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13November
Otley Science Festival: Professor Mike Edmunds: The Antikythera Mechanism
Advance Price: £12
The discovery of the structure and functions of the remarkable Antikythera Mechanism – Greek, 1st or 2nd century BCE – by modern imaging methods will be described and illustrated. A strong claim (based on literary references) will be made that mechanical representations of the Universe were reasonably well known in the Classical world 200 BCE – 500 AD. It will be demonstrated that the Mechanism fits in perfectly to its astronomical era (c.200 – 60 BCE), and that its design may show elements of earlier astronomical conventions. Some recent research developments will be discussed, and its place in the development of the idea of a “Mechanical Universe” will be highlighted.
Mike Edmunds is Emeritus Professor of Astrophysics at Cardiff University and former Head of the School of Physics and Astronomy. He was educated at Cambridge, but has lived and worked in Wales for over 50 years. His research career involved the determination and interpretation of the abundances of the chemical elements in the Universe, and investigation of the origin of interstellar dust. Later work has been in the history of astronomy, in particular the ancient Greek Antikythera Mechanism and the early history of the Royal Astronomical Society. He was a member of two UK Research Councils, and served as President of the Royal Astronomical Society 2022-2024. He is President of the Herschel Society and an Honorary Vice-President of the Society for the History of Astronomy.
Further Details
Act's Website: https://otleysciencefestival.co.uk/
Otley Courthouse
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Otley Courthouse
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Otley Courthouse
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