What's On at the Library

Medical Practice in the Medieval Islamic World  October 8, 6:30 pm, North York Central Library
Concourse.

The series begins in the 8th and 9th centuries, when Europe was locked in the
Dark Ages and Muslim civilization was at its zenith. Were it not for the
scientists and thinkers of the medieval Islamic world, the modern world
would not have algebra, modern medicine, astronomy and much else. Dr. Ingrid Hehmeyer, from Ryerson University, explores the diseases that affected people's lives during this period and the approaches taken to hold them at bay.

Dr. Hehmeyer is a professor in the history of science and technology and an agricultural engineer specializing in human-environmental relationships in the arid regions of
ancient and mediaeval Arabia. Her current field research focuses on the
history of water technology in mediaeval Yemen, where she investigates
technical innovations in hydraulic engineering and strategies for water
management that allowed people to live under harsh environmental
conditions.

Isaac Newton and the Creation of Modern Science Oct. 16, 6:30 pm Danforth Coxwell Branch

In the second lecture, we step ahead several centuries, to Isaac Newton, probably one of the most important scientists in history.This is apparen't in some of the titles in Toronto Public Library's collections:

Isaac Newton : organizing the universe

Isaac Newton : the scientist who changed everything

Isaac Newton : groundbreaking physicist and mathematician

Newton's gift : how Sir Isaac Newton unlocked the system of the world

This
lecture gives a non-technical overview of Newton’s central achievements in
the physical sciences. Presented by Dr. Brian Baigrie, this talk will try to clarify why it is fair to say that Newton
was the chief architect of the project we call modern science.

Ballooning in the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, Nov 6, 6:30 pm, Runnymede 

A few years before the French Revolution,
humanity took to the skies in hot-air balloons. Professor Janice Langins looks
at the balloon as both symbolic of the aspirations of the Enlightenment and a
product of that era’s new research in chemistry. 

Ballooning, the "sublime invention," was both a mass cultural phenomenon and an important symbol of scientific progress. In 1783, when the Montgolfier brothers invented the hot-air balloon, the discovery shocked France, according to author Michael Lynn (Popular Science and Public Opinion in Eighteenth-Century France). Humans had defied gravity and it was not long before the ballooning craze swept Europe.

The History of Autism Nov 13,
Brentwood and Nov 27, Runnymede, 6:30 pm.

Science in History wraps up at North York Central Library on Dec. 4, 6:30  pm.  with a presentation on Toronto's Astronomical Heritage

Dr. John Percy, a well-known and popular speaker on astronomy, will talk about Toronto's rich astronomical heritage from the 1830s until today as well as astronomy's impact on society and culture.