Watch, Read, Listen

Jonathan Waldman, author of “Rust: The Longest War,” provides an illuminating look at the unsung heroes—engineers—who are working to keep our modern world from wasting away due to rust, which has been called “the great destroyer.” Rust consumes cars, fells bridges, sinks ships, sparks house fires, and nearly brought down the Statue of Liberty. This program is a Trent R. Dames Lecture.

Contemporary artist Tang Qingnian 唐慶年 demonstrates his calligraphy, which enlivens past traditions with a modern aesthetic sensibility. Originally from Beijing, Tang was at the forefront of China’s “New Wave” art movement in the 1980s before relocating to the United States. The artist uses cursive script to write the “Song of Eight Drinking Immortals 飲中八仙歌,” a poem composed by the Tang-dynasty poet Du Fu 杜甫 (712–770). 

Contemporary artist Tang Qingnian 唐慶年 demonstrates his calligraphy, which enlivens past traditions with a modern aesthetic sensibility. The art of ink and brush calligraphy has long been prized in China as a form of creative expression and an embodiment of scholarly culture. Originally from Beijing, Tang was at the forefront of China’s “New Wave” art movement in the 1980s before relocating to the United States.

Sara Karloff, daughter of the screen legend whose iconic performance as the Frankenstein Monster set the standard, shares his more human side.

Joel A. Klein, the Molina Curator for the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences at The Huntington, explores the work of Daniel Sennert (1572–1637), professor of medicine at Wittenberg University, who sought to reform 17th-century medicine through alchemy, atomism, and experimentation. Sennert’s reform led to clashes with traditionalists as well as profiteering charlatans, and ultimately resulted in charges of heresy and blasphemy. This lecture is sponsored by the Dock Society for the History of Medicine.