Sylwester Ratowt, Jane E. Boyd
Wagner Free Institute of Science
Taught by Sylwester Ratowt & Jane E. Boyd
Course runs 7 Wednesdays, from October 5-November 16, 2011
Time: 6:30pm-8pm
Location: The American Philosophical Society Museum
Course Description:
Two hundred years ago, Paris was the center of science, art, and culture in the Western world. People, ideas, plants, and animals from all over the globe flowed into the city. And from Paris, new scientific concepts, stunning works of art, and exciting stories were sent back out to Europe, the Americas, and beyond. This golden age of natural history forever changed the way we view the nature that surrounds us.
This course will explore such topics as the discovery of animal extinction, the role that artists played in shaping new scientific ideas, and science’s contribution to the formation of European empires. Stories will include: the musical concert performed for two elephants; the fossils of extinct elephants that Thomas Jefferson sent to French scientists; the black swans from Australia that graced Empress Josephine’s gardens; the artists who hand-painted exotic plants and birds on porcelain; and the giraffe that walked across France and created a sensation.
The course is based on the current exhibition at the American Philosophical Society (APS) Museum, entitled Of Elephants & Roses: Encounters with French Natural History, 1790–1830. Many of the objects and images discussed in the course are on display in the exhibition, which will be open for viewing free of charge before each class session.