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Two upcoming Treadwell's lectures look very cool, one on Paracelsus and one of John Dee.
Paracelsus: Renaissance Magic and Science
Dr. Philip Ball
22nd February (Thursday) 7.15 for 7.30pm start £5
The name Paracelsus is a by-word for the archetypal alchemist: the wizened man with wild hair, shambolic laboratory and shady reputation. The real Paracelsus – alchemist, scientist, occultist – is the subject of this talk. But he was a larger-than-life figure even in his own day: an enemy of the medical establishment, a scourge of the universities, an alchemist, army surgeon and radical theologian. He accumulated myths even before he went to an early grave: his name was linked with Faust, who bargained with the devil. Philip Ball explores the intellectual, political and religious undercurrents of the sixteenth century, placing Paracelsus on the cusp between the medieval and modern eras. In his work, uniting the diverse disciplines of medicine, biology and alchemy, he assisted – almost in spite of himself – the birth of science and the emergence of the age of rationalism.
Philip Ball is an award-winning freelance writer and a consultant editor for Nature. He writes regularly in the scientific and popular media, and has ten books on scientific subjects to his name. His next books, Universe of Stone (on Chartres cathedral) and The Sun and Moon Corrupted (a novel), will be published in 2008. He studied chemistry at Oxford and holds a doctorate in physics from the University of Bristol.
Travels of Dr. Dee: A Slide Lecture
Robin Cousins
28th March (Wednesday) 7.15 for 7.30pm start £5
John Dee, Elizabeth I’s astrologer and leading mathematician, was deeply involved with alchemy and angelic magic. The latter practices involved his scryer and best friend Edward Kelley. Dee and Kelley’s lives were filled with travel, and everywhere they went they got involved with princes, gold-making, angelic visitations, and hair-raising adventures. Robin Cousins, a long-term student of Elizabethan magical philosophy, has visited a great many of these sites across Britain and Europe. His slide lecture takes us on their journeys, outlines their adventures, and explains their magical practices. The slides show original buildings, towns, manuscripts, and magical paraphernalia.
Places illustrated include Mortlake-on-Thames, Manchester, Upton-on-Severn, Leadenham, Prague, Cracow, Trebon, Ceskykrumlov, Gilova, Most, and Krivoklat. After the slide lecture, Robin will take questions and the group can discuss some of the themes raised. Robin Cousins has published variously on Dee and Kelley over the past fifteen years. He has an exceptionally intimate knowledge of their angelic system and its working methods, which he has been studying in depth for the past two decades.
BOOKING: Please book in advance via info@treadwells-london.com or Tel. +44 (0)20 7240 8906
Paracelsus: Renaissance Magic and Science
Dr. Philip Ball
22nd February (Thursday) 7.15 for 7.30pm start £5
The name Paracelsus is a by-word for the archetypal alchemist: the wizened man with wild hair, shambolic laboratory and shady reputation. The real Paracelsus – alchemist, scientist, occultist – is the subject of this talk. But he was a larger-than-life figure even in his own day: an enemy of the medical establishment, a scourge of the universities, an alchemist, army surgeon and radical theologian. He accumulated myths even before he went to an early grave: his name was linked with Faust, who bargained with the devil. Philip Ball explores the intellectual, political and religious undercurrents of the sixteenth century, placing Paracelsus on the cusp between the medieval and modern eras. In his work, uniting the diverse disciplines of medicine, biology and alchemy, he assisted – almost in spite of himself – the birth of science and the emergence of the age of rationalism.
Philip Ball is an award-winning freelance writer and a consultant editor for Nature. He writes regularly in the scientific and popular media, and has ten books on scientific subjects to his name. His next books, Universe of Stone (on Chartres cathedral) and The Sun and Moon Corrupted (a novel), will be published in 2008. He studied chemistry at Oxford and holds a doctorate in physics from the University of Bristol.
Travels of Dr. Dee: A Slide Lecture
Robin Cousins
28th March (Wednesday) 7.15 for 7.30pm start £5
John Dee, Elizabeth I’s astrologer and leading mathematician, was deeply involved with alchemy and angelic magic. The latter practices involved his scryer and best friend Edward Kelley. Dee and Kelley’s lives were filled with travel, and everywhere they went they got involved with princes, gold-making, angelic visitations, and hair-raising adventures. Robin Cousins, a long-term student of Elizabethan magical philosophy, has visited a great many of these sites across Britain and Europe. His slide lecture takes us on their journeys, outlines their adventures, and explains their magical practices. The slides show original buildings, towns, manuscripts, and magical paraphernalia.
Places illustrated include Mortlake-on-Thames, Manchester, Upton-on-Severn, Leadenham, Prague, Cracow, Trebon, Ceskykrumlov, Gilova, Most, and Krivoklat. After the slide lecture, Robin will take questions and the group can discuss some of the themes raised. Robin Cousins has published variously on Dee and Kelley over the past fifteen years. He has an exceptionally intimate knowledge of their angelic system and its working methods, which he has been studying in depth for the past two decades.
BOOKING: Please book in advance via info@treadwells-london.com or Tel. +44 (0)20 7240 8906