This year’s Voltaire lecture will be presented by the BHA’s president Jim Al-Khalili and will focus on the impacts and changes felt within the Islamic world towards science and philosophy. It shall be a reminder of the breakthroughs achieved by Islamic science over a millennium ago, and how lessons can be learned today from the Golden Age of Islamic Science.
Taking place at Conway Hall in Red Lion Square, Holborn on Monday 14th April 2014, from 7.30pm to 9.00pm, this promises to be a fascinating look at an often forgotten period of Islamic history.
Further details about this event can be found below and further enquiries can be made at info@humanism.org.uk.
*Press release*
Voltaire Lecture - Lessons from the past: science and rationalism in medieval Islam
Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
We often hear these days about the tensions between science and rationalism on the one hand and devout religious beliefs on the other, whether it’s concerns over teaching of evolution in faith schools or the funding of stem cell research, or simply the attitudes of some towards science in general, either when seeing it as a threat or, at best, as no more than a driver of technology and economic power, a view often found in many countries in the developing world.
This lecture will focus on attitudes towards science in the Islamic world and will serve as a reminder of a period a millennium ago, during the Golden Age of Arabic Science, when scholars and thinkers were allowed the freedom to question and study the world around them within a spirit of free, rational enquiry that is often sadly lacking today. What lessons can we learn from the past if we are to move away from muddled thinking, superstition and ignorance?
Time: 7:30 PM through 9:00 PM
Date: Monday April 14th, 2014
Venue: Conway Hall
Red Lion Square
Holborn
London
WC1R 4RL
Tickets: General £15.00
Member/student/unwaged £10.00
Details about this event can be found at- https://humanism.org.uk/events/?page=CiviCRM&q=civicrm/event/info&reset=1&id=48
Or register now at- https://humanism.org.uk/events/?page=CiviCRM&q=civicrm/event/register&id=48&reset=1
About Professor Jim Al-Khalili
Jim Al-Khalili is an Iraqi born theoretical physicist, author and broadcaster. He is a professor at the University of Surrey where he teaches and carries out his research in quantum physics.
Jim currently presents The Life Scientific on Radio 4 on Tuesday mornings, where he interviews prominent scientists about their life and work. He has presented a number of science documentaries on television, particularly on BBC4 where he says he is happiest as he can really get his teeth into a subject.
About the Voltaire Lecture
The Voltaire Lectures Fund was established by the legacy of Theodore Besterman, biographer of Voltaire, for lectures on “any aspect of scientific or philosophical thought or human activity as affected by or with particular reference to humanism.” The British Humanist Association now oversees the fund. Previous Voltaire lecturers have included: Herman Bondi, Barbara Wootton, Bernard Crick, Richard Dawkins, Antony Flew, Michael Foot, Robert Hinde, Ludovic Kennedy, Simon Blackburn, Natalie Haynes, Robin Ince, Kenan Malik, Ray Tallis and Dick Taverne.
Taking place at Conway Hall in Red Lion Square, Holborn on Monday 14th April 2014, from 7.30pm to 9.00pm, this promises to be a fascinating look at an often forgotten period of Islamic history.
Further details about this event can be found below and further enquiries can be made at info@humanism.org.uk.
*Press release*
Voltaire Lecture - Lessons from the past: science and rationalism in medieval Islam
Presented by Jim Al-Khalili
We often hear these days about the tensions between science and rationalism on the one hand and devout religious beliefs on the other, whether it’s concerns over teaching of evolution in faith schools or the funding of stem cell research, or simply the attitudes of some towards science in general, either when seeing it as a threat or, at best, as no more than a driver of technology and economic power, a view often found in many countries in the developing world.
This lecture will focus on attitudes towards science in the Islamic world and will serve as a reminder of a period a millennium ago, during the Golden Age of Arabic Science, when scholars and thinkers were allowed the freedom to question and study the world around them within a spirit of free, rational enquiry that is often sadly lacking today. What lessons can we learn from the past if we are to move away from muddled thinking, superstition and ignorance?
Time: 7:30 PM through 9:00 PM
Date: Monday April 14th, 2014
Venue: Conway Hall
Red Lion Square
Holborn
London
WC1R 4RL
Tickets: General £15.00
Member/student/unwaged £10.00
Details about this event can be found at- https://humanism.org.uk/events/?page=CiviCRM&q=civicrm/event/info&reset=1&id=48
Or register now at- https://humanism.org.uk/events/?page=CiviCRM&q=civicrm/event/register&id=48&reset=1
About Professor Jim Al-Khalili
Jim Al-Khalili is an Iraqi born theoretical physicist, author and broadcaster. He is a professor at the University of Surrey where he teaches and carries out his research in quantum physics.
Jim currently presents The Life Scientific on Radio 4 on Tuesday mornings, where he interviews prominent scientists about their life and work. He has presented a number of science documentaries on television, particularly on BBC4 where he says he is happiest as he can really get his teeth into a subject.
About the Voltaire Lecture
The Voltaire Lectures Fund was established by the legacy of Theodore Besterman, biographer of Voltaire, for lectures on “any aspect of scientific or philosophical thought or human activity as affected by or with particular reference to humanism.” The British Humanist Association now oversees the fund. Previous Voltaire lecturers have included: Herman Bondi, Barbara Wootton, Bernard Crick, Richard Dawkins, Antony Flew, Michael Foot, Robert Hinde, Ludovic Kennedy, Simon Blackburn, Natalie Haynes, Robin Ince, Kenan Malik, Ray Tallis and Dick Taverne.
RSS Feed
