We will be holding a History Group meeting on Tuesday May 14th starting at 7pm at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park.
The main business of the evening will be a presentation by our own member Mirek Colakov on the subject of “The Description, History and Use of both the Globes and the Armillary Sphere ( a sailor’s perspective )”.
The evening promises to be most interesting. Mirek is an experienced yachtsman and has a deep interest in celestial navigation and the history of navigational instruments. In his own words:
“I am an amateur sailor only, a dilettante, but I love the wind and the sea from the bottom of my heart. I dabble a bit in flying too ( I am afraid I am a bit of a dreamer), which, being three-dimensional, is even nicer than sailing, but lasts much shorter and is more individualistic.
We live on board my trusty 29ft sailboat Adelka in London now. Me and my girlfriend sailed over from Cork, Ireland last October. I had other boats and dinghies… ( actually I leave a wake of them behind me) and sailed in the Med and around Atlantic coast of Europe (sailed around 3000NM as a skipper and about the same as a crew). I am very much interested in the nautical science and in the maritime history. I also volunteer in the Ahoy sailing (kids and disabled) centre in Greenwich and on the Golden Hind – just last week I was aloft on the yards for the first time untangling the pennants:) I must say I love it and consider it as a privilege to be able to help.
Astronomy is for me a very nautical science, since on the main we see half of the universe and one must stay awake. I try to disseminate the awareness about the basics of celestial mechanics for many years now. Steering by the stars is so much more convenient than by a compass! Well, what else to add…? I haven’t done any transoceanic voyages, but am quite ready to follow the swallows one day. I like it slow and don’t race, but I have made it from Friesland to Cork without an inboard engine:) “
Mirek plans to keep the evening as informal and interactive as possible and will be using a 72 cm armillary which he constructed himself to demonstrate the use of the instrument.
If you plan to attend please let us know by contacting us . We will be using the Planetarium Foyer at the ROG so there should be ample space for everyone who wants to come along but we need to keep track of numbers.
Sorry for the short notice but it was felt important to kick-off the first lecture evening before the ROG education programme ends for the summer and it will be September before we can meet there again on Tuesday evenings. We hope you will be able to come on the 14th.
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