Princeton University Podcasts

Plutarch and Heraclitus believed that a certain passage in the 20th book of The Odyssey (“Theoclymenus’s prophecy”) was a poetic description of a total solar eclipse. In the late 1920s Schoch and Neugebauer computed that the solar eclipse of 16 April 1178 B.C.E. was total over the Ionian Islands and was the only suitable eclipse in more than a century to agree with classical estimates of the decade-earlier sack of Troy around 1192–1184 B.C.E. However, much skepticism remains about whether the verses refer to this, or any, eclipse. Marcelo Magnasco and his colleague Constantino Baikouzis of the Observatorio Astronomico in La Plata, Argentina analyzed other astronomical references in the epic, without assuming the existence of an eclipse, and searched for dates matching the astronomical phenomena they probably describe. Using three astronomical references in the epic—Boötes and the Pleiades, Venus, and the New Moon—and supplementing them with a conjectural identification of Hermes’s trip to Ogygia with the motion of planet Mercury, they searched all possible dates in the span 1250–1115 B.C., trying to match these phenomena in the order and manner that the text describes. In that period, a single date closely matches the phenomena: 16 April 1178 B.C.E. They speculate that the astronomical references in the epic, plus the disputed eclipse reference, may refer to that specific eclipse.

The President’s Lecture Series was established by President Shirley M. Tilghman in the fall of 2001 to give Princeton’s faculty an opportunity to learn about the work of their colleagues in other disciplines and to share their research with the University community. First proposed by Alan B. Krueger, the Lynn Bendheim Thoman, Class of 1976, and Robert Bendheim, Class of 1937, Professor in Economics and Public Policy, the lectures are presented three times a year and are open to the public.

In his lecture, “The Role of Europe in a Multilateral World,” Romano Prodi will examine the benefits and challenges presented by the European Union’s expansion. Although the enlargement of the union has had significant impact on the democratic transition in eastern Europe and has extended European markets, there is no unanimity on issues of security, energy, and foreign affairs. Prodi maintains that if the EU aims to play a key role on the world’s political stage, it will need to develop an integrated European foreign policy. Trained in law and economics, Dr. Prodi graduated from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Milan) and the London School of Economics. He taught at the University of Bologna before entering politics. A founder of the center-left coalition, the Olive Tree, he served as prime minister of Italy from 1996 to 1998. He then served as president of the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, from 1999 to 2004. During that period he presided over the eastward expansion of the European Union and the adoption of the euro as a common currency. He returned to Italian politics, once more serving as prime minister, from 2006 to 2008. Prodi is currently professor-at-large at the Watson Institute for international studies at Brown University.

In his lecture, “The Role of Europe in a Multilateral World,” Romano Prodi will examine the benefits and challenges presented by the European Union’s expansion. Although the enlargement of the union has had significant impact on the democratic transition in eastern Europe and has extended European markets, there is no unanimity on issues of security, energy, and foreign affairs. Prodi maintains that if the EU aims to play a key role on the world’s political stage, it will need to develop an integrated European foreign policy. Trained in law and economics, Dr. Prodi graduated from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Milan) and the London School of Economics. He taught at the University of Bologna before entering politics. A founder of the center-left coalition, the Olive Tree, he served as prime minister of Italy from 1996 to 1998. He then served as president of the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, from 1999 to 2004. During that period he presided over the eastward expansion of the European Union and the adoption of the euro as a common currency. He returned to Italian politics, once more serving as prime minister, from 2006 to 2008. Prodi is currently professor-at-large at the Watson Institute for international studies at Brown University.

On October 22, 2009, Naomi Leonard spoke about motion in nature and robotics in the first of a series of lectures hosted by President Shirley Tilghman.

On October 22, 2009, Naomi Leonard spoke about motion in nature and robotics in the first of a series of lectures hosted by President Shirley Tilghman.

Studies of neurological patients can provide insight into the workings of the brain and suggest new treatments. The first section of the lecture will focus on phantom limbs as a key to understanding brain functions. We show that far from having fixed connections, even the basic “wiring ” of the brain is constantly being modified in response to changing sensory inputs. This has theoretical implications as well as practical implications for recovery of function from stroke, phantom pain, and RSD and has ushered in a new era for treating neurological diseases. The second part of the talk will be about synesthesia, an inherited condition in which sounds and printed numbers are seen as colored. We show its neural basis and suggest it might provide clues to understanding high-level brain functions, such as metaphor and abstraction, that make human brains unique. V.S. Ramachandran is director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, San Diego, and adjunct professor of biology at the Salk Institute. Initially trained as a physician, Dr. Ramachandran switched to research very early in his career, obtaining a a Ph.D. from Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. He has pursued two parallel careers, one in human vision and the other in behavioral neurology. He is best known for his experiments, some of which, despite their simplicity, have had far-reaching impact on the field. Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins has called him the Marco Polo of neuroscience, and Nobel laureate Eric Kandel refers to him as “The modern Paul Broca.” His work is featured frequently in the major news media. Newsweek magazine recently included him among the “hundred most prominent people to watch in the next century.”

Studies of neurological patients can provide insight into the workings of the brain and suggest new treatments. The first section of the lecture will focus on phantom limbs as a key to understanding brain functions. We show that far from having fixed connections, even the basic “wiring ” of the brain is constantly being modified in response to changing sensory inputs. This has theoretical implications as well as practical implications for recovery of function from stroke, phantom pain, and RSD and has ushered in a new era for treating neurological diseases. The second part of the talk will be about synesthesia, an inherited condition in which sounds and printed numbers are seen as colored. We show its neural basis and suggest it might provide clues to understanding high-level brain functions, such as metaphor and abstraction, that make human brains unique. V.S. Ramachandran is director of the Center for Brain and Cognition at the University of California, San Diego, and adjunct professor of biology at the Salk Institute. Initially trained as a physician, Dr. Ramachandran switched to research very early in his career, obtaining a a Ph.D. from Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. He has pursued two parallel careers, one in human vision and the other in behavioral neurology. He is best known for his experiments, some of which, despite their simplicity, have had far-reaching impact on the field. Oxford biologist Richard Dawkins has called him the Marco Polo of neuroscience, and Nobel laureate Eric Kandel refers to him as “The modern Paul Broca.” His work is featured frequently in the major news media. Newsweek magazine recently included him among the “hundred most prominent people to watch in the next century.”

This panel discussion among four conservative thinkers will address the role of conservatism in the current political arena—where it fits in the major parties, what role it may play in the next election, and what will happen to the right and far right. Ross Douthat is an author and blogger. Formerly a senior editor at The Atlantic, he is the author of Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class (Hyperion, 2005) and, with Reihan Salam, Grand New Party (Doubleday, 2008). In 2009 he replaced William Kristol as the conservative columnist at the New York Times. David Frum was an economic speechwriter for former President George W. Bush. A resident fellow of the American Enterprise Institute and a former contributing editor of National Review, he is the founder of NewMajority.com, a site “dedicated to the modernization and renewal of the Republican party and the conservative movement.” He is the author of several books, most recently, Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again (2008). Daniel Larison is a contributing editor at The American Conservative, which publishes his blog Eunomia. A scholar of Byzantine history, Larison recently completed a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. Virginia Postrel ‘82 is the author of The Future and Its Enemies (1998) and The Substance of Style (2003). From 1989 to 2000, she was the editor-in-chief of Reason. She has been an economics columnist for The New York Times, “Commerce and Culture” columnist for The Atlantic, and a columnist for Forbes and Forbes ASAP. A pioneering blogger, she currently edits a group blog at DeepGlamour.net and continues to blog sporadically at Dynamist.com, the website she founded in 1998. She is writing a book on glamour for The Free Press.

This panel discussion among four conservative thinkers will address the role of conservatism in the current political arena—where it fits in the major parties, what role it may play in the next election, and what will happen to the right and far right. Ross Douthat is an author and blogger. Formerly a senior editor at The Atlantic, he is the author of Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class (Hyperion, 2005) and, with Reihan Salam, Grand New Party (Doubleday, 2008). In 2009 he replaced William Kristol as the conservative columnist at the New York Times. David Frum was an economic speechwriter for former President George W. Bush. A resident fellow of the American Enterprise Institute and a former contributing editor of National Review, he is the founder of NewMajority.com, a site “dedicated to the modernization and renewal of the Republican party and the conservative movement.” He is the author of several books, most recently, Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again (2008). Daniel Larison is a contributing editor at The American Conservative, which publishes his blog Eunomia. A scholar of Byzantine history, Larison recently completed a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. Virginia Postrel ‘82 is the author of The Future and Its Enemies (1998) and The Substance of Style (2003). From 1989 to 2000, she was the editor-in-chief of Reason. She has been an economics columnist for The New York Times, “Commerce and Culture” columnist for The Atlantic, and a columnist for Forbes and Forbes ASAP. A pioneering blogger, she currently edits a group blog at DeepGlamour.net and continues to blog sporadically at Dynamist.com, the website she founded in 1998. She is writing a book on glamour for The Free Press.