Ordered Universe

Georgetown on my mind (and heart)

Throughout his career, Robert Grosseteste emphasised the unity of the human person, the impossibility of separating mind from heart except conceptually. Our capacities to see the truth of things as they are, our aspectus, and for loving things for what they are, which Robert called our affectus, must both be developed and perfected, Robert said; and the one cannot be developed in isolation from the other. This fundamental strand of Robert’s thinking was recently the theme of a conference organised under the august auspices of Georgetown University by Neil Lewis, a member of the Ordered Universe core team, and Sandra Strachan-Vieira. The participants comprised a good mix of Ordered Universe stalwarts and new acquaintances (for most of us), ranging from grad students to established professors, and the papers offered detailed analyses of Grosseteste’s thought as well as studies of comparable sources written both before and after Grosseteste’s time.

A rain-drenched Georgetown may have failed to offer its visitors its finest aspect, but we did not let that affect us; the welcoming surroundings and gracious and generous hosts more than made up for the weather. Brett Smith set the tone for the conference as a whole with his clear and clarifying presentation of the role of aspectus and affectus, the perception of truth and the love of the good, in central works by Grosseteste. Giles Gasper then added depth and breadth to this fundamental picture by showing with great nuance and eloquence how the same dichotomy played an equally central role in the monastic theology of Anselm of Cantebury. Yours truly added to the monastic backdrop by trying to bring out the richness of the same conceptual scheme in the writings of Isaac of Stella.

After the main focus of the conference and the background for the conceptual scheme had been presented, a series of papers ensued that subtly brought out the intricacies and precision of philosophical language and argument both in Grosseteste and his contemporaries. Nicola Poloni showed with great skill the development in Grosseteste’s metaphysics of matter and causation, and Neil Lewis situated Grosseteste’s views on aspectus and affectus within its contemporary context by demonstrating and explaining how these concepts were used by Richard Rufus and Richard Fishacre. Tim Farrant then showed how these concepts allowed Alexander Neckam to connect his natural and zoological studies to a fundamental moral preoccupation animating his works. Kathy Bader brought this part of the conference to a close with a fascinating run-through of the astronomers of the Severn Valley in the early twelfth century, and in particular how the translations of Arabic astronomical texts into Latin influenced and enriched the study of the stars and the computation of time. The day was brought to a close with a public lecture on Grosseteste, the Ordered Universe project, and how the artistic collaborations to which this project has given rise. The lecture was given jointly by Giles Gasper and Tom Mcleish, two of the three Principal Investigators of the project, and Ross Ashton, a projection artist who together with sound artist Karen Monid has created wonderful displays of light and sound partly inspired by Grosseteste’s writings.

While the papers of the first day in the main focused on philosophical and theological concerns, the second day continued with a stronger emphasis on the scientific study of nature. It started Nader El-Bizri’s deeply engrossing account of Alhazen’s theory of human perception, emphasising the deep connection between vision of truth and embodied experience in a way that offers an illuminating parallel to Grosseteste’s view. Tom McLeish then used the pairing of aspectus and affectus to discuss the creative processes undergirding modern scientific research, providing a fascinating and engaging glimpse of how human beings do science. Hannah Smithson then presented her dizzyingly complex and penetrating analysis of Grosseteste’s theory of colour vision, using her experience from cutting-edge psychology of perception to bring out the complexities and sophistication of Grosseteste’s thinking. Joshua Harvey gave an equally inspiring account of Grosseteste’s thinking on sound perception, using the technology of Schlieren imaging to visualise Grosseteste’s account and show its intellectual power and its limitations. Luke Fidler then rounded off the presentation of papers with a glorious discussion of the aspectus/affectus pairing in material culture and the visual arts, and in particular the apperception of sculpture in the high middle ages.

The final afternoon of the conference was devoted to a group reading of Grosseteste’s treatise on the generation of sounds. We were deeply privileged to number among the participants not only Ordered Universe core member Cecilia Panti, but also Joe Goering and Frank Mantello into the group. Our discussions of the text greatly deepened our understanding both of its philological and its philosophical and scientific aspects; and it was impossible to remain unaffected by the presence of no less than four of the world authorities on Grosseteste’s writings in Panti, Lewis, Goering and Mantello. It was a fitting and profoundly inspiring end to a wonderful conference.

We are deeply grateful to Neil and Sandra for their hard work in making this conference a great experience for all participants. And there is an argument to be made that the combination of scholarship and companionship that a successful conference brings confirms Grosseteste’s central point about the interdependence of aspectus and affectus. The challenges of the mind are more easily tackled in the company of good colleagues and friends; in the end we left seeing things more clearly because we all put our heart in it.

Ordered Universe at Georgetown in Pictures

Pictures by N.Polloni

Washington DC – Ordered Universe

So, the advance party for the Ordered Universe conference at Georgetown, Washington D.C. has arrived, and caught some of the amazing cherry-tree blossom. The conference proper starts tomorrow, and takes place over two days. Tomorrow afternoon 16.30-18.30 is the public talk featuring Neil, Tom, Giles and Projection Artist Ross Ashton, on the project in light of medieval studies, modern science and artistic creation. If you are in the Georgetown area, and there have been inquiries on twitter, please come along – the event is free and it would be great to see you. The conference itself will look at one of the central features of Grosseteste’s intellectual framework, and one that develops a central and standard model from antiquity, the early church and most of the medieval period, namely aspect and affect. Attempts to explain these terms and their meaning are fascinating and complex, and go to the heart of medieval notions of experience of, and interaction with, the world, understanding and action, and, we will find out, have sharp and powerful resonance with some modern notions of the same. We’re really looking forward to hearing all of the papers, learning a lot, and enjoying the stimulating, challenging and supportive environment of the project. And, wonderful to be in the US again, the last time Ordered Universe presented across the Atlantic was the Kalamazoo Medieval Congress, last year, and the New York CUNY public lecture in 2013. We’ll keep you posted on how things go!

The next scientific breakthrough could come from the history books

Giles Gasper, Durham University; Hannah Smithson, University of Oxford, and Tom McLeish, Durham University

The idea that science isn’t a process of constant progress might make some modern scientists feel a bit twitchy. Surely we know more now than we did 100 years ago? We’ve sequenced the genome, explored space and considerably lengthened the average human lifespan. We’ve invented aircraft, computers and nuclear energy. We’ve developed theories of relativity and quantum mechanics to explain how the universe works. Continue reading “The next scientific breakthrough could come from the history books”

Ordered Universe in Georgetown University – Washington D.C.

We’re all very excited about the upcoming Ordered Universe conference, next week, taking place under the aegis of the Department of Philosophy, Georgetown University, Washington D. C. We have a wide range of papers from various members of the team, including new participants as well as those whose acquaintance with the project goes back further. The theme of aspectus-affectus, perception and desire (with many different interpretations and explorations) is essential to an understanding of Grosseteste’s intellectual programme. The concepts, singly and jointly, are also embedded deep within medieval thought more generally. To examine these terms then is to encounter a conceptual framework at multiple levels of experience: across the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, in response to different sources of knowledge and at the service of different ends. Add to this too the perspectives from modern scientists working on perception of sight and sound. How to engage with, and learn from, Grosseteste’s teaching are central issues that emerge across the disciplines. It is a wonderful to be able to meet together again, made possible by Neil Lewis and Sandra Strachan-Vieira, and to share thoughts on wider questions posed by the subject of our studies. From astronomy to modern accounts of human perception, and 12th and 13th century thinkers to scientific creativity, a very stimulating gathering awaits. If you are in the Georgetown area please do be in touch and join us for the public talk on March 31st; we have too the poster for the conference proper below – please circulate!

Art, Science and Humanities – Public Talk at Georgetown University

Come and explore the results of a project that brings together modern science, the medieval past, and creative arts. The public talk will take a tour through the fascinating world of one of the most dynamic thinkers from the Middle Ages. While Robert Grosseteste may be unfamiliar nowadays, he was in thirteenth-century England an important religious leader and pastor, involved in shaping the currents of political life after Magna Carta, and a dazzling intellect. It is to his discussion of natural phenomena that the Ordered Universe project is dedicated. Bringing together a wide range of international scholars from different disciplines, including Philosophy, Physics, Arabic Studies, Psychology, History, English Studies and Engineering, the radical interdisciplinarity of the project allows the complexity of Grosseteste’s thought to be approached in new and exciting ways.

The talk will feature four speakers, representing different fields of study, and opening up different aspects of Grosseteste’s scientific vision. So, we begin with a philosopher, Neil Lewis from Georgetown, who are hosting the talk and its accompanying conference. Then the reactions of a physicist, Tom McLeish, to Grosseteste’s amazing treatise On Light, which describes the universe beginning with a single point of light, expanding instantaeneously to form a sphere. Eerie echoes of the Big Bang? Well, in some ways. Tom will share how the research group explored the implications of Grosseteste’s treatise on its own terms, and brought it to life in the form of a computer-generated model. Giles Gasper, a historian, will fill in some of the details of Grosseteste’s life, patchy though these are, and his significance in the intellectual changes of his day. These involve, crucially, the absorption of the treasure stores of knowledge from ancient Greek and medieval Islamic science, via translation into Latin, mostly in Spain, and disseminated across western Europe. Tom then moves to the most recent work of the Ordered Universe, examining Grosseteste’s On the Generation of Sounds – from sound to human vocal production, ancient learning to modern interpretative tools, and from philology to phonetics. Finally, we showcase with Projection Artist Ross Ashton the startling potential for our interdisciplinary research as an inspiration for modern art. In this case sound and light shows, very appropriately, for Festivals in the UK and Europe, bringing research into dialogue with artists and the publics who participate in their production. The talk ends with an evocation of medieval and modern conceptions of the cosmos, as projected onto one of the glories of Romanesque architecture – Durham Cathedral. What Grosseteste would have thought, we can only wonder. His his own wonder at the universe, its beauty, mystery and explicability, continue to inspire.

Ordered Universe Reading Group (Durham)

The Durham Ordered Universe group completes its second term next week. We had great fun with Adelard of Bath’s Natural Questions – from the smallest seed to the food which stars might eat, and Adelard’s fierce insistence on reason and the authority of, what he calls, the Arabic learning he had encountered on his travels in the eastern Mediterranean. The part of the nephew became a regular source of fun as well. We then moved onto an exploration of Euclid’s Elements Book 1, with the translation by Adelard at hand (an image from an early 14th century copy, now British Library Burney 275 is above). This involved a lot of triangles. A lot of triangles. And a few circles. However, it was absolutely fascinating to work through the Axioms, Common Notions and then to think through and draw through the propositions. This was especially the case with an interdisciplinary mixed sciences and humanities group: the scientists among us had not formally been taught Euclid, but remarked that the methods and principles were, in fact, deeply familiar. For the humanities experts among us, seeing the beauty of geometry and its foundational place in medieval thinking was a moving experience. Next term we move to Seneca’s Natural Questions, and then we start John Sacrobosco’s De sphera in Michaelmas 2017! With a very short stop on Grosseteste’s Dictum On Clouds next week, as an end of term treat. We’ll publish the timetable for next term shortly – if you’re in Durham and would like to come along, please let us know (ordered.universe@durham.ac.uk).

Medieval and Modern Science at Ely

On 11th February, Hannah and Giles were given a very warm welcome at Ely, at an open seminar organised by the Bishop of Huntingdon, Rt Revd David Thomson. David is also an Ordered Universe stalwart, taking the lead particularly on the Middle English version of some of Grosseteste’s earliest treatises. It was an especial pleasure, therefore, to be invited to Ely to present the project and its current work, some of the most recent scientific elements, and to participate in a lively and instructive question and answer session. We explored the life and times of Grosseteste, the context for his scientific works, and research into his rainbow treatise with Hannah’s ongoing work on retinal imaging.

We then ran a collaborative reading session on Grosseteste’s treatise On Colour. This was very stimulating, and, no matter how many times we read the text, new thoughts and and new interpretations arise. In this case the ideas were generated by the excellent and thoughtful participants. The event was run in the Old Palace, and our thanks go to all of the organisers, those who attended and to Bishop David. Certainly we came away with fresh insights. We then enjoyed a guided tour of the Cathedral, taken especially to see the Prior’s Door, with it’s magnificent carvings, including the zodiac. A stunning way to round off our visit to Ely. Thanks to all who made it possible!

The next scientific breakthrough…and the past

A short notice that Tom, Giles and Hannah have published a discussion piece in The Conversation, thinking through the inspiration that past engagement with natural phenomena can have on modern scientific thinking. Einstein, superconductivity, rainbows and ne0-classicism: it’s all here: The next scientific breakthrough…

Public Lecture at Georgetown University

A public lecture coming up at Georgetown University. March 31st, 16.30, with full details below. Neil Lewis, Tom McLeish, Giles Gasper and Ross Ashton will be talking about the project, its recent research and collaborations with projection artist Ross Ashton. It will include a public showing of the sound and light shows created by the Projection Studio.

Ordered Universe is extremely grateful to Georgetown University Department of philosophy for funding and hosting the conference to which this lecture is attached, and to Durham University for additional travel funds.