Watch, Read, Listen

Rosalie McGurk, Fellow in Instrumentation at Carnegie Observatories, discusses how she is using the latest technological advances to build a new, custom-designed instrument for Carnegie Observatories’ Magellan Telescopes that can peer into the Universe with extreme detail, making it possible to efficiently make 3D maps of galaxies, nebulae, and more.

Sujit Sivasundaram, director of the Centre of South Asian Studies at the University of Cambridge, discusses the historic gardens that existed in Sri Lanka before the arrival of the British and the changes they faced during the colonial period. Under foreign rule, botanical gardens became an important tool of empire building as sites for introducing, propagating, and collecting plants. This program is presented in conjunction with the LACMA exhibition, “The Jeweled Isle: Art from Sri Lanka.”

Jennifer Van Horn, assistant professor at the University of Delaware, discusses the goods Anglo-Americans purchased and used in the 18th century, from dressing tables to portraits to peg legs in this Wark Lecture.

Internationally renowned botanist David Lee, emeritus professor at Florida International University, discusses blue pigments in plants and why they are so rare. Lee is the author of Nature’s Fabric: Leaves in Science and Culture.