SDARI: San Diego Association of Rational Inquiry Monthly Meetup

Program announcements are posted at http://www.sdari.org

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2011 Speaker: Ray Ashley, Maritime Museum of San Diego; Topic: Building Cabrillo's Galleon: The San Salvador, Early Modern Navigation, and the Emergence of Rationalism.

The voyage of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542 resulted in the first instance of our region appearing on any modern map. Concurring with the publication of Copernicus' vision of a heliocentric universe, it was perhaps the last great voyage of the medieval world and the first of the modern world, the first local penetration of systematized observation of the natural world using mathematics and instruments, and the first oceanographic expedition to undertake a study of regional climatic conditions.

The Maritime Museum of San Diego is in the process of creating a full scale reconstruction of Cabrillo's galleon San Salvador. This talk will discuss that project and try to place it within the context of the history of rational thought and the scientific revolution, invoking some of the bizarre twists and turns that enfold the birth of modern rationalism within the bounds of superstition, religion, and mysticism and make it part of our origin story.