ASTRONOMY CLUB OF TULSA

OBSERVER

E-mail version

February 2000

ACT, Inc. has been meeting continuously since 1937 and was incorporated in 1986. It is a nonprofit; tax deductible organization dedicated to promoting, to the public, the art of viewing and the scientific aspect of astronomy.

WHAT:

The Astronomy Club of Tulsa Meeting

WHEN:

Friday February 18, 2000 at 7:30 P.M.

WHERE:

Room M1 inside Keplinger Hall, the Science & Engineering Building at TU. Enter the parking lot on the East Side of Keplinger Hall from Harvard and 5th Street. This will take you directly toward the staircase to enter the building. Room M1 is the first room on the left.

FROM THE PRESIDENT

You won't want to miss this year's Art Sweeny Memorial Lecture Series. Dr. Mike Keas of Oklahoma Baptist University will present:

Flat Earth Mythology

And

Astronomy from Plato to NATO

Did people in the Middle Ages think the Earth is flat?
Did Columbus prove it spherical?
Who has had better astronomically-based evidence for the Earth's sphericity, the average 20th-century college-educated person, or the average university student of the 13th century?
What can we learn about astronomy, education, and humanity from a history of astronomy and Earth's shape from Plato to NATO?
Come to the year 2000 Art Sweeny lecture to hear surprising answers to these questions
Get a sneak preview of Oklahoma's only university-based planetarium
Did you observe the January 20th lunar eclipse!
Will you notice what Aristotle saw?

Bios:

Michael Newton Keas earned a PhD in History of Science in 1992 from OU, after extensive undergraduate work in science and European history. He experienced some of the last historic moments behind the Berlin wall (1988-89 Fulbright residence in East Germany) and has developed extensive curricula for liberal arts science courses that draw both from his direct experience with international science as well as his science studies in cultural context. Since 1993 he has served Oklahoma Baptist University as Assistant Professor of Natural Science and co-designer of OBU's unique student-managed Planetarium. His independent and collaborative academic projects have attracted national attention and funding through agencies such as the National Science Foundation and Templeton Foundation. He has contributed articles to several scholarly anthologies and journals, including the American Chemical Society's Nobel Laureates in Chemistry (1901-1992). He is currently investigating the presuppositional and rhetorical dimensions of science since antiquity (including work at Oxford University during 3 summers in a program funded by Sir John Templeton). Mike Keas has been awarded half time release from teaching in the spring of 2000 for curricular development (the Discovery Institute's Center for the Renewal of Science and Culture is supporting Keas' work on biology curricula and the American Council of Learned Societies is funding his co-directorship of OBU's "Cosmology and Cultures" project which will develop planetarium shows for children through adults).

http://www.okbu.edu/academics/natsci/hp/keas/papers/flat_astroclub.htm

Up Coming EVENTS:

March 17th Meeting - Earning an Observing Certificate from the Astronomical League.

We will be talking about the many interesting and challenging observing programs available to amateur astronomers. Congratulations to our very own K C Lobrecht for becoming the first women and only the 10th person to complete the HERSCHEL II certificate!!

Friday March 10th 7:00 to 10:00 PM

Public Telescope Viewing Night at TCC West Campus. We will need many of you to bring telescopes to share the view. Our alternate night will be Sat 11th if weather is poor Friday. To get to TCC's new WEST CAMPUS take I-44 west across the river to the 51st Street exit (exit 223 B). **Stay in the Center LANE ** for 51st Street. Follow the exit road as it curves around to 51st Street. DO NOT TURN onto 51st!! Go Straight across 51st and you will be on the Gilcrease Expressway (two Lanes). Gilcrease ends at 41st. TURN LEFT (west) onto 41st Street. The TCC west campus is about 1 mile west on the North side at the crest of a hill. 41st Street is the road to the Discovery Land Theater, so look for their blue signs. Please Use CAUTION in the CONSTRUCTION ZONES ! ! Note: We are still finalizing arrangements on this date.

Saturday April 1 - Messier Marathon at TUVA, home of Ron and Maura McDermott Wood and BART their 24" telescope. On a few nights in early spring it is possible to see almost all of the 110 Messier Objects in a single night. This annual event draws astronomers for Oklahoma City, Tulsa and the surrounding areas. More on this and driving instructions in the March newsletter.

That’s all folks…