Post by facets on Oct 3, 2005 9:17:48 GMT -6
Hello All,
I thought you might be interested to know that the Facets Cinematheque, an art house cinema at 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. in Chicago, is going to be screening a new documentary about telescope innovator John Dobson, called A SIDEWALK ASTRONOMER.
It's an incredible movie, and a must-see for Astronomers and Astronomy buffs.
It is playing this Saturday (10/8) only, at 12:30 & 2:15pm.
Synopsis:
John Dobson has been dubbed the Pied Piper of Astronomy, and for good reason. Since designing his first telescope in 1956, the self-taught cosmologist and former monk has revolutionized amateur astronomy, showing thousands how to build their own high-power, low-cost telescopes. With his silver ponytail and knit beret, the octogenarian might seem an eccentric retiree sharing a hobby as he beckons passers-by to gaze at the moon's Alp-sized mountains or Saturn's rings of ice. But as director/producer Jeffrey Jacobs reveals in A Sidewalk Astronomer, Dobson is a natural-born teacher, whose folksy wit and scientific rigor get listeners charged up about mind-benders like, What lies beyond the edge of the universe? Dobson's circuitous path in life is slowly revealed through bits of conversation and quips in the lecture hall. The Peking-born scientist got a degree in chemistry at Berkeley, but then changed course. The 'belligerent atheist' became a Ramakrishna monk for 23 years. Given the assignment of reconciling the teachings of religion and science, Dobson thought he'd have a closer look at the cosmos and began developing telescopes. That led back to science and to his co-founding Sidewalk Astronomers. While offering full immersion in the mental universe of Dobson, A Sidewalk Astronomer also reveals the physical cosmos in all its glory. Solar flares twist like snakes, Jupiter spins like a top; galaxies are cocooned in clouds of stardust. It's Dobson hope that cosmos-gazing will coax people to 'see beyond our genetic programming.' A Sidewalk Astronomer provides the perfect launch pad.
Directed by Jeffrey Jacobs, U.S.A., 2004, BetaSP, 81 mins.
If you have any questions, or would like any additional info, you can contact the theater's program director, Charles Coleman, at 773.281.9075 or charles@facets.org.
You can also visit Facet's website at: www.facets.org/cinematheque
I thought you might be interested to know that the Facets Cinematheque, an art house cinema at 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. in Chicago, is going to be screening a new documentary about telescope innovator John Dobson, called A SIDEWALK ASTRONOMER.
It's an incredible movie, and a must-see for Astronomers and Astronomy buffs.
It is playing this Saturday (10/8) only, at 12:30 & 2:15pm.
Synopsis:
John Dobson has been dubbed the Pied Piper of Astronomy, and for good reason. Since designing his first telescope in 1956, the self-taught cosmologist and former monk has revolutionized amateur astronomy, showing thousands how to build their own high-power, low-cost telescopes. With his silver ponytail and knit beret, the octogenarian might seem an eccentric retiree sharing a hobby as he beckons passers-by to gaze at the moon's Alp-sized mountains or Saturn's rings of ice. But as director/producer Jeffrey Jacobs reveals in A Sidewalk Astronomer, Dobson is a natural-born teacher, whose folksy wit and scientific rigor get listeners charged up about mind-benders like, What lies beyond the edge of the universe? Dobson's circuitous path in life is slowly revealed through bits of conversation and quips in the lecture hall. The Peking-born scientist got a degree in chemistry at Berkeley, but then changed course. The 'belligerent atheist' became a Ramakrishna monk for 23 years. Given the assignment of reconciling the teachings of religion and science, Dobson thought he'd have a closer look at the cosmos and began developing telescopes. That led back to science and to his co-founding Sidewalk Astronomers. While offering full immersion in the mental universe of Dobson, A Sidewalk Astronomer also reveals the physical cosmos in all its glory. Solar flares twist like snakes, Jupiter spins like a top; galaxies are cocooned in clouds of stardust. It's Dobson hope that cosmos-gazing will coax people to 'see beyond our genetic programming.' A Sidewalk Astronomer provides the perfect launch pad.
Directed by Jeffrey Jacobs, U.S.A., 2004, BetaSP, 81 mins.
If you have any questions, or would like any additional info, you can contact the theater's program director, Charles Coleman, at 773.281.9075 or charles@facets.org.
You can also visit Facet's website at: www.facets.org/cinematheque