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Creative Forms of Natural Philosophy

October 7, 2020 in Events by bsls | Permalink

Friday 30 October: 16.30-18.00 (London); 17.30-19.00 (Rome); 11:30-13.00 (New York)
 
The focus of this workshop revisits and reconsiders the diverse literary forms that comprised early modern, natural philosophical knowledge and practice. From narrative poetry and allegorical romance, to philosophical theatre and thought experiments in prose, forms of ‘imaginative’ literature broadened the directions of natural philosophical pursuit and created new intellectual possibilities. This multi-disciplinary workshop teases out some of these complex threads, reflecting further on the place of imaginative literature within early modern natural philosophy. 

Speakers and papers 

Debapriya Sarkar (University of Connecticut): The Romance of Scientific Method 

Liza Blake (University of Toronto): Magnetic Physics and Theatrical Psychology: William Gilbert and Ben Jonson's Magnetic Lady 

Kathryn Murphy (University of Oxford): The Edge of the Self at the Limit of the World: Nathaniel Fairfax’s Thought Experiments 

This free event is organised by Cassie Gorman (Anglia Ruskin University), one of the Directors of Scientiae. To register, please email Cassie at cassie.gorman@aru.ac.uk and you will receive a link to join the workshop on Zoom. Please do not share this link. Note that we will be recording the workshop in its 90-minute duration. You can find details of past events in the series here: www.scientiae.co.uk/online-events/.

Science meets Poetry, Manchester, 26th July 2016

May 10, 2016 in Events by bsls | Permalink

Science meets poetry is exclusive to EuroScience Open Forum and now celebrates its tenth year. The year 2016 is one of important anniversaries: 400th since the death of Shakespeare and Cervantès, 500th since the publication of More’s Utopia. Manchester, as the birthplace of the industrial revolution, looms large in the poetry of our times. Wordsworth who fled pollution to the Lake District can be cast as a forerunner of the ecologist-poets. Chemistry was vital for addicts such as Thomas de Quincey. Today, we even have poetry inspired by graphene. British poets and scientists have never been ignorant of science, as exemplified by Humphry Davy, who kept a laboratory notebook also containing his verse. We have evidence that Shakespeare knew about Tycho Brahe, his contemporary. Did his knowledge extend to the controversy between Tycho and Johannes Kepler surrounding the heliocentric theory? And what were his views on astrology?

View the whole schedule here.

‘The Body and Pseudoscience in the Long Nineteenth Century’ Conference 18 June 2016, Newcastle University

April 26, 2016 in Events by bsls | Permalink

Registration is now open for this FREE interdisciplinary conference.

'The Body and Pseudoscience in the Long Nineteenth Century' Conference

18 June 2016, Newcastle University

'Sciences we now retrospectively regard as heterodox or marginal cannot be considered unambiguously to have held that status at a time when no clear orthodoxy existed that could confer that status upon them' (Alison Winter, 1997). The nineteenth century witnessed the drive to consolidate discrete scientific disciplines, many of which were concerned with the body. Attempts were made to clarify the boundaries between the 'scientific' and the 'pseudoscientific', between 'insiders' and 'outsiders'. This conference asks what became lost in separating the orthodox from the heterodox. What happened to the systems of knowledge and practice relating to the body that were marginalised as 'pseudoscience'? Was knowledge and insight into the human condition lost in the process? Or is it immortalised within the literature of 'pseudoscience'?

This interdisciplinary conference considers how different discourses of the body were imagined and articulated across a range of visual and verbal texts (including journalism, fiction, popular science writing, illustration) in order to evaluate how 'pseudoscience' contributed both to understandings of the body and what it is to be human and to the formation of those disciplines now deemed orthodox.

Please visit the website for more details of how to register and to view the provisional programme.

http://pseudoscienceconference.wordpress.com

‘Hardy and the Scientific Imagination’ Tuesday 2nd June 2015

May 29, 2015 in Events by bsls | Permalink

You are warmly invited to join us on Tuesday 2 June, when Professor Angelique Richardson (Exeter) will be addressing our Seminar with her paper entitled: ‘Hardy and the Scientific Imagination’.

We begin at 5:30pm in Room G24, Foster Court, University College London, Malet Place, London WC1.
Directions to this building can be found here: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/maps
Professor Angelique Richardson's paper will be followed by questions and discussion, and the meeting will conclude with a glass of wine at 7:30pm.
‘Hardy and the Scientific Imagination’.

This talk will explore ways in which Thomas Hardy took up aspects of science in his novels and poetry.  Considering his definition of science, and its role in fiction, it will focus in particular on his treatment of mind body relations during the 1870s and 1880s when the leading scientists and philosophers of his day were grappling with similar questions.

Professor Angelique Richardson (Exeter): Angelique Richardson is Associate Professor of English at the University of Exeter. Her books include Love and Eugenics in the Late Nineteenth Century, 2003, and, as editor, Women Who Did: Stories by Men and Women, 1890-1914, 2005, and After Darwin: Animals, Emotions, and the Mind, 2013. Her monograph Thomas Hardy and the Politics of Biology: Character, Culture and Environment is forthcoming.

Leviathan and the Air Pump: Thirty Years On

April 9, 2015 in Events by bsls | Permalink

Friday 1 May, 5:30 to 7:00pm
Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW

Robert Boyle's air-pump experiments in 1659 provoked a lively debate over the possibility of a vacuum. The air-pump, a complicated and expensive device, became an emblem of the new experimental science that was promoted by the Royal Society. However, the philosopher Thomas Hobbes challenged both the validity of Boyle’s experiment and the philosophical foundations of this new approach to science. In their controversial book Leviathan and the Air-Pump (1985) Steven Shapin and Simon Schaffer took up Hobbes’s case, arguing that experimental findings depend for their validity on the scientific culture in which they are made.

The historian of science David Wootton will review this controversy and present a new view of the dispute between Boyle and Hobbes. His lecture will be followed by a reply from Michael Hunter, the biographer of Robert Boyle. The discussion will be chaired by Ritchie Robertson (Taylor Professor of the German Language and Literature).

The discussion will be followed by a drinks reception. The event is free and open to all, but registration is recommended. Please visit www.torch.ox.ac.uk/airpump to register.

 

This event is co-hosted by the Enlightenment Programme at The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities, the Museum of the Natural History and the Museum of the History of Science.

BSLS Teaching Symposium reminder

October 9, 2014 in CFP, Events by bsls | Permalink

British Society for Literature and Science
Symposium on Teaching

University of Westminster, Regent Street, London – 8th November, 2014

CALL FOR PAPERS AND PARTICIPATION – REMINDER DEADLINE 10th OCTOBER (open registration details to follow)

Literature and Science is currently gaining popularity amongst undergraduates, but opportunities for discussing how – and why – to teach it remain thin on the ground. This one-day symposium, led by the British Society for Literature and Science with support from Westminster’s Centre for the Study of Science and Imagination, is designed to help further that discussion.

We are keen to hear from as many different perspectives as possible, and therefore invite contributions from anyone with experience as a teacher, postgraduate teaching assistant, student, or administrator of an undergraduate course on (or containing elements of) Literature and Science, broadly defined.

For this event, we have adopted a different format from the standard academic twenty-minute conference paper, and will ask speakers to present in a more informal tone and for different lengths of time depending on the session. These shorter, less formal presentations will minimise preparation time for speakers as well as increasing discussion time for all participants.

With this low-preparation, discursive format in mind, we warmly solicit expressions of interest (not more than 200 words, including a brief biography and details of experience with Literature and Science teaching) from potential speakers. These should be sent to Dr. Will Tattersdill (w.j.tattersdill@bham.ac.uk) not later than October 10th 2014. Subjects we are anxious to discuss include, but are not limited to:

Why Literature and Science is worth teaching to undergraduates (and why it might not be)
Reflections on how, if at all, Literature and Science needs to be taught differently from other undergraduate programmes.
Particular difficulties encountered in convening a Literature and Science course, be they conceptual, administrative, logistical, or pedagogical.
Experiences collaborating with academic staff from other disciplines, including the sciences.
Student reactions to Literature and Science material, positive and negative.
We are committed to inviting contributions from those teaching literature and science across all historical periods, working across international educational contexts as well as within the British higher education system. There will be invited speakers as well as this open call, and current undergraduates will hopefully be among the delegates.

Many of us teach literature and science on our own initiative, coping individually with both the joys and challenges raised by the endeavour. This is an important chance to consolidate those experiences and build strategies – and collegial networks – which will continue to drive the field forward at its grass roots: undergraduate teaching.

Cian Duffy (St. Mary’s)
Allyson Purcell-Davis (St. Mary’s)
Janine Rogers (Mt. Allison)
Will Tattersdill (Birmingham)
Martin Willis (Westminster)

BSLS 2015 conference – call for papers

September 10, 2014 in CFP, Events, News, Society information, Uncategorized by bsls | Permalink

The tenth annual conference of the British Society for Literature and Science will take place at the University of Liverpool, on 16-18 April 2015. Keynote talks will be given by Professor Keith Barnham (Imperial College London), Dr Patricia Fara (University of Cambridge), and Dr Claire Preston (Queen Mary University of London).

The BSLS invites proposals for twenty-minute papers, or panels of three papers, on any subjects within the field of literature and science. In addition, ‘flash talks’ of up to 7 minutes on any topic are invited for a special plenary session. Other formats are also welcomed, but please email your suggestion to the organisers (via bsls2015@liverpool.ac.uk) for consideration, well in advance of the submission deadline.

This year the organisers would particularly welcome proposals addressing the themes of light, optics, vision and colour, and proposals for papers, panels or roundtables on engaging the public with literature and science research. However, the BSLS remains committed to supporting and showcasing work on all aspects of literature – including comparative literature and European and world literatures – and science, medicine and technology.

Proposals of no more than 250 words, together with the name and institutional affiliation of the speaker, and a biographical note of around 50 words, should be sent in the body of messages (not in attachments) to bsls2015@liverpool.ac.uk. Proposals for panels should include a separate proposal and biographical note for each paper. The closing date for submissions is Friday 5 December 2014.

The conference fee will be waived for two graduate students in exchange for written reports on the conference, to be published in the BSLS Newsletter. If you are interested in being selected for one of these awards, please mention this when sending in your proposal. To qualify you will need to be registered for a postgraduate degree at the time of the conference.

Accommodation: please note that those attending the conference will need to make their own arrangements for accommodation. Information on local hotels will be made available soon on the forthcoming conference website.

Membership: conference delegates will need to register as members of the BSLS (annual membership: £25 waged/ £10 unwaged). It will be possible to join the BSLS when registering for the conference online.

For further information and updates about the conference, please contact Greg Lynall (bsls2015@liverpool.ac.uk). A conference website will be available in due course.

BSLS Symposium on Teaching Literature and Science

September 2, 2014 in CFP, Events by bsls | Permalink

British Society for Literature and Science
Symposium on Teaching

University of Westminster, Regent Street, London - 8th November, 2014

CALL FOR PAPERS AND PARTICIPATION

Literature and Science is currently gaining popularity amongst undergraduates, but opportunities for discussing how – and why – to teach it remain thin on the ground. This one-day symposium, led by the British Society for Literature and Science with support from Westminster's Centre for the Study of Science and Imagination, is designed to help further that discussion.

We are keen to hear from as many different perspectives as possible, and therefore invite contributions from anyone with experience as a teacher, postgraduate teaching assistant, student, or administrator of an undergraduate course on (or containing elements of) Literature and Science, broadly defined.

For this event, we have adopted a different format from the standard academic twenty-minute conference paper, and will ask speakers to present in a more informal tone and for different lengths of time depending on the session. These shorter, less formal presentations will minimise preparation time for speakers as well as increasing discussion time for all participants.

With this low-preparation, discursive format in mind, we warmly solicit expressions of interest (not more than 200 words, including a brief biography and details of experience with Literature and Science teaching) from potential speakers. These should be sent to Dr. Will Tattersdill (w.j.tattersdill@bham.ac.uk) not later than October 10th 2014. Subjects we are anxious to discuss include, but are not limited to:

  • Why Literature and Science is worth teaching to undergraduates (and why it might not be)
  • Reflections on how, if at all, Literature and Science needs to be taught differently from other undergraduate programmes.
  • Particular difficulties encountered in convening a Literature and Science course, be they conceptual, administrative, logistical, or pedagogical.
  • Experiences collaborating with academic staff from other disciplines, including the sciences.
  • Student reactions to Literature and Science material, positive and negative.

We are committed to inviting contributions from those teaching literature and science across all historical periods, working across international educational contexts as well as within the British higher education system. There will be invited speakers as well as this open call, and current undergraduates will hopefully be among the delegates.

Many of us teach literature and science on our own initiative, coping individually with both the joys and challenges raised by the endeavour. This is an important chance to consolidate those experiences and build strategies – and collegial networks – which will continue to drive the field forward at its grass roots: undergraduate teaching.

Cian Duffy (St. Mary’s)
Allyson Purcell-Davis (St. Mary’s)
Janine Rogers (Mt. Allison)
Will Tattersdill (Birmingham)
Martin Willis (Westminster)

BSLS Symposium on Teaching Literature and Science

May 6, 2014 in Events, News, Society information, Uncategorized by bsls | Permalink

The BSLS has voted to hold an annual one-day symposium in addition to its annual conference. Unlike the conference, the symposium will be on a specific theme each year. The BSLS will make a budget of £500 available to members each year in the first instance to fund the symposium. The theme of each symposium will be announced after that year’s conference, and the symposium itself will be held in or near the following December.

BSLS members are invited to put in proposals to host the first BSLS symposium in December 2014 on the theme of Teaching Literature and Science. The theme is deliberately broad, so applicants are welcome to interpret it as they like, including focussing in on some aspect of it if they wish. Proposals should include:

  • a statement of up to 500 words setting out the rationale for the event and how it interprets the over-arching theme
  • contact details for the organiser(s)
  • the venue(s) and date of the symposium
  • a provisional programme including provisional or confirmed speakers and panels
  • a clear budget explaining how the grant will be spent.

A small registration fee may be set for the symposium if required; if it is, this should be justified in the proposal. The BSLS will be named as the official sponsor of the event, but it will not take on further financial liability beyond the grant itself.

Applicants must be members of the BSLS both when the application is made and when the symposium is held. International members of the BSLS are welcome to apply for the awards. Applications should be emailed as a Word document to the Chair of the BSLS, John Holmes (j.r.holmes@reading.ac.uk) by 14th July 2014. Applications will be considered by the BSLS Executive Committee. The award will be made to the application which the Committee judges as best fulfilling the overall aims of the BSLS and serving its members and the academic community as a whole. Successful applicants will be informed by the end of July. Queries about the scheme may be directed to John Holmes, but no correspondence will be entered into about the decisions of the Committee. Serving members of the BSLS Executive Committee are not eligible to apply for the grant. They may be included in the proposal for the symposium as participants, but they may not receive any of the award money either as costs or fees.

BSLS conference deadline

December 3, 2013 in 2014 Conference, 2014 Conference, CFP by bsls | Permalink

A quick reminder, the call for papers for the BSLS conference closes this Friday. Proposals of no more than 250 words, together with the name and institutional affiliation of the speaker, should be sent in the body of messages (not in attachments) to g.tate@surrey.ac.uk.

For full details, click here.

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