Events and classes > Beyond Fact > Engaging with the Experts
Engaging with the Experts
Join us for lectures, panel discussions and forums about current issues in science and technology.
OMSI Science Pub
- Mission Theater & Pub
- 1624 N.W. Glisan St., Portland
- Tuesday, September 21, 7–9 p.m.
- Doors open at 5 p.m.
- $3 suggested cover charge
It's Not the End of the World: What the Ancient Maya Actually Tell Us about 2012 with Mark Van Stone, PhD
Don't cash in your retirement plans just yet. At least not on the basis of Maya prophecy.
The ancient Maya were consummate astronomers and mathematicians, and their complex calendar and cosmology connected time, astronomy, creation cycles and gods with colors, species of plants and animals, as well as organs of the human body. Some also say that their calendar predicts the end of the world in December 2012 but does it? This entertaining talk will examine what we know — and don’t know — about ancient Maya conceptions of space, time and their calendar. Dr. Van Stone will introduce the actual scientific/archaeological evidence about Maya creation and destruction myths, including translations from the surprising hieroglyphic inscriptions of these mysterious people. What they tell us is fascinating indeed, far more so than just another end-of-the-world prediction. Come with your questions!
Professor Mark Van Stone has spent his entire life studying the art and history of written forms including Celtic manuscripts, Roman and Greek inscriptions, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Japanese netsuke carving and calligraphy. He earned his bachelor's degree in physics and worked at the Gamma-Ray Astronomy laboratory at the University of New Hampshire's Space Science Center, and he received his PhD in Maya hieroglyphs in 2005. His background uniquely qualifies him to discuss both Maya astronomy and their hieroglyphs. Dr. Van Stone combines a rare general understanding and reading of ancient scripts with an even rarer ability to "write" them, which led to his first book, Reading the Maya Glyphs. Responding to the upsurge in interest in Maya prophecies about the "end of the calendar," Professor Van Stone spent the last several years researching and writing his new book, 2012 — Science and Prophecy of the Ancient Maya. He also contributed substantially to the two-hour documentary film Breaking the Maya Code. He presently holds the post of professor of Art History at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, California.
