The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA), conference host, is honored to invite you to participate in the 17th annual meeting of the European Society for Astronomy in Culture, SEAC’2009, taking place on 25–31 October 2009 at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA), Alexandria, Egypt.
SEAC was born in Strasbourg, France, in 1992, and it was inspired by the late Professor Carlos Jaschek.The Society is a Professional Association of scientists working in the field of Astronomy in Culture or Anthropological Astronomy, including the interdisciplinary disciplines of Archaeoastronomy an Ethnoastronomy. SEAC does not have a headquarters; the Executive Committee (EC) represents the Society.
SEAC annual meeting this year will be celebrated as part of the International Year of Astronomy (IYA 2009) festivities.IYA2009 was initiated by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), in partnership with the UNESCO and numerous associate organizations, to help citizens of the world rediscover their place in the Universe through astronomy and basic sciences.The theme of SEAC’2009 is “From Alexandria to Al-Iskandariya, astronomy and culture in the ancient Mediterranean and beyond”. SEAC’2009 will demonstrate the chronological evolution of astronomy throughout history and the rising and falling of different civilizations.
SEAC committee has chosen the BA’s unique geographical location on the Mediterranean coast, also considered the meeting point of Eastern and Western civilization, and the gateway to Africa. Astronomy is the most ancient science mankind studied and utilized in their daily life activities.; Pharaohs followed by Greeks and Arabs excelled in sky watch. The ancient Library of Alexandria has witnessed the progress of this science through the peaceful transmission of knowledge from one civilization to another. SEAC’2009 will portray astronomy as a peaceful universal scientific language that unites multicultural astronomers to answer astronomical phenomena affecting man’s life.
SEAC’2009 aims to attract scholars from the four corners of the world to study and develop the latest interventions in the most ancient science of Astronomy. This is in line with the BA’s mission to become a center of excellence for knowledge dissemination. It is also anticipated that SEAC’2009 will be an inspiration for the creation of the “African Society for Astronomy and Culture” to follow in the footsteps of ISAAC (International Society for Archaeoastronomy and Astronomy in Culture) in the USA, and SACLA (Latin American Society of Cultural Astronomy) in Latin America.
We look forward to welcoming you at the Library of Alexandria the cradle of Astronomy.
With all my sincere wishes and regards,
Hoda Elmikaty
Director,
BA Planetarium Science Center,