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SUMMARY:Before the big bang of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA): 250 years
  of astronomy in South Africa - Saul Dubow (Faculty of History)
DTSTART:20171123T153000Z
DTEND:20171123T170000Z
UID:TALK85031@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Agnes Bolinska
DESCRIPTION:South Africa is in the process of building the world's largest
  radio telescope as part of a major international consortium. When the Squ
 are Kilometre Array begins to operate (around 2021) it is envisaged that t
 he telescope\, comprising hundreds of linked dishes\, will offer exception
 al image resolution quality and allow astronomers to catalogue radio sourc
 es with unprecedented speed and range. The promoters of the SKA stress the
  benefits that will accrue to the 'rainbow nation'. In doing so\, they rel
 y heavily on South Africa's remarkable history of astronomical activity 
 – a story that goes back to Nicolas-Louis de La Caille's pioneering work
  in the mid-eighteenth century\, as well as the role of the Royal Astronom
 ers at the Cape and the scientific contributions of John Herschel. My own 
 survey of this history seeks to contextualise astronomy more broadly in So
 uth African history as part of a contribution to discussions about the dev
 elopmentalist objectives and political implications of the SKA project and
  the role of 'big science' in Africa.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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