolloquium ueber Johann Christoph Sturm --------------------------------------- Ein Festkolloquium zu Ehren von Johann Christoph Sturm (1635-1703) findet am 14./15. November 2003 in Hilpoltstein/Mittelfranken statt. Veranstalter ist das Cauchy-Forum-Nuernberg (CFN) e.V., Interdisziplinaeres Forum fuer Mathematik und ihre Grenzgebiete (www.Cauchy-forum-nuernberg.de), OStR Guenter Loeffladt, Wielandstrasse 13, D-90419 Nuenberg, Tel.: 0911-379935, Fax: 0911-337316, e-mail: cfn@fcl-nuernberg.de Geplanter Programmablauf (Aenderungen moeglich) Freitag, 14. November, Beginn: 19.00 Uhr Grussworte und Eroeffnung des Kolloquiums Einfuehrung OStD Guenter Loeffladt Festreferat Prof. em. Knut Radbruch, Universitaet Kaiserslautern Samstag, 15. November, Beginn: 9.00 Uhr Leitung/Moderation: Pierre Leich M.A., OStD Guenter Loeffladt, Cauchy-Forum-Nuernberg Zur Biographie von Johann Christoph Sturm (1635-1703) OStR Hans Gaab, Nuernberg Hilpoltstein zu Zeiten Johann Christoph Sturms Dr. Thomas Platz, Bamberg Johann Christoph Sturm und Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz Stefan Kratochwil, Universitaet Jena Sturms Theorie der wissenschaftlichen Methode Prof. Dr. Michael Albrecht, Universitaet Trier Sturms Eklektik bei Scheuchzer Dr. Michael Kempe, Max-Planck-Institut Frankfurt am Main Universalmathematik und Metaphysik bei Johann Christoph Sturm Prof. Dr. Ulrich Leinsle, Universitaet Regensburg Das Collegium experimentale sive curiosum und die Anfaenge experimenteller Naturwissenschaften im protestantischen Deutschland Dr. Gerhard Wiesenfeldt, Universitaet Jena Der Beitrag von Johann Christoph Sturm zur astronomischen Forschung Dr. Klaus-Dieter Herbst, Technische Universitaet Berlin Johann Christoph Sturm als Kalendermacher Dr. Klaus Matthaeus, Erlangen Auskuenfte/weitere Informationen: Hans Gaab Loebleinstr. 21 90409 Nuernberg Tel: 0911/362499 email: HansGaab@t-online.de Ausserdem: Sonderausstellung zu Johann Christoph Sturm in Hilpoltstein, Museum Schwarzes Ross Eroeffnung: Freitag, 18. Juli 2003 bis Jahresende taeglich (ausser Montags) geoeffnet. ........................................................................... Item 2 EMA Nr. 64, 9. Nov. 2003 ........................................................................... Symposium ueber Einstein und die Kunst -------------------------------------- Der Fachverband Geschichte der Physik der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft veranstaltet im Rahmen der Physikertagung (14.3.-19.3.2004) ein Symposium am 15. Maerz 2004 in Ulm "Einstein und die Kunst". Das Symposium soll sowohl das Verhaeltnis von Albert Einstein zur Kunst, als auch die Rezeption seines Lebens und Werkes in den unterschiedlichsten kuenstlerischen Sparten - von der Literatur ueber die Musik bis hin zur darstellenden und bildenden Kunst - behandeln. Vortragsanmeldungen mit einem maximal einseitigen Abstract oder Anfragen zur Tagung (inclusive Teilnahmeinteresse) sind mit Angabe der vollstaendigen Adresse des Einsenders (incl. e-mail oder Fax) bis zum 31. Oktober 2003 zu richten an: PD Dr. Dieter Hoffmann, MPI fuer Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Wilhelmstrasse 44, D-10117 Berlin Fon: 030/22667-117 Fax: 030/22667-299 e-mail: dh@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de [Quelle: Carsten Reinhardt an Mailing-Liste "Wissenschaftsgeschichte in Deutschland", oldenburg@listserv.ngate.uni-regensburg.de, 12.5.2003] ........................................................................... Item 3 EMA Nr. 64, 9. Nov. 2003 ........................................................................... Commemorating the 375th Birthday of Christiaan Huygens ------------------------------------------------------ Titan - From Discovery to Encounter International Conference to commemorate the 375th birthday of Christiaan Huygens, born 14 April 1629 Christiaan Huygens was one of the most respected leading European scientists in the 17th century. He was the first of what we would today call a "scientific director" of the Academie Francaise. One highlight in his carrier was the discovery of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, in 1655. FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT For ESA, the highlight of 2004 and early 2005 will be the arrival of the NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens spacecraft at Saturn and the release of the Huygens probe into the atmosphere of Titan. The aim of the conference is to bring together historians and space scientists to discuss: o Christiaan Huygens, the person, the scientist, his relations with other scientists in the 17th century, like Cassini, o Descartes, Newton, etc. o Observations of Saturn and its moons since the 17th century. o The Cassini-Huygens mission and the latest observations on the way to the encounter of Titan. Dates: 13 to 17 April 2004 Location: ESTEC Conference centre http://sci2.esa.int/huygens/conference/ Scientific Programme Committee (all to be confirmed) Dennis Matson (dmatson@jpl.nasa.gov) Cecille Ferrari (Cecile.Ferrari@cea.fr) Tobias Owen (owen@ifa.hawaii.edu) Fabrizio Bonoli (bonoli@bo.astro.it) Fokko Dijksterhuis (f.j.dijksterhuis@wmw.utwente.nl) Cees Grimbergen (grimberg@doge.nl) Albert van Helden (A.VanHelden@phys.uu.nl) Athena Coustenis (Athena.Coustenis@obspm.fr) Jean Pierre Lebreton (Jean-Pierre.Lebreton@esa.int) John Zarnecki (J.C.Zarnecki@open.ac.uk) Local Organising Committee Gonnie Elfering (Gonnie.Elfering@esa.int) Jean Pierre Lebreton (Jean-Pierre.Lebreton@esa.int) Clare Bingham (Clare.Bingham@esa.int) Henk Olthof (Henk.Olthof@esa.int) Programme The programme will consist of invited papers, contributed papers, and posters. The intention is to publish the proceedings in the ESA SP series. Tuesday 13 April (pm): Opening session Invited talks Musical intermezzos Video presentation of the Cassini-Huygens mission Wednesday 14 April: Christiaan Huygens, the person, scientist and his relationships with other scientists. Invited talk Contributing talks Invited birthday lecture Thursday 15 April (am): The Cassini-Huygens mission in historical perspective The contribution of Gerard P. Kuiper Invited talk Contributing talks Afternoon: excursion Conference dinner Friday 16 April Recent results of Saturn/Titan observations (ground- and space-based) and theoretical studies Invited talk Contributing talks Saturday 17 April Public outreach day Amateur astronomers' observations of Saturn and Titan Public lectures CONFERENCE FEE: 150 Euro for the entire conference covering, coffee breaks, excursions and conference dinner, conference bag, proceedings, sandwich lunch on the public outreach day. 35 Euro, students 10 Euro, for the public outreach day only, covering coffee breaks, sandwich lunch, conference bag and proceedings. SCHEDULE: 1st announcement: November 2002 Call for papers: April 2003 Deadline for paper submission: September 2003 Final Programme: December 2003 EXPRESSION OF INTEREST Please send e-mail to Henk.Olthof@esa.int [Source: Ron Baalke to HASTRO-L, The History of Astronomy Discussion Group, HASTRO-L@LISTSERV.WVU.EDU, 28 Jan 2003] ........................................................................... Item 4 EMA Nr. 64, 9. Nov. 2003 ........................................................................... 7th Oxford Conference on Archeoastronomy ---------------------------------------- This is to announce the public release of the website for the Seventh Oxford Conference on Archaeoastronomy, to be held from June 20-27, 2004 in Flagstaff, Arizona. The conference is being sponsored by a number of organizations, including the Museum of Northern Arizona, the Pueblo Grande Museum (Phoenix AZ), Lowell Observatory, the Coconino County Board of Supervisors, the City of Flagstaff - Flagstaff Cultural Partners, Northern Arizona University College of Arts & Sciences / Physics and Astronomy Department, the NAU-NASA Space Grant Program, and the Roden Crater Project. The Web site is being hosted by Lowell Observatory at the URL http://www.lowell.edu/Public/ox7/index.html On the Web site, you will find program information and instructions for submitting abstracts, as well as local information. Please direct all questions and correspondence regarding the conference to Oxford7@earthlink.net. On behalf of the Oxford 7 Local Organizing Committee, Jeffrey Hall Assistant Research Scientist Associate Director, Education and Special Programs Lowell Observatory Flagstaff, AZ 86001 ........................................................................... Item 5 EMA Nr. 64, 9. Nov. 2003 ........................................................................... Einstein Archives available online ---------------------------------- More than 900 scientific and nonscientific documents of one of the most influential intellects in the modern era, Albert Einstein, are available online for the first time. The Einstein Archives Online website, at http://www.alberteinstein.info will also be accompanied by an extensive database of archival information. It was launched on May 19 during a daylong symposium on his life and work, to be held at the American Museum of Natural History in New York (see: http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/einstein/) The new website is the result of an ambitious cooperative effort between the Albert Einstein Archives at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Einstein Papers Project at the California Institute of Technology. It enables access to some 3,000 high-quality digitized images. Thirty-nine documents are also provided (in PDF format) as they appear in The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein, published in German by Princeton University Press, with historical and scientific annotations in English; some of the documents are accompanied by English translations. An extensive archival database and finding aid allows for the direct searching and browsing of more than 40,000 records of Einstein and Einstein-related documents. These concern his scientific and nonscientific writings, his professional and personal correspondence, notebooks, travel diaries, personal documents, and third-party items. The website was developed in collaboration with the Information Technology and Photo-Reprography Departments of the Hebrew University's Jewish National & University Library (JNUL), the David and Fela Shapell Digitization Project at the JNUL, and with Princeton University Press. The archival database presents records for all items that have been edited and annotated by scholars, and that have appeared since 1987 in The Collected Papers. These include some 500 items that were not part of the original collection, but that were uncovered during the past 25 years. The eight volumes that are available so far contain Einstein's writings and correspondence from his youth to age 40. They include his major papers on the theory of special relativity, general relativity, the quantum theory of light and matter, as well as a wealth of lesser-known contributions to many aspects of science, education, international reconciliation, Zionism, and pacifism. Einstein's personal papers were bequeathed to the Hebrew University in his last will and testament of 1950. The Albert Einstein Archives has been housed at the Hebrew University's JNUL since 1982. The Einstein Papers Project at Caltech is a multidisciplinary research and editorial team engaged in the collection, selection, and scholarly annotation of The Collected Papers, an edition of 25 planned volumes of Einstein's writings and correspondence. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem was envisaged by its founders as a "university of the Jewish people." Its foundation stone was laid in 1918, and its doors opened in 1925. Today, its student body totals around 23,000 and its tenured academic faculty numbers 1,200. The university is Israel's leading academic center for research and postgraduate study. Founded in 1891, Caltech has an enrollment of some 2,000 students, and a faculty of about 280 professorial members, 65 research members, and some 560 postdoctoral scholars. Over the years, 30 Nobel Prizes and four Crafoord Prizes have been awarded to faculty members and alumni. The Jewish National & University Library is the central library of the Hebrew University and the national library of the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Founded in 1892 as a world center for the preservation of books relating to Jewish thought and culture, it assumed the additional functions of a general university library in 1920. [Source: Caltech News Release, May 14, 2003. Contact: Mark Wheeler, (626) 395-8733, wheel@caltech.edu] ........................................................................... Item 6 EMA Nr. 64, 9. Nov. 2003 ........................................................................... New website on medieval astronomical instruments ------------------------------------------------ By David A. King, Frankfurt am Main, Germany There is now an updated website giving information about research on medieval Islamic and European astronomical instruments that has been conducted in Frankfurt over the past 10 years. Some of this activity has been made possible by generous support from the German Research Foundation (DFG). The new website features a list of publications, works in press, and works in preparation by members of the Frankfurt team, past and present. In these publications we have tried to use astronomical instruments as historical sources within their cultural and geographical contexts. Thus, for example, it was possible to show that the astrolabe supposedly dedicated by Regiomontanus to his patron Cardinal Bessarion in 1462 but branded fake, was one of close to a dozen from the same or closely-related workshops, some even by the same maker. Again, it has been possible to show that various medieval European instruments such as the quadrans vetus were known already in 9th-century Baghdad. In the case of the elusive navicula de Venetiis we have been able to show that all of the components were known in the same milieu, as was a more complicated instrument for timekeeping by the stars for any latitude. New evidence from manuscripts establishes the context of three brass world-maps from 17th-century Iran bearing hightly-sophisticated grids preserving direction and (the sine of) the distance to Mecca at the centre firmly in earlier (10th and 11th century) Islamic mathematics. Some of the studies concentrate on the inscriptions (such as names of the zodiacal signs and months in regional Latin or local vernaculars), the geographical information explicit or implicit on instruments, and others treat the instruments within the general context of astronomical timekeeping or as historical works of art. There is also provisional table of contents (TOC) of the catalogue that has been in preparation for the past few years. This TOC can serve for the present and immediate future as an ordered list of instruments, arranged chronologically by provenance. I would be grateful for information on any early instruments that are not listed here. The information on instruments from after ca. 1500 was compiled about 10 years ago and in the main has not been touched since. The entries for such instruments in the TOC for later instruments have simply been picked up by the automatic TOC generator: for many of them there are no descriptions, and none are planned. Certain later sections of the catalogue/TOC have been made redundant anyway by recent publications by Gerard Turner (English Renaissance), Koenraad van Cleempoel (Flemish and Spanish Renaissance), and the forthcoming publication by S. R. Sarma (Indian instruments with inscriptions in Arabic-Persian-Sanscrit). The descriptions of instruments from before ca. 1500 are in reasonable shape but are not yet publishable. The long-term goal was/is to make the descriptions available, starting with early Islamic instruments (to 1200) and then the earliest European instruments. This will be done in small batches, and some sample descriptions will eventually be put on this site. For the rest there is still plenty of work to be done. Any serious researcher working on a specific group of instruments is welcome to inspect the materials available here or take over the descriptions of such a corpus of instruments. A major problem is the lack of adequate photographic documentation. Only a minority of museums are capable of preparing decent photos of instruments, and costs have skyrocketed. See the site EPACT mentioned below for some good photos. More serious problems are: 1) the fact that funding for the project is virtually exhausted, and 2) the fact that most of the young scholars who have been trained here in the study of instruments have moved on. The website is: http://www.uni-frankfurt.de/fb13/ign/instrument-catalogue.html I hope that it will stimulate some serious interest in these "forgotten treasures of the Middle Ages". Please note: The website EPACT: Scientific Instruments of Medieval and Renaissance Europe, http://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/epact/ provides illustrations and descriptions of European instruments in Oxford, Florence, London (BM) and Leiden. Author's address: Prof. Dr. David A. King Institute for History of Science Johann Wolfgang Goethe University D 60054 Frankfurt am Main, Germany e-mail: king@em.uni-frankfurt.de or kingabumax@aol.com Tel. +49-69-7982-2754 / -2337 / -2338, Fax: -3275 [Source: David A. King to Rete Mailing List, rete@mhs.ox.ac.uk, 27 June 2002] ........................................................................... Item 7 EMA Nr. 64, 9. Nov. 2003 ........................................................................... Sundial Group of the Thaqib Astronomical Society ------------------------------------------------ By Mohammad Bagheri Friday 27 September 2002 was the first day of establishment and formal activity of a "Sundial Group" as a working branch of the THAQIB Astronomical Society in Rasht (centre of the Gilan province in northern Iran, on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea). The seat of the Society is in a newly built beautiful park, which is planned to become a "Sundial Park". At present there is an analemmatic sundial in this park that attracts many visitors to the park. The members of the Sundial Group (mostly young schoolgirls) plan to study the history along with mathematical, astronomical and artistic aspects of sundials, which provide them with a concrete application of the mathematical courses, especially trigonometry. They are supposed to be in charge of designing several sundials for the cultural buildings in the whole province in future. Any comments or communications may be sent to: Sundial Group, Thaqib Astronomical Society, P.O. Box 13145-1785, Tehran, Iran [Source: Peter Ransom to Sundial Mailing List, sundial@rrz.uni-koeln.de, 3 Nov 2002] ........................................................................... Item 8 EMA Nr. 64, 9. Nov. 2003 ........................................................................... The Great Arc: Exhibition of Mapping of India --------------------------------------------- By Andrew S. Cook, London, UK The Government of India travelling exhibition on the bicentenary of William Lambton and the start of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India has opened in Cambridge, at the first of five locations in the UK this year. It provides a unique opportunity to see historic instruments and archives from the Survey of India Museum collections in Dehra Dun (including Ramsden's Great Theodolite, last seen in Britain at the Science Museum Festival of India exhibition in 1981). Visit www.thegreatarc.net for more information, including the text of the GBP 5 book accompanying the exhibition. The exhibition runs 15-23 July in a marquee on Jesus Green, Cambridge (connecting with the quadrennial international Cambridge Conference of surveyors), 5-24 August in Edinburgh, 4-20 September in Birmingham, 1 October-12 November in London, and 26 November-15 January 2004 in Manchester. Though the mounting of the exhibition was devolved to Teamwork Productions India, the Survey of India apparently intend to have an official present at the exhibition sites, currently Charanjit Mamik, senior librarian from Survey of India Geodetic and Research Branch, Dehra Dun, in Cambridge. The exhibit is the centrepiece of the Festival of the Great Arc, with performances of Indian dance and music in Britain, and also serves very well as a didactic exhibition of the history of geodetic survey and mapping in India over 200 years. Author's address: Andrew S. Cook MA PhD FRSA FRHistS Map Archivist, India Office Records The British Library 96 Euston Road London NW1 2DB, UK e-mail andrew.cook@bl.uk Telephone/Voicemail 020 7412 7828, Fax 020 7412 7641 [Source: Andrew S. Cook to Rete Mailing List, rete@maillist.ox.ac.uk, 16 July 2003] ........................................................................... Danksagung ---------- Fuer die direkte Zusendung von Informationen danken wir Hans Gaab und Jeffrey Hall. ........................................................................... Impressum --------- Elektronische Mitteilungen zur Astronomiegeschichte (EMA) Herausgegeben vom Arbeitskreis Astronomiegeschichte in der Astronomischen Gesellschaft Redaktion: Dr. Wolfgang R. Dick und Dr. Hilmar W. Duerbeck Alle nicht namentlich gekennzeichneten Mitteilungen sind redaktionelle Beitraege. Aufsaetze sowie Mitteilungen fuer die Rubriken werden gern entgegengenommen. Der Bezug der EMA ist kostenlos. Abonnenten und Leser werden um gelegentliche freiwillige Spenden an den Arbeitskreis gebeten. Die Elektronischen Mitteilungen zur Astronomiegeschichte duerfen unbegrenzt weiterverbreitet werden, sofern dafuer keine Gebuehr erhoben wird. Ein oeffentliches Abgebot in WWW-Servern, BBS etc. ist gestattet, sofern die Redaktion informiert wird. Die Reproduktion von Auszuegen in elektronischen oder Druckmedien ist nur mit Genehmigung der Redaktion gestattet. Die Elektronischen Mitteilungen ergaenzen die gedruckten Mitteilungen zur Astronomiegeschichte, die in der Regel halbjaehrlich erscheinen: Preis: 1,- Euro/Ausgabe zzgl. Versandkosten Ausserhalb von Deutschland: kostenfrei, Spenden erwuenscht Bezug: Einsendung von 1,50 Euro (Einzelheft) oder 3,- Euro (Nr. 20-21) in Briefmarken an die Redaktion Redaktion: Dr. W. R. Dick, Anschrift siehe unten Kostenlose Probeexemplare koennen bei der Redaktion angefordert werden. Anschriften des Arbeitskreises Astronomiegeschichte: URL: http://www.astrohist.org/ Vorsitzender: Prof. Dr. Peter Brosche, Observatorium Hoher List der Sternwarte der Universitaet Bonn, D-54550 Daun, Tel.: +49(0)6592 2150, Fax: +49(0)6592 985140, e-mail: pbrosche@astro.uni-bonn.de Sekretaer: Dr. Wolfgang R. Dick, Vogelsang 35 A, D-14478 Potsdam, e-mail: wdick@astrohist.org Spendenkonto der Arbeitskreises Astronomiegeschichte: Empfaenger: Astronomische Gesellschaft, Konto-Nr.: 310 330 402, Volksbank Coesfeld-Duelmen, BLZ 401 631 23 Ueberweisungen aus dem Ausland: Konto Nr. 16218-203, Postbank Hamburg, BLZ 200 100 20 Einzahlungen auf letzteres Konto bitte mit Vermerk "Fuer Arbeitskreis Astronomiegeschichte". ***************************************************************************