Free to the public and all are welcome to attend.

This Month's Program

Our program will be a presentation by historian and author Rickard J. Goodrich. Richard's presentation will be titled, "Fear and Loathing in the Heavens: The 1910 Return of Halley's Comet."

In 1705, Edmond Halley liberated humanity from the belief that comets were portents of doom; two centuries later, in 1910, as Halley’s Comet returned to perihelion, newspapers and magazines, religious leaders, misguided theorists, and shameless grifters managed to rekindle that fear. When astronomers announced that the earth would pass through the comet’s tail, opportunists exploited human anxiety—often with fatal consequences.

Drawing on material from his book, Comet Madness: How the 1910 Return of Halley’s Comet (almost) Destroyed Civilization, historian Richard J. Goodrich offers an entertaining lecture about the limits of human rationality and the ways a media more interested in profits than the truth can terrorize society. This will be a fascinating and relevant look at the nexus of the scientific process and media hype and rumor in a phenomenon that was understood yet had historic roots of fear and uncertainty. Dr. Goodrich will introduce some prominent players whose fame has faded and describe some of the consequences of this misinformation to ordinary people.

Just a reminder only the Club Meeting is open to the public. Please do not wander around the rest of the museum. The restrooms are the only exception.

Executive Board Officer Elections

We will hold elections to fill the officer positions on the club's Executive Board. As discussed at last month's club meeting, and as of this message, all current officers are running unopposed.

At the upcoming club meeting, current officers will be presented for re-election. Additional nominations will then be accepted from the floor and votes will be held.

Next Month's Christmas Party

Just a heads-up that Science Museum Oklahoma is booked on Friday, December 13, which is the normally scheduled date of our club Christmas party. We'll share more information on this at this Friday's meeting.