26th November

The final meeting of term will take place on Monday 26th November, from 7.30-9pm in the upstairs seminar room of Darwin College. We'll spend the first part of the session discussing our final astronomical texts:

• William Wordsworth, "Star Gazers" (1807)
• Walt Whitman, "When I heard the learn'd astronomer" (1865)
• Virginia Woolf, "The Searchlight" (1943)

And then we'll move to the dining hall to hear a musical arrangement of the Whitman poem (and other astronomical songs), have a glass of wine, and perhaps a mince pie or two...

All welcome!

Andrieff

12th November

On Monday 12th November we'll be reading To the Stars,by Leonid Andrieff (1905), especially act IV, as we continue our discussions about astronomy.

The most easily available English translation is by A. Goudiss, in Poet Lore, Winter 1907. You can find it by logging on to Periodicals Archive Online, and then searching under author "Andreieff". Copies are also in the Whipple Library boxfile for photocopying or reading. I have a pdf version if people would prefer - please contact me directly about this.

We meet as usual from 7.30-9pm in the upstairs seminar room at Darwin College.

See you then!

29th October

Our next meeting will take place on Monday 29th October, from 7.30-9pm in the upstairs seminar room at Darwin College. Hopefully everyone can find the way there by now!

We'll leapfrog a few more centuries, and tackle two Victorian texts: Lee will introduce chapter 4 from Thomas Hardy's Two on a Tower (1882) and Kelley will introduce George Meredith's "Meditation under stars" (1888).

I hope the discussion goes well...

'Stranger than Fiction' podcast

Elizabeth Green Musselman, Associate Professor of History at Southwestern University, has recently launched the Missing Link podcast. The first topic she deals with is 'Stranger than Fiction': the ways that science fiction has drawn inspiration from planetary science. A slightly different take on our astronomical theme!

Her Husband: Hughes and Plath

Cambridge University Centre for Gender Studies presents:

Prof. DIANE MIDDLEBROOK in Conversation with Prof. Juliet Mitchell on her
award winning biography 'Her Husband: Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath, a
marriage'

1-2.30pm, Wednesday 24th October
Jesus College, Upper Hall
Attendance is free and all are welcome!

Diane Middlebrook is Emeritus Professor of Literature at Stanford
University. Her latest book 'Her Husband', is a highly acclaimed account of
the marriage between Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes.

For more details on this, and all our events, visit: www.gender.cam.ac.uk

Brecht and Wittgenstein workshop

Workshop, Saturday 13 October

"Brecht and Wittgenstein"

Location: Richard Eden Suite, West Court, Herschel Road, Cambridge

11am: Screening of "Galileo", based on Charles Laughton's 1947 adaptation
of Brecht's play, directed by Joseph Losey, starring John Gilgud, Tom Conti
and Chaim Topol.

Break and snacks

1:30pm: Discussion and Presentations by
Michael Nedo
Richard Raatzsch
Martin Kusch

Everyone welcome.

For more information contact Dr Richard Raatzsch (rr334@cam.ac.uk).

15th October

We'll begin our discussions of Astronomers and Astronomy on Monday 15th October, with two literary classics:

• Dante Alighieri, Purgatory (c. 1321), Canto 4 (Please select Edition Mandelbaum, Volume Purgatorio, Canto IV)

• John Milton, Paradise Lost (1674), Book 8, lines 1-197

Due to the ongoing refurbishment works at Darwin College, I shall meet Reading Group attendees at 7.25pm outside the main entrance, to help negotiate the building site! The seminar runs from 7.30-9pm, after which we'll probably go for a drink in the College bar.

We hope to see you then!

Romanes Lecture

Professor Dame Gillian Beer will deliver the Romanes Lecture at 5.45 p.m. on Thursday, 8 November 2007 in the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford. Her lecture is entitled ‘Darwin and the Consciousness of Others’. The lecture is free to attend and open to all.

Workshop on Popular Science Books

Call For Contributors - Workshop on Popular Science Books

We are looking for contributors for a one-day event on popular science books to be held at Imperial College, London on 22nd Feb 2008. Literary critics, historians, writers, illustrators, publishers, prize-givers, reviewers, readers, booksellers, teachers (and others) are all invited to take part.

Contributors will be asked introduce a book, collection, theme, or popular science author, perhaps with a small extract, and use it to raise a topic for discussion in or about popular science.

Texts considered can be contemporary or historical, but should be something all participants can get an idea of quickly from the introduction; all important text must be in English. Participants will come from different backgrounds, so be prepared to share examples and speak to people from other fields.

Topics may include (but are not limited to):
* Criteria for a 'good' popular science book.
* The use of imagery and metaphor.
* History of Science.
* Illustrations, diagrams, graphics and design.
* Issues of culture and social class.
* Writing for children.
* Epistemology.
* Celebrity and popular science authorship.
* Marketing and publishing.
* Religion.
* Relationships between scientists and 'the public'.

We will conduct participatory workshops rather than following the traditional "papers and questions" model. You would have 30-45 minutes to lead a session, which means speaking about your example for approx. 15 minutes, then leading an open discussion on your topic.

If you are interested in contributing, please send us an outline of your presentation (500 words maximum) and a short bio (approx 200 words). The outline should list the source(s) you want to discuss, and preview the discussion topic your session would raise. Email this to popscievent@gmail.com by the 23rd November 2007.

Registration will not open until the programme is finalised in early December, but we can confirm that the cost will be £10 (includes lunch and refreshments) and it'll be held at Imperial College, South Kensington Campus, on Friday 22nd February 2008.

Further enquires to popscievent@gmail.com.