Travel Talks with Kelly O'Neill "Seeing Stars: The Curious History of Celestial Maps and the Conquest of Mars"

NASA’s Perseverance Mission has refocused the world’s attention on the politics – as well as the science – of interplanetary travel.

In this Travel Talk, we will delve into the history of how humans have long made sense of the heavens by assigning place names and making maps. The story will take us from Alexandria to Danzig, London, Turin, and Paris, with a necessary detour to St. Petersburg. By exploring the politics and culture of naming the Red Planet, we will come away with a better sense of how we see – and locate – ourselves in the world.