Lecture Series: The Joys of the Natural World over Two Centuries
Wed., May 1, 2024, 10 a.m.–12 p.m.
Wednesdays, May 1 & 8 | Members: $60; Public: $80
Seaver Classroom 3, Munger Research Center
Over two consecutive Wednesday sessions, the class will study and discuss the joys of the natural world as represented in rare books and manuscripts in The Huntington’s collections from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Key Details
- Registration includes both sessions and free admission to The Huntington after each class.
- Enhance your class experience by purchasing Daniel Lewis’ new book, Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of Our Future.
Day of Program
- Please bring registration confirmation with you.
- Check in with Education staff at 9:30 a.m. near the Admissions windows.
For any questions or mobility concerns, please email Joy Yamahata or call 626-405-3457.
About the Instructor
Daniel Lewis is the Dibner Senior Curator for the History of Science and Technology at The Huntington, where he is responsible for the science and technology holdings from 1800 to the present. He has had postdoctoral appointments at Oxford University, the Smithsonian, and the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society in Munich. He has a faculty appointment at Caltech, where he teaches upper-division courses on environmental history and humanities. Lewis is the author of four books; the most recent is Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of Our Future from Simon & Schuster. He currently serves as a commissioner for the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission. He also won an Emmy in 2020 for his work as a producer on the KCET series Women in Aerospace.
Authored works include Star Struck: One Thousand Years of the Art and Science of Astronomy; Iron Horse Imperialism: The Southern Pacific of Mexico, 1880–1951; The Feathery Tribe; Belonging on an Island: Birds, Extinction, and Evolution in Hawai‘i; and Twelve Trees: The Deep Roots of Our Future.
Additional Works by Daniel Lewis
First Light
In astronomy, the first time a telescope lens is exposed to the night sky for viewing is referred to as first light. Astronomers and the people who design and construct telescopes eagerly await first light.
Collections of a Feather
When I was working on my recent book about Robert Ridgway, the Smithsonian’s first curator of birds, I got to thinking about the large sets of stuffed birds, or “study skins,” that he and his fellow bird professionals kept in drawers and cabinets in natural history museums.
Counting Extinction
The last observations of a small Hawaiian birdIn Belonging on an Island: Birds, Extinction, and Evolution in Hawai‘i (Yale University Press, 2018), Daniel Lewis takes readers on a 1,000-year journey as he explores the Hawaiian Islands’ beautiful birds and a variety of topics…
Archiving the Civil War’s Text Messages
A massive crowdsourcing project is digitizing thousands of coded Union telegramsTo gain insights into the U.S. Civil War, The Huntington launched an innovative crowdsourcing project last year to transcribe and decipher a collection of telegrams
Saving the Birds
When it comes to the study of Hawaiian birds, few scientists can rival Sheila Conant, professor emerita and former chair of the zoology department at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.