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Thursday, November 2nd, 2017
- The Music of the Beatles - University of Rochester on Coursera - November 6 (7 weeks)
- What Is a Mind? - University of Cape Town on FutureLearn - November 6 (6 weeks)
- Big History - From the Big Bang until Today - University of Amsterdam on Coursera - November 6
- Introduction to Philosophy - University of Edinburgh on Coursera - November 13 (7 weeks)
- The Modern and the Postmodern (Part 2) - Wesleyan University on Coursera - November 13 (9 weeks)
- Introduction to Psychology - University of Toronto on Coursera - November 13 (8 weeks)
- The Blues: Understanding and Performing an American Art Form - University of Rochester on Coursera - November 13 (7 weeks)
- Thinking & Acting like an Entrepreneur - RWTH Aachen University on edX - November 15
- Poetry in America: The Poetry of Early New England - Harvard University on edX - November 15 (5 weeks)
- World of Spies: Keeping Secrets - Purdue University on FutureLearn - November 20
- Intellectual Humility: Practice - University of Edinburgh on Coursera - November 20
- First Nights - Beethoven's 9th - Harvard University on edX - November 21 (13 weeks)
- Design Theory - Shenkar College of Engineering on edX - November 28
- Introduction to Kabbalah - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev on edX - November 28
- First Nights: Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique and Program Music in the 19th Century - Harvard University on edX - November 28
- Poetry in America: Whitman - Harvard University on edX - November 29 (5 weeks)
| Time | Event |
| 8:00a | Pop Art Posters Celebrate Pioneering Women Scientists: Download Free Posters of Marie Curie, Ada Lovelace & More
We all know the name Marie Curie—or at least I hope we do. But for far too many people, that’s where their knowledge of women in science ends. Which means that thousands of young boys and girls who read about Isaac Newton and Louis Pasteur never also learn the story of Caroline Herschel (1750–1848), the first woman to discover a comet, publish with the Royal Society, and receive a salary for scientific work—as the assistant to the king’s astronomer, her brother, in 19th century England. Herschel discovered and catalogued new nebulae and star clusters; received a gold medal from the Royal Astronomical Society; and she and her brother William “increased the number of known star clusters,” writes the Smithsonian, “from 100 to 2,500.” And yet, she remains almost totally obscure. Open a math or physics textbook and you may not come across the name Emmy Noether (1882-1935), either, despite the fact that she “proved two theorems,” the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) notes, “that were basic for both general relativity and elementary particle physics. One is still known as ‘Noether’s Theorem.’” Noether fought hard for recognition in life. She received her Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Göttingen in 1907, and she eventually surpassed her scientist father and brothers. But at first, she could only secure work at the Mathematical Institute of Erlangen in a position without title or pay. And despite her brilliance, she was only allowed to teach at Göttingen University as the assistant to David Hilbert, also without a salary.
Noether suffered discrimination in Germany “owing not only to prejudices against women, but also because she was a Jew, a Social Democrat, and a pacifist.” Other prominent women in scientific history have encountered similarly intersecting forms of discrimination, and continue to do so. Much has changed since the times of Herschel and of Noether, but “there is much work to be done,” writes Eamon O’Flynn of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. “Part of making positive change includes celebrating the contributions women have made to science, especially those women overlooked in their time.” For this reason, the Perimeter Institute has created a poster series, called "Forces of Nature," for “classrooms, dorm rooms, living rooms, offices, and physics departments.”
The posters feature Curie, Noether, computing pioneer Ada Lovelace, stellar astronomer Annie Jump Cannon, and “first lady of physics” Chien-Shiung Wu. Should you want one or all of these as high-resolution images printable up to 24”x36”, visit the Perimeter Institute’s site and follow the links to fill out a short form. Whether you’re a parent, teacher, or mentor—these striking pop art posters seem like an excellent way to get a conversation about women in science started. Follow up with the Smithsonian’s “Ten Historic Female Scientists You Should Know,” SDSC's Women in Science project, Rachel Ignotofsky’s Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World, and—for a contemporary view of women working in every possible STEM field—the Association for Women in Science. Related Content: Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC. Follow him at @jdmagness Pop Art Posters Celebrate Pioneering Women Scientists: Download Free Posters of Marie Curie, Ada Lovelace & More is a post from: Open Culture. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus, or get our Daily Email. And don't miss our big collections of Free Online Courses, Free Online Movies, Free eBooks, Free Audio Books, Free Foreign Language Lessons, and MOOCs.  |
| 11:00a | See Mozart Played on Mozart’s Own Fortepiano, the Instrument That Most Authentically Captures the Sound of His Music
I’ve been a fan of the Academy of Ancient Music since I picked up its performance of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons as a teenager in the UK. Though into rock and prog at the time, I was always trying to expand my learning and would occasionally turn the dial from BBC Radio One (for John Peel, late at night) to Radio Four where I tried to make my way in the heady world of classical music. It was how the album was promoted and sold: you’ve never heard Vivaldi until you’ve heard it on the original instruments! I mean, this tied right in at the time to the advent of CDs (“hear it as the musicians did in the control room!”) and the beginning of “from the original master tapes!” turning up on recordings. I was all in, and it's a thrilling recording. That thrill never goes away, as demonstrated with the above video of Robert Levin, recently announced as the first Hogwood Fellow of the Academy, playing Mozart on Mozart’s own piano. Or rather, Mozart’s fortepiano, a smaller and much lighter version of the piano. It is two octaves shorter, and only seven feet long. Mozart used this fortepiano for both composing and performing from 1785 until his death in 1791. He wrote over 50 works on it. The instrument dates to 1782, built by Anton Walter, one of the best-known piano makers in Vienna at that time. In 2012 it finally returned to Mozart’s Salzburg home (now a museum), having been in the possession of the Cathedral Music Association and Mozarteum for the majority of the years since the composer’s death. “One writes for acoustical and aesthetic properties of the instruments at hand,” Levin says, explaining the Academy’s mission and ideology. Naturally it follows that Mozart sounds the best on Mozart’s instrument. The fortepiano is brighter and jauntier, and can be a revelation for those with the talent and fortune to play it. Levin says:
Levin is currently recording Mozart’s piano sonatas on this very fortepiano. The piece he plays in the video is Mozart's Sonata No. 17 in B flat major KV 570 (3rd movement). Related Content: Hear the Pieces Mozart Composed When He Was Only Five Years Old Watch a Musician Improvise on a 500-Year-Old Music Instrument, The Carillon Ted Mills is a freelance writer on the arts who currently hosts the artist interview-based FunkZone Podcast and is the producer of KCRW's Curious Coast. You can also follow him on Twitter at @tedmills, read his other arts writing at tedmills.com and/or watch his films here. See Mozart Played on Mozart’s Own Fortepiano, the Instrument That Most Authentically Captures the Sound of His Music is a post from: Open Culture. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus, or get our Daily Email. And don't miss our big collections of Free Online Courses, Free Online Movies, Free eBooks, Free Audio Books, Free Foreign Language Lessons, and MOOCs. |
| 2:00p | 900+ MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) Getting Started in November: Enroll Today
A quick fyi: 900+ MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) will be getting underway this month, giving you the chance to take free courses from top flight universities. With the help of Class Central, we've pulled together a complete list of November MOOCS. And below we've highlighted several courses that piqued our interest, starting with "The Music of the Beatles," whose trailer you can watch above. Here's one tip to keep in mind: If you want to take a course for free, select the "Full Course, No Certificate" or "Audit" option when you enroll. If you would like an official certificate documenting that you have successfully completed the course, you will need to pay a fee. You can browse through the complete list of November MOOCs here. Follow Open Culture on Facebook and Twitter and share intelligent media with your friends. Or better yet, sign up for our daily email and get a daily dose of Open Culture in your inbox. If you'd like to support Open Culture and our mission, please consider making a donation to our site. It's hard to rely 100% on ads, and your contributions will help us provide the best free cultural and educational materials. 900+ MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) Getting Started in November: Enroll Today is a post from: Open Culture. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus, or get our Daily Email. And don't miss our big collections of Free Online Courses, Free Online Movies, Free eBooks, Free Audio Books, Free Foreign Language Lessons, and MOOCs. |
| 8:28p | The Philosophy of Rick and Morty: What Everyone’s New Favorite Cartoon Has in Common with Albert Camus
"Nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody's gonna die." So, in one episode of Rick and Morty, says the fourteen-year-old Morty Smith, one of the show's titular co-protagonists. With the other, a mad scientist by the name of Rick Sanchez, who also happens to be Morty's grandfather, he constitutes the animated team that has entertained thousands and thousands of viewers — and made insatiable fans of seemingly all of them — over the past four years. To those few who haven't yet seen the show, it may just look like a silly cartoon, but the true fans understand that underneath all of the memorable gags and quotable lines lies an unusual philosophical depth. "The human desire to fulfill some special existential purpose has existed throughout history," says video essayist Will Schoder in his analysis of the philosophy of Rick and Morty. But the titular duo's adventures through all possible realities of the "multiverse" ensure that they experience firsthand the utter meaninglessness of each individual reality. When Morty breaks that bleak-sounding news to his sister Summer with the now oft-quoted line above, he actually delivers a "comforting message": once you confront the randomness of the universe, as Rick and Morty constantly do, "the only option is to find importance in the stuff right in front of you," and their adventures show that "friends, family, and doing what we enjoy are far more important than any unsolvable questions about existence." Schoder, also the author of a video essay on Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon's mythological storytelling technique as well as one we've previously featured about David Foster Wallace's critique of postmodernism, makes the clear philosophical connection to Albert Camus. The philosopher and author of The Stranger wrote and thought a great deal about the "contradiction between humans' desire to find meaning in life and the meaninglessness of the universe," and the absurdity that results, a notion the cartoon has dramatized over and over again, with an ever-heightening absurdity. We must, like Sisyphus eternally pushing his rock uphill, recognize the true nature of our situation yet defiantly continue "to explore and search for meaning." Morty, as any fan well knows, offers Summer another solution to her despair: "Come watch TV." Related Content: Albert Camus: The Madness of Sincerity — 1997 Documentary Revisits the Philosopher’s Life & Work David Foster Wallace on What’s Wrong with Postmodernism: A Video Essay The Philosophy of The Matrix: From Plato and Descartes, to Eastern Philosophy The Philosophy of Bill Murray: The Intellectual Foundations of His Comedic Persona Based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities and culture. His projects include the book The Stateless City: a Walk through 21st-Century Los Angeles and the video series The City in Cinema. Follow him on Twitter at @colinmarshall or on Facebook. The Philosophy of <i>Rick and Morty</i>: What Everyone’s New Favorite Cartoon Has in Common with Albert Camus is a post from: Open Culture. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus, or get our Daily Email. And don't miss our big collections of Free Online Courses, Free Online Movies, Free eBooks, Free Audio Books, Free Foreign Language Lessons, and MOOCs. |
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