Lyceum Society January 2019
The New York Academy of Sciences, 7 World Trade Center, 250 Greenwich St Fl 40, New York
The Lyceum Society
Established in 1993, The Lyceum Society is comprised of the Academy's retired and semi-retired Members. These Members are from diverse backgrounds, have different areas of scientific interest and expertise, and have practiced many professions. Their disciplines include Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Chemical and Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Information Sciences, Social Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Dentistry, and many others.
The Society hosts convivial monthly meetings at the Academy. These meetings feature lectures and discussions with scientists from around the world, and also provide participating Members with the opportunity to give self-directed presentations and seminars based on their own specialties or new research interests. All Academy Members are welcome.
All Lyceum meetings (except December) are Brown Bag lunches.
Nonmember
Nonmember Student, Undergrad, Grad, Fellow
Member Student, Post-Doc, Fellow
Joel Kirman
Charles Byrne
Event and Cancellation Policy
Brown Bag Lunch
Estate Planning Discussion
Michael Rudegeair
Senior Tax Manager specializing in Trusts and Estates
Raymond Dragon
Senior Expert in Valuation, Anchin Block & Anchin LLP
Initial Presentation: Antoni Leeuwenhoek: Draper, Civic Activist and Microscopist
Joel Kirman, MChE
+ Abstract
Robert Hooke (1605-1703), a preeminent microscopist of his day, published Micrographia in 1665 showing details of insects, cork structure and minute seeds, etc. In 1673 he received a letter from Holland, written by a tradesman named van Leeuwenhoek (1732-1723), who sketched "animalcules", red cells and spermatozoa that he had seen in canal water, blood and his own semen: resp. The presentation will describe the history, inventiveness and optics leading up to this remarkable event.
Main Presentation: Mars Curiosity Rover
Charles Byrnes, MSEE
The primary mission of the Curiosity Rover is to determine whether the early Mars environment could have sustained life (as we know it). A secondary mission is to determine how long such a condition existed; long enough for life to have evolved from non-life? The Mars Science Laboratory project includes not only the Curiosity Rover (the mobile unit with the science laboratory) but also the spacecraft that brings it to the surface of Mars. Further it also includes a large team of experienced engineers and scientists that support and direct its operations. In addition, it is supported by the orbiting spacecraft that do remote sensing and relay the massive data of Curiosity to Earth. As I prepared this talk about the ongoing mission, I realized that we have come to a new level in remote exploration. The degree of autonomy of the Curiosity Rover, the ability to analyze many properties of samples without returning them to Earth, and the cooperation with spacecraft in orbit around Mars is resulting in unexpected discoveries and insights.