Leonardo Reviews

Leonardo reviews Leonardo reviews how the universe was first set into that the ideas that drove the research Editor-in-Chief: Michael Punt motion; medieval scholasticism later were not pulled from the air. When the Managing Editor: Bryony Dalefield translated Aristotle’s “Prime Mover” actor playing Kepler pores over Tycho into the Christian God). Brahe’s years of collected data, he con- Associate Editors: Dene Grigar, The strength of the film is its multi- veys the intensity of Tycho’s observa- Martha Blassnigg, Hannah Drayson dimensional quality. Visual elements tions of the heavens as well as Kepler’s A full selection of reviews is pub- such as historical engravings, paintings, desire to solve the problem of motion. I lished monthly on the LR web site: animations and manuscripts aid the was enthralled even though I was famil- <leonardoreviews.mit.edu>. presentation immensely and bring a iar with many of the details and found realistic element into play that knits myself moved to think about details I the ideas of several periods of history had previously taken for granted. together into a seamless fabric. Much Still, a marriage of these artifacts of this is quite subtle. For example, with new technologies occurs. Many Film showing manuscript pages and still art- of the visuals that accompany the film work might seem mundane, but in this are “moving” because of the nature of case I found that the variety of these the work. One good example of how The Moving earTh backdrops created a vivid sense of the the director used new technologies to directed by Lars Becker-Larsen. cultural life of the times. his advantage is the animation of the Icarus Films, 52 min. Release Date: Particularly insightful are the dis- notes on a page of Kepler’s Harmonices 2009. Copyright Date: 2008. <http:// cussions of topics involving the clash Mundi (The Harmony of the Worlds, icarusfilms.com/new2009/mov.html>. between science and religion, exempli- 1619). Here, watching the notes as one fied by the treatment of Galileo (and listens to them succeeds in elevating the Reviewed by Amy Ione, U.S.A. E-mail: the Pope’s 1992 apology for the legal discussion of Kepler’s work relating the <[email protected]>. process against Galileo). In this case, harmony and congruence in geometri- George Coyne, former director of the cal forms and physical phenomena to Lars Becker-Larsen’s production The Vatican Observatory, points out that the harmonic proportions in music. Moving Earth offers a splendid chron- the Church’s lukewarm admission of icle of the scientific shift brought responsibility for its persecution of about through studies of planetary Galileo left much to be desired and that Reviews Panel: Kathryn Adams, Nameera motion during the scientific revolu- the conflict between science and reli- Ahmed, Katherine Ancher, Fred Andersson, tion of the 17th century. The name of gion evident at that time is still a part Wilfred Arnold, Jan Baetens, Niran Bahjat- the film refers to the work establishing of cultural discussions. (Coyne’s candor Abbas, Brian Baigrie, Jenny Bangham, John that Earth is a moving planet, and the isn’t totally surprising. He is also a vocal F. Barber, Jon Bedworth, Roy R. Behrens, Katharina Blassnigg, Martha Blassnigg, broadly based content tells the story opponent of intelligent design theory, Barry Blundell, Catalin Brylla, Annick Bure- of this discovery. Overall, the narrative which often sneaks a Creator God in aud, Franc Chamberlain, Chris Cobb, Ornella highlights the controversy between through the back door. Indeed, some Corazza, Giovanna Constantini, Sean Cubitt, geocentric and heliocentric perspec- say Coyne was forced out of his Vatican Hannah Drayson, Anthony Enns, Jennifer tives that was a part of those debates; we position because of his willingness to Ferng, Enzo Ferrara, Anastasia Filippoupoliti, George Gessert, Thom Gillespie, Luis Girao, learn of how the key thinkers in Renais- speak publicly about his views opposing Lisa M. Graham, Allan Graubard, Dene Grigar, sance Europe who studied the celestial intelligent design.) Diane Gromala, Rob Harle, Craig Harris, Paul framework developed the ideas that One of the most powerful unstated Hertz, Craig J Hilton, Jung A Huh, Amy Ione, ultimately moved science away from the aspects of this production is the way Boris Jardine, Richard Kade, John Knight, it brought to mind debates outside Mike Leggett, Helen Levin, Kieran Lyons, Church’s doctrine that the earth was Roger Malina, Jacques Mandelbrojt, Florence the immoveable center of the universe. its topic. The producer understood Martellini, Eduardo Miranda, Rick Mitchell, Although the story is well known, this the power of these old manuscripts Robert A. Mitchell, Christine Morris, Michael presentation is robust and includes in conveying the ideas of the think- Mosher, Axel Mulder, Frieder Nake, Maureen some degree of in-depth analysis. There ers the film presented. Looking at the A. Nappi, Angela Ndalianis, Erika Nimis, Martha Patricia Nino, Claudy Opdenkamp, is a good measure of reference to Plato repeated use of the physical volumes, Simone Osthoff, Jack Ox, Narendra Pachkhede, and Aristotle as well as some extension I wondered how the e-books that are Luisa Paraguai Donati, Jussi Parikka, Stephen of the ideas through the 19th century capturing our imaginations today will Petersen, Cliff Pickover, Michael Punt, Kathleen when Foucault’s pendulum showed the fare in a few centuries. In the film, the Quillian, Harry Rand, Sonya Rapoport, Trace pages and the outside boards of these Reddell, Brian Reffin Smith, Hannah Rogers, rotation of the earth. Performances in Lara Schrijver, Bill Seeley, Aparna Sharma, key settings, period garb and insightful very old books serve as more than visual George K. Shortess, Yvonne Spielmann, Chris commentary provide the viewer with props that helped make the research Speed, Eugene Thacker, Pia Tikka, David a full sense of the events and how the come alive. Shots of their spines, title Topper, Nicholas Tresilian, Rene van Peer, natural scientists overturned the Aristo- pages and internal pages, particularly Stefaan van Ryssen, Ian Verstegen, Claudia Westermann, Stephen Wilson, Brigitta Zics, telian idea of the “Unmoved Mover” (to the notebook pages filled with charts Jonathan Zilberg oversimplify, this idea is used to explain and graphs, effectively demonstrate ©2011 ISAST LEONARDO, Vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 175–187, 2011 175 Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/LEON_r_00136 by guest on 01 October 2021 I believe the portraits of Tycho Brahe something that kept coming to mind century astronomer Nicolaus Coperni- and Kepler were the strongest, at least as I watched the film. The sequence on cus and declared him a universal hero. in terms of presenting new details on Tycho Brahe, who is known for his accu- Nearly 500 years after he was put to their work that stoked my curiosity. For rate and comprehensive astronomical rest in an unmarked grave, his remains example, I never before thought about and planetary observations, reminded were sprinkled with holy water. The new whether Kepler conceived all of the me of Niels Bohr, another Danish sci- tombstone, which is decorated with a images in his publications or had an art- entist, who did transformative research model of the solar system, identifies ist do this work for him. Many, like his in physics. Bohr, of course, lived much this revolutionary astronomer as the Platonic solid model of the solar system later and is known for his foundational founder of heliocentric theory and a from Mysterium Cosmographicum (1600), contributions to understanding atomic church canon (a cleric ranking below are well known. I had always assumed structure and quantum mechanics, a priest). he did them himself, but I did not fully for which he received the Nobel Prize conceptualize how many drawings were in Physics in 1922. Yet, both were in the book. Others, like the frontis- involved in cosmological frameworks piece of the Rudolphine Tables, seem un- that they propelled forward for others Books likely to be his. to finish. By extension, I found that the abun- Like many, I was introduced to the dance of visual material, which added key figures and events in this produc- orTh of Mpire immensely to the script, also left me tion at a young age. Thus I am aware n e : disappointed in terms of its informa- of this film’s potential as a classroom essays on The CulturaL tional value. Indeed, my one complaint tool. Having looked at the details from TeChnoLogies of spaCe with the production is that so many many perspectives over the years, I by Jody Berland. Duke Univ. Press, of the paintings, drawings and prints, find it astonishing that this presenta- Durham, NC, U.S.A., 2009. 408 pp., which appeared to be from the period tion is so refreshing, because much illus. Paper. ISBN: 978-0822343066. discussed, are not attributed. That said, of the narrative did not present new citing the creator of the work during ideas or change my thinking. It is how Reviewed by Jan Baetens, Belgium. E-mail: the script would have been distracting, this production is brought to life with <[email protected]>. so perhaps this criticism is unfair. More- manuscripts, paintings, superb anima- over, when I looked one up myself, a tions and dramatic re-creations of key Written by the editor of TOPIA: Cana- painting of Cardinal Bellarmine (the events that sets it apart. The script dian Journal of Cultural Studies, this book “Hammer of the Heretics” who served brings the events to life and captures is a major contribution to the theoreti- as one of the judges at the trial of scientific creativity as well as a cultural cal and methodological innovation of Giordano Bruno and concurred in the climate governed by a Church that felt the cultural studies field.

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