Academy Discourse: Astronomy and Poetry

Many poets over the ages have written poems with an astronomical theme, starting with the Moon and moving out to more distant objects. In this talk I will discuss what kinds of astronomical objects or events have attracted the attention of poets, and feature some of the poems with readings from some volunteers.

Professor Ignatius McGovern, Fellow Emeritus, Physics, Trinity College Dublin will act as Respondent.

About the speaker

Jocelyn Bell Burnell inadvertently discovered pulsars as a graduate student in radio astronomy in Cambridge, opening up a new branch of astrophysics - work recognised by the award of a Nobel Prize to her supervisor. She has subsequently worked in many roles in many branches of astronomy, working part-time while raising a family. She is now an Academic Visitor in Oxford, and Chancellor of the University of Dundee, and was (the first female) President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh – Scotland’s National Academy. Much in demand as a speaker and broadcaster, in her spare time she gardens, listens to choral music and is active in the Quakers. She has co-edited an anthology of poetry with an astronomical theme – ‘Dark Matter; Poems of Space’.

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