Lecture – The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World by Simon Winchester
Revered “New York Times” bestselling author Simon Winchester will trace the development of technology from the Industrial Age to the Digital Age to explore the single component crucial to advancement–precision–in a history that is both an homage and a warning for our future.
As he introduces the minds and methods that have changed the modern world, Winchester explores fundamental questions. Why is precision important? What are the different tools we use to measure it? Who has invented and perfected it? Has the pursuit of the ultra-precise in so many facets of human life blinded us to other things of equal value, such as an appreciation for the age-old traditions of craftsmanship, art and high culture? Are we missing something that reflects the world as it is, rather than the world as we think we would wish it to be? And can the precise and the natural co-exist in society?
Originally a geologist who was assigned to field work in Africa and offshore rigs in the North Sea, Winchester changed career paths to journalist. He was awarded an Order of the British Empire for his services to journalism and literature in 2006. Following the lecture, Winchester will sign copies of his new book “The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World” along with a selection of his other best sellers: “The Professor and the Madman,” “Atlantic,” “The Man Who Loved China” and “Krakatoa.”
Tuesday, May 15, 2018 – 6:30 PM
Members $12, Tickets $18
Lecture – Arcs to Auroras: Following the Magnetic Force by Carolyn Sumners
An astronaut took this photograph of the Aurora Australis in August 2017. At the time, the International Space Station was moving over the southern Indian Ocean towards the Great Australian Bight and Melbourne, Australia. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Auroras come in many shapes and motions, and appear in an oval surrounding the North and South Magnetic Poles.
Learn what causes them in the newly updated magnetism show, From Arcs to Auroras: Following the Magnetic Force where you will discover auroras on the other planets and even in the atmospheres of faint stars.
Wednesday, May 16, 2018 – 6:30 PM
Members $12, Tickets $18
BTS – Smith Gem Vault
The dazzling facts about the gemstones and the jewelry will be shared by Museum geologists and lapidary artists, including Jill Moffit who worked on one of the stones. This tour will include a demonstration of gemstone cutting.
Thursday, May 17, 2018 – 6:00 PM
