This is a quotation from Kathy Bader, one of the PhD students involved in the Ordered Universe Project. It sums up an almost self-evident truth, and nonetheless it’s something one can sometimes forget when it comes to thinking about choosing between courses or jobs or generally between things to which one could devote one’s timeContinue reading ““Education is all about changing your mind.””
Author Archives: ulrikenowak
Back to the roots
During the most recent of the Ordered Universe Symposia, medieval specialists and modern scientists applied their minds to Robert Grosseteste’s De sphera (On the sphere). In this early treatise of his, Grosseteste describes the movements of the heavenly bodies in the firmament according to the observer’s position on earth. The astronomical knowledge available during theContinue reading “Back to the roots”
‘Writing is thinking.’
Collaborative reading sessions very much form the backbone of Ordered Universe Symposia. The members of the interdisciplinary working group sit around a large table and go through the draft translations provided by Sigbjorn Sonnesyn, and they often find themselves discussing how to best render individual Latin terms in English. The ideal translation conveys what GrossetesteContinue reading “‘Writing is thinking.’”
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Materialism and the Value of Conscious Life
Apart from the time devoted to collaborative reading sessions during Ordered Universe Symposia, there is also room for broader conversation and exchange of ideas. These conversations are very interesting and maybe also quite unusual, as they represent a rare instance of academics from very different disciplines being brought together. Interdisciplinary discussions are challenging in manyContinue reading “Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Materialism and the Value of Conscious Life”
About What It Takes: Assumptions About Skill Sets in the Humanities and Sciences
From relatively early on in school, young people start to think of themselves as ‘more sciency’ or ‘more of a humanities or languages person’. With these two poles, to one of which many students sooner or later find themselves gravitating, we tend to associate different personality attributes and skills. For humanities subjects, creative and outside-the-boxContinue reading “About What It Takes: Assumptions About Skill Sets in the Humanities and Sciences”
Unity in Diversity
25th – 28th November 2015, Durham, UK. A group of around 25 people gather for another symposium on the scientific writings of the 13th century English bishop Robert Grosseteste. It’s the first symposium under the umbrella of the generous AHRC grant that started in October. Whilst most academic conferences bring together experts from more orContinue reading “Unity in Diversity”
(Medieval) Science and some Spin-Off Contemplations about Ethics and Interdisciplinarity
During the introductory session on the Liberal Arts and modern scientific methodologies, Giles posed the question to the group whether failure of a scientific theory could ever be due to moral rather than intellectual failure. Whilst Giles is the one to turn to if you’re interested in the motivation behind this question, I’d like toContinue reading “(Medieval) Science and some Spin-Off Contemplations about Ethics and Interdisciplinarity”
Education Revisited – Lessons to Learn from the Medieval Curriculum
In the De artibus liberalibus (On the Liberal Arts), Grosseteste positions the Liberal Arts as having their proper, natural place in scholarly thought and the educational curriculum. In the set of the seven Liberal Arts, the so called trivium of grammar, logic and rhetoric is complemented by the mathematical arts, that is, the quadrivium ofContinue reading “Education Revisited – Lessons to Learn from the Medieval Curriculum”
Living in an Ordered Universe
The De artibus liberalibus (On the Liberal Arts) has felt somewhat different from the three treatises that the Ordered Universe group had looked at before. Unlike the De colore, the De iride, the De luce and the De generatione sonorum, the De artibus liberalibus isn’t primarily aimed at elucidating a phenomenon of natural order –Continue reading “Living in an Ordered Universe”
Grosseteste’s ‘scientific’ treatises – reflecting on principles of investigation
One of the unifying themes across Grosseteste’s ‘scientific’ treatises is that he carefully observed the natural world around him and furthermore assumed that there should be a set of fundamental, universally applicable principles explaining the ordered complexity with which he was confronted. For Grosseteste creation was an act of divine generosity, an overflowing of God’sContinue reading “Grosseteste’s ‘scientific’ treatises – reflecting on principles of investigation”