Network of scholars brings history of science to life
The audience listens attentively as Walter Peace delivers a lecture on the history of cartography. His presentation contains a series of intricate images that look more like works of art than historical maps.
The audience is made up of students, faculty and others from different disciplines and different corners of the University, eager to learn more about the art and science of map-making.
This lecture is part of an initiative called HISTReENet (History of Ideas, Science and Technology, Research and Education Network), a McMaster speaker series that explores the histories of different fields of science and aims to connect people across campus interested in these areas of study.
“I joined McMaster about five years ago now. My primary research area is the history of astronomy, particularly ancient Egyptian astronomy,” says Sarah Symons, co-creator of HISTReENet and a teaching professor in the Integrated Science program as well as the Department of Physics and Astronomy. “No one else in my department actually does history of astronomy, and I found it difficult to find people around the University that were interested in ‘history of…’ whatever they were doing. There was no easy place I could go to find new colleagues or collaborators.”
Symons set about looking for others at McMaster interested in the history and philosophy of science and connected with Rob Cockcroft, a postdoctoral fellow, also in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Together, they applied for and received a Forward with Integrity grant and HISTReENet was born.
