Virtual Author Event: Matt Shindell

Learn alongside Matt Shindell, National Air and Space Museum curator, as he introduces viewers to
historical figures across eras and around the world who have made sense of Mars, the red planet, at a
virtual Waseca-Le Sueur Regional Library System event. Shindell will highlight historical figures such as:

• Mayan astrologer priests who incorporated Mars into seasonal calendars and religious
  ceremonies;
• Babylonian astrologers who discerned bad omens;
• figures of the Scientific Revolution who struggled to comprehend it as a world;
• Victorian astronomers who sought signs of intelligent life; and
• 20th- and 21st-century scientists who have established a technological presence on its surface.

Along the way, we will encounter writers and artists from each period who take readers and viewers on
imagined journeys to Mars.

By focusing on the diverse human stories behind the telescopes and behind the robots we know and
love, Shindell will show how Mars exploration has evolved in ways that have also expanded knowledge
about other facets of the universe.

About the Author: Matthew Shindell, Ph.D., is a historian of science with a background in science
studies. He is Curator of Earth and Planetary Science at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space
Museum.

This event will be recorded and people who register will be emailed a link to the recording.

Register now.

This event is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant provided by the Traverse des
Sioux Library Cooperative, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
The event is held in coordination with Library Speakers Consortium and presented by Waseca-Le Sueur
Regional Library System.