!

2!

[DATE]'

[ISSUE]'

From the Dark Ages to Dark Matter: Modern Encounters With Medieval Science.

Event Programme Durham Cathedral, 18th November, 10am-4pm

Ushaw College, 19th November, 5.30pm-7.30pm

Image of ‘Bullet Cluster’ courtesy of NASA/ Institute of Computational Cosmology, Durham University

CONTENTS!

'From'the'Dark'Ages'to'Dark'Matter''Robert'Grosseteste'

Page!3!

The'Ordered'Universe'Research'Collaboration'

Page!4!

Outline'of'Activities:'18th'November'2014'Workshop'Sessions:'Durham'Cathedral'

Page!5!

Outline'of'Activities:'19th'November'2014'

Public'Lecture:'Ushaw'College'

Page!6!

Grosseteste's'Scientific'Works'

Page!7'

Ordering'Grosseteste's'Scientific'Works'

Page!8!

'On'Colour''and''On'the'Generation'of'Sounds''

Page!9!

'On'Light''and''On'the'Rainbow''

Page!10!

The'Medieval'Cosmos:'Making'the'Visualisation'

Page!11!

!

FIND!OUT!MORE!ABOUT!THE!ORDERED!UNIVERSE!PROJECT!AT!WWW.ORDEREDCUNIVERSE.COM!!

!

5!

4!3!

The! Ordered! Universe! team! includes! medieval! specialists,! in! history,!

philosophy,! ancient! and! medieval! languages,! medieval! literature! and! handCwriting,!and!modern!scientists,!physicists,!colourCvision!experts,!cosmologists,!

and! mathematicians.! Developed! at! Durham! and! Oxford! universities,! with!international! partners,! the! collaboration creates! a! forum! in! which! modern!

science!engages!with!medieval!thought!with!surprising!and!important!results.!We!are!able!to!present!thirteenth!century!science!in!its!own!terms,!to!explore!

its! mathematical! intricacies,! its! axioms! and! its! methods:! enabling! a! clearer!explanation!of!the past.!We!are!also!able!to!pose!questions!to!modern!science!

and! modern! culture! about! the! relationship! between! fields! of! study,!questioning!our!own!certainties,!and providing!a!longer,!healthier!perspective:!what,! for! example,! will investigators! of! the! next! millennium!make! of! Dark!Matter?!How!will!they approach!what!is!to!be human within!the!universe?

THE ORDERED UNIVERSE RESEARCH COLLABORATION

Above:'(clockwise,'starting'from'top'left)'Dr!Sigbjørn!Sønnesyn!(Bergen),!Dr!Cecilia!Panti!(Rome,!Tor!Vergata),!Dr!Hannah!Smithson!(Oxford),!Dr!Giles!Gasper!(Durham),!Prof.!Brian!Tanner!(Durham),!Prof.!Tom!McLeish,!FRS!(Durham).''

What!we!present!today!is!original,! interdisciplinary! research,!and!a!unique!collaboration!between!humanities!scholars!and!modern!scientists! into! the!work!of!an!extraordinary! thinker! from! the! thirteenth!century.!He!was!Robert'Grosseteste,!later!bishop!of!Lincoln,!one!of!the!most!dazzling!and! imaginative! minds! of! his! generation.!His!response!to!questions!which!find!us!at!our!most!human,!who!are!we,!why!are!we!

here,!how!do!we!relate!to!the!natural!world!around! us,! is! what! we! will! explore! in! the!interactive,! multiCmedia,! dayClong! public!workshop!at!Durham!Cathedral.!Chaired!by!popular!science!writer!Michael'Brooks,!along!with!members!of!the!Ordered'Universe! research! team,!the!workshop!will! explore! the! secrets! of! the!medieval! universe,! Grosseteste’s!exposition!of!a!medieval!‘big!bang’,!his!explanation!for!the!rainbow!and!his!theory! of! colour.! We! will! show! how! scientists! and! medieval! specialists!inspire!each!other!and!the!surprising!results!that!emerge.!The!workshop!is!followed! tomorrow!by!Michael!Brooks’s! public! lecture,! at!Ushaw! College,!on!the!frontiers!of!science.!

Polymathic!scholar,!Grosseteste!played!an!active!and! important! role! in! academic,! church! and!political! life!in!England!in!the!first!half!of!the!13th!century.!Born! around! 1170,! he!was! later! tutor! to!the! Oxford! Franciscans! from! 1228,! and! then!Bishop! of! Lincoln! 1235C1253.! One! of! the! first!

western! scholars! to! grapple! with! newly! translated! texts! of! Aristotle!(with! their! Jewish! and! Islamic! commentators),! which! were! to! be! so!influential! on!western! thinking,!Grosseteste!was!a' thinker!of!powerful'independence! and! creativity.! He! was! also! a! fierce! church! reformer,!involved! in! the!politics!of!postCMagna!Carta!England,! a! theologian,!an!administrator!who!wrote!a!treatise!on!farming,!a!music! lover,!preacher!and!poet.'[Photo: !wikiCcommons]'

'Warm&Dark&Matter&Halo',&courtesy!of!the!ICC/!Virgo!Consortium.&&

ROBERT GROSSETESTE (C. 1170/5 - 1253)

FROM THE 'DARK AGES' TO DARK MATTER

!

6!5!

'

10.00'X'11.00'am,''The'Chapter'House'

Introduction'to'the'team'and'the'subject:'Who'was'Grosseteste,'why'should'we'know'more'about'him,'why'is'his'story'so'important?'Why'is'medieval'science'interesting?'

11.15'am'X'12.30'pm,'Prior's'Hall'

Reading'Medieval'Science:'Public'Readings'of'the'texts'of'the'treatises'with'explanations'and'commentaries'from'the'Ordered'Universe'team.'Lunch'Break:'12.30'X'1.30'pm'

3.00'X'4.00'pm,'The'Chapter'House'

The'Medieval'Big'Bang:'the'premier'of'the'Ordered'Universe'film,'with'an'explanation'of'how'we'made'it.''

OUTLINE OF ACTIVITIES: 18 NOVEMBER, 2014

WORKSHOP SESSIONS, DURHAM CATHEDRAL

How'to'do'medieval'science:'Interactive'exposition'of'experiments'led'by'Brian'Tanner'(Dept.'of'Physics,'Dur.)'

1.30'X'2.45'pm,''Prior's'Hall'

'‘At'the'Edge'of'Uncertainty:'the'Wild'Frontiers'of'Modern'Science’'

Michael!Brooks!!

Quantum!Physicist,!Science!Consultant!for!New&Scientist,&Columnist!for!New&Statesman!and!popular!science!author.!

!

Venue:!!Ushaw!College!(entrance!will!be!via!the!Business!School!door)!

5.30'pm:!Drinks!Reception,!Ushaw!College,!Refectory!

6.00'pm:!Public!Lecture,!Michael!Brooks!

The! lecture!will! be! introduced!by!Professor! Karen! Kilby,! Bede!Professor! of! Catholic! Theology,!and,!Michael!Brooks!by!Professor!Tom! McLeish! of! the! Ordered!Universe!Research!Project.!

The!Ushaw!College!lecture!is!free!but! please! register! for! your! free!ticket! with! James! Kelly! at!james.kelly3@durham.ac.uk.!

!For! information! about! transport! links! to! Ushaw!please!contact!Theresa!Phillips!on! +44! (0)191! 334!1656,!or!see:!!www.dur.ac.uk/greenspace/travel/public/bus/ushawcollege/!

The!Ushaw!Public!Lectures!are!organised!by!Durham!

University's!Centre!for!Catholic!Studies.!As!part!of!a!wider!

mission!to!showcase!the!history,!resources!and!heritage!of!the!

college,!the!lecture!series!draws!a!regular!audience.!Ushaw!has!notable!holdings!for!History!of!

Science.!

OUTLINE OF ACTIVITIES: 19 NOVEMBER, 2014

PUBLIC LECTURE, USHAW COLLEGE

!

8!7!

The!Ordered!Universe!follows!Cecilia!Panti’s!suggested!chronology!for!the!scientific!works:!!

1200'X'1215' On&the&Liberal&Arts!

' On&the&Generation&of&Sounds!

1215'X'1220' On&the&Sphere&

1220'X'1225' On&Comets&

' On&the&Impressions&of&Elements!

' On&the&Motion&of&the&Body&and&Light!

' On&Different&Locations!

' On&Supercelestial&Movement&

1225'X'1230' On&Light!

' On&Colour!

' On&Lines&and&Angles&/&On&the&Nature&of&Places!

' On&the&Rainbow!

Room!remains! for! interpretation!within!these!suggestions:! the! treatise!On&Colour!might!be!written!before,!or!after,!On&Light,!and!the!difference!is!an!important!part!of!how!Grosseteste's!work!is!interpreted.!On!this!reading,!he!completes!the!bulk!of!his!investigations!into!natural!phenomena!before!his!major! theological!work.! There! is! an!overlap:!he!was!appointed! teacher! to!the! Franciscans! of! Oxford! in! 1228/1229,! and! may! have! been! lecturing! in!theology! a! little! earlier.! Lectures!on!Genesis! and! Isaiah!may!overlap!with!the! final!phases!of!his! scientific!writing.!The!significance! is!worth!dwelling!on:! the! scientific! treatises!are! specific! inquiries! to!specific! issues,!but! they!are!not!made!in!an!environment!where! ‘science’!was!a!separate! field! from!other!subjects!of!study.!!

ORDERING GROSSETESTE'S SCIENTIFIC WORKS

Trivium!

Grammar! Logic! Rhetoric!

One! of! the! conundrums! of! Grosseteste’s! career! is! the! order! in! which! he!wrote!his!treatises.!Not!knowing!where!he!was!between!the!years!1198!and!1225,!we!cannot!fit!them!into!a!known!career!path.!We!can!make!plausible!suggestions! as! to!what! path! his! career! took,! but! these! are!no!more! than!plausible.!What!we! are! left! with! is! a! situation! in!which! the!works! can! be!interpreted!in!light!of!the!suggested!careerCpath,!or!the!careerCpath!in!light!of!the!works!whose!relative!dating!is!impossible!to!state!with!any!degree!of!certainty.! There! is! general! agreement! that! he! embarked! on! his! scientific!works! before! his! theological! works,! which! would! fit! with! the! medieval!educational!scheme,!which!began!with!study!of!the!seven! liberal!arts.!The!arts!programme!was!divided!into!two,!the!three!subjects!of!the!Trivium!and!the!four!of!the!Quadrivium:!

Quadrivium!

Arithmetic! Geometry! Astronomy! Music!

Whereas! the! Trivium! focuses! on! speech,! argument! and! the! ordering! of!thought,! the!Quadrivium! focuses! on!mathematics.! This! includes!music! in!the! medieval! period,! with! its! emphasis! on! proportion! and! ratio,! a!theoretical!subject!as!much!as!a!practical.!Grosseteste’s!scientific!works!fall,!broadly! speaking,! into! the!mathematical! arts.! How! far! there!was! overlap!between! this! stage! of! his! career! and! his! theological! works! is! more!contested.!Why!this!matters!is!that!it!affects!the!chronology!of!the!works!as!the!example!of!the!treatise!'On!Light'!shows.!For!Sir!Richard!Southern,!this!was! a! very! late! text! from! the! 1240s,! postCdating! the! theological! work! on!creation;! for! James! McEvoy,! the! treatise! was! dated! to! about! 1225.! The!chronological!difference!is!crucial!for!how!the!treatise!is!to!be!understood.!

GROSSETESTE'S SCIENTIFIC WORKS IN CONTEXT

!

10!9!

On&Colour:! the! first! treatise! to!be! examined! fully!by! the!Ordered!Universe!project,! and! one! of! the! shortest! at! a! little!over! 400! words.! Grosseteste! sets! out! the!issue! very! clearly! in! the!opening! sentence:!'color! est! lux! incorporata! perspicuum'!‘colour!is!light!incorporated!in!a!diaphanous!medium’.!What! colour! is,! and! how! does! it!move! from! blackness! to! whiteness,!occupies! him! for! the! rest! of! this! dense,!exquisitely! structured! discussion.! What!emerges! is! Grosseteste’s! conception! of! a!threeCdimensional! colourCspace,! with! very!interesting! analogues! to! modern! colour!theory.! The! treatise! seems! to! have! been!written! in! or! around! 1225,! based! on! the!texts!to!which!Grosseteste!seems!to!refer,!in!particular!that!of!Averroes!(the!Islamic!philosopher!from!Cordoba,!Ibn!Rushd,!d.!1198,!pictured!above).!The!manuscript! history! was! intriguing! and! exiting! to! uncover:! a! piece! of!detective!work!with!missing!words!found,!and!numerical!problems!solved.!

DE COLORE: ON COLOUR

On&the&Generation&of&Sounds:&takes!us!to!the!earliest!point!of!Grosseteste’s!writing! career,! with! a! text! composed! between!1200! and! 1215,! closely! related! to! that! on! the!liberal! arts,! De& artibus& liberalibus,! a! guide! to!learning.! In! the! Generation& of& Sounds&Grosseteste! presents! a! systematic! account! of!sound,!and!the!production!of!the!human!voice!in!particular,! with! reference! to! Latin,! Hebrew,!Greek! and! Arabic! letter.!While! using! authorities!such!as!Priscian!and!Isidore!of!Seville!(named)!and!Augustine! (not! named),! Grosseteste! also! makes! an! early! appeal! to!experience,!in!the!knowledge!brought!by!sight!and!sound.&

DE GENERATIONE SONORUM: ON THE GENERATION OF SOUNDS

On& Light:& one! of! the! most! famous! of!Grosseteste’s!treatises,!and!the!only!one!to!have! multiple! translations.! Light,!especially! from! the! 1220s! onwards,!dominated! Grosseteste’s! thought.! He!found! in! it,! not! merely! an! image! and!analogy!for!the!activity!of!creation!and!the!relation!between!the!material!and!spiritual!understandings!of! the!world,! but! the! very!stuff! of! the!physical! and! spiritual! worlds.! Light,! for!Grosseteste,! was! that!which! created!body,! giving! replicating! power! to!matter;! it!was! embodied!throughout! creation,! from! the! lowest! and! smallest! body! on! earth! to! the!limits!of!the! first!sphere!of! the!universe.!The!treatise!On&Light& is!a!bravura!exploration! of! medieval! cosmology,! a! union! of! a! created! universe,! as!biblically! revealed,! and! ancient! Greek! and! medieval! Arabic! and! Jewish!conceptions! of! the! heavenly! and! earthly! spheres.! It! is! also! a! work! of!mathematical! experiment,! accurate! enough! to! be! followed! and!represented!with!modern!computerCmodelling.!The!Grosseteste!code,!and!his!celebration!of!writing!on!the!universe!await.&

On& the& Rainbow:& the! treatise! on! the! Rainbow! is! one! of! the! last! of! the!scientific!treatises!Grosseteste!composed.!Dating!from!about!1228/1230!the!

treatise! shows! a! much! fuller! range! of! his! reading! of!Averroes! and! other! commentators! on! Aristotle.! It! also!reveals!the!boldness!of!Grosseteste’s!thought,!taking!on,!right! from! the! opening! of! the! work,! a! question! he!thought! Aristotle! had! not! resolved.! An! extended!introduction! (‘resolutio’! to! the! medieval! scholar)! takes!the! reader! through! the!disciplines!needed! to! study! the!rainbow:!physics!and!optics,!blending!the!two!together.!Grosseteste! describes! the! law! of! refraction! and! an!

experiment!through!which! refraction!can!be!illustrated.!His!analysis!of!the!rainbow! then! follows,! including! a! section! at! the! end! where! he! uses,! and!develops!his!own!theory!of!colour! to!explain! the!differences!between!and!within!rainbows.!&

DE IRIDE: ON THE RAINBOW

DE LUCE: ON LIGHT

!

12!11!

!

The Festival of Humanities:

‘From!the!Dark!Ages!to!Dark!Matter:!Modern!Encounters!with!Medieval!

Science’! is! part!of! the!Durham!University!contribution!to! the!National!Festival! of! Humanities,! in! its! inaugural! year.! The! Festival,! with! hubs!across! the! United! Kingdom,! including! Durham! and! Newcastle! in! the!NorthCEast,! celebrates! humanities! research! in! all! its! diverse! forms,! to!excite,!challenge,!and,!above!all,!to!share!the!fruits!of!this!research,!the!

questions! posed!and! the!ways! in!which! researchers! in! the! humanities!have! set! about! addressing! them.! The! theme! of! the! Festival! ‘Being!Human’!provokes!a!fantastic!array!of!inquiry,!issues!and!questions:!the!full!programme!is!available!at:!www.beinghuman.org!

Aristotle! and! the! ancient! astronomer!Ptolemy!(d.c.168/70),!conceived!the!universe!to! consist! of! spheres,! nested! within! each!other,! with! the! Earth! at! the! centre.! This!conception! continued! in! the! Middle! Ages,!amongst! Islamic,! Jewish! and! Christian!scholars.! Grosseteste! inherits! Islamic! views!that! the! number! of! spheres! was! ten:! nine!above! the! moon! (the! celestial! spheres)! and!one! below! (the! subClunary! realm):! The!Firmament,! Fixed! Stars,! Saturn,! Jupiter,!Mars,!Sun,!Venus,!Mercury,!Moon,!and!below!the!moon!the! spheres!of! the!elements,! Fire,!

Air,! Water,! Earth.! Depicted! here! is! a! later! 13th! century! illustration! by!Goussin!de!Metz!(image!by!permission!BNF).!

The!visulisation!presents!our!Ordered!Universe!research!on!the!treatise!'On!Light',! especially! the!mathematical! framework,! in! a! more! dynamic! form.!Professor! Nick! Holliman,! Head! of! Interactive! Media! at! the! University! of!York! (below,! left),! designed! the! visualisation,! with! help! from! a! summer!studentship! from! the! Durham! Institute! of! Advanced! Computing,! which!allowed! Adam! Harries! to! make! the! first! models,! a! script! created! by!members!of! the!Ordered!Universe! team,! and!voiceovers! from!Sir!Thomas!Allen,! and!Durham! almuna! Sally! Hodgkiss.! Seeing! Grosseteste's! universe!take! shape! is! a! spineCtingling! experience,! and! made! possible! only! with!collaborative!humanities!and!science!research.!

THE MEDIEVAL COSMOS

MAKING THE VISUALISATION