Watch, Read, Listen

NASA Satellites that study the Earth are passing through space continuously, collecting data on everything from hurricanes to the effects of drought. What if you could make contact with these orbiting spacecraft, and bring them “down to Earth?” Visitors can do exactly that when NASA’s Orbit Pavilion sound experience touches down at The Huntington.

Steve Hindle, W. M. Keck Foundation Director of Research at The Huntington, explains how one particular map might be used to reconstruct who did what for a living, and who lived next door to whom, in 17th-century rural society.

Neal Nathanson M.D., discusses a 1955 incident in which Cutter Laboratories of Berkeley, Calif., inadvertently released batches of polio vaccine that contained the live virus. Nathanson also provides an update on efforts toward global eradication of poliomyelitis.

Amy Kind, professor of philosophy at Claremont McKenna College, and Shelley Streeby, professor of ethnic studies and literature at the University of California, San Diego, explore futuristic notions of family and reproduction in the work of science fiction author Octavia Butler.

Suzanne Wright, associate professor of art history at the University of Tennessee, discusses the partnerships between Chinese painters and woodblock carvers who worked together to produce prints of exquisite beauty in the Ming and Qing dynasties.