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Conference</title></head><body>
<div>Please post:</div>
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<div><font face="Courier" size="-1" color="#000000">The World of
Michael of Rhodes<br>
<br>
A conference sponsored by the Dibner Institute for the History of
Science and Technology, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts<br>
<br>
December 1-3, 2005<br>
<br>
In 1401, a young man named Michael of Rhodes entered Venetian service
as a humble galley oarsman. Over the next four decades, he rose to the
highest positions a non-noble could hold in the Venetian navy. He
fought in several major sea battles. He sailed on numerous commercial
voyages to such fabled destinations as Alexandria and Constantinople.
He commanded ships and even the movement of galley fleets.<br>
<br>
In 1434, this remarkable man sat down to write a manuscript
representing the essential knowledge he possessed as a master mariner.
Among the jewels it contains are 180 pages of mathematics, numerous
calendars, wonderful astrological illustrations, some of the earliest
extant navigational portolans, and the earliest known European
treatise on shipbuilding.<br>
<br>
On December 1-3, 2005, the Dibner Institute for the History of Science
and Technology will host the first public conference about Michael of
Rhodes. The contents of Michael's long-lost manuscript will be
presented to the world for the first time. Leading scholars of Venice
and the Mediterranean will place Michael's manuscript in its essential
historical context.<br>
<br>
The conference is organized in preparation for the publication of a
full edition with commentary on the manuscript, under the direction of
Pamela O. Long, David McGee, and Alan M. Stahl.<br>
<br>
Registration is free but, as space is limited, please RSVP to Dawn
Davis Loring at dloring@mit.edu or 617-253-8721. For updated
conference information, please visit
http://dibinst.mit.edu/mor-conference.<br>
<br>
Conference Schedule:<br>
<br>
Thursday, December 1, 2005<br>
<br>
Reception<br>
<br>
Keynote Address, Pamela O. Long, Getty Scholar, Getty Research
Institute<br>
<br>
Friday, December 2, 2005<br>
<br>
Morning: Michael and his Manuscript<br>
<br>
Chair, Paolo Galluzzi, Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza<br>
Franco Rossi, Archivio di Stato di Venezia<br>
Alan M. Stahl, Princeton University<br>
Dennis Romano, Syracuse University<br>
Pamela H. Smith, Columbia University<br>
<br>
Plenary Lecture<br>
David Jacoby, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem<br>
<br>
Afternoon: Mathematics and Navigation<br>
<br>
Chair: Glen Van Brummelen, Bennington College<br>
Raffaella Franci, Università di Siena<br>
Piero Falchetta, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana<br>
Warren Van Egmond, Arizona State University<br>
John Dotson, Southern Illinois University Carbondale<br>
<br>
Saturday, Dec 3, 2005<br>
<br>
Morning: Shipbuilding and Shipboard Life<br>
<br>
Chair, Filipe Vieira de Castro, Texas A&M<br>
David McGee, Burndy Library<br>
Mauro Bondioli, Independent Scholar<br>
Brad Loewen, Université de Montréal<br>
John Pryor, University of Sydney<br>
<br>
Afternoon: Cosmos and Society<br>
<br>
Chair, Diana Gilliland Wright, New School University<br>
Faith Wallis, McGill University<br>
Dieter Blume, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena<br>
Patricia Fortini Brown, Princeton University<br>
John Martin, Trinity University<br>
<br>
Closing Plenary Lecture<br>
Peter Spufford, Queens' College, Cambridge<br>
<br>
<br>
This conference is organized by the Michael of Rhodes Project, which
has been generously supported by grants from the National Endowment
for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, the Dibner
Institute for the History of Science and Technology, and The Gladys
Krieble Delmas Foundation.<br>
<br>
Any opinions, views, findings, conclusions or recommendations
expressed at this conference are those of the participants and do not
necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the
Humanities, the National Science Foundation, or our other
supporters.<br>
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<div>Dawn Davis Loring<br>
Workshop & Conference Coordinator<br>
Dibner Institute<br>
MIT Campus E56-100<br>
38 Memorial Drive<br>
Cambridge, MA 02139<br>
617.253.8721<br>
<br>
617.258.7195 (direct line)<br>
dloring@mit.edu</div>
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