Past Events

12/14/2011
Adam Gopnik

Wednesday, December 14, 2011
5 p.m. Reception & Book Signing
6 p.m. Lecture
FREE

12/01/2011 - 12/03/2011
APS Museum

 Of Pictures & Specimens is organized by the APS Museum in conjunction with its current exhibition, Of Elephants &

11/06/2011
APS Museum

What kind of music do elephants like the best? Join the adventurous new music group counter)induction for a free-wheeling, family-friendly musical tour from the 18th century to tomorrow. Part re-enactment of a 1798 concert held for two Asian elephants, part cutting-edge electro-acoustic happening with music by Philadelphia composer Kyle Bartlett, and part anatomy lesson, this program will be 100% pure pachyderm fun.

11/04/2011
APS Museum

 Join musician Kyle Bartlett for a “Listener Encounter” that considers different views of the natural world and the role that chance plays in natural systems like hurricanes. Bartlett will also discuss her sound installation for the temporary contemporary greenhouse at the APS Museum and give you the chance to create your own mobile sound installation (no musical skills required!). You will move about the garden and exhibition gallery as you compose.

10/26/2011
Dava Sobel

In her elegant, compelling style, Dava Sobel chronicles, as nobody has, the conflicting personalities and extraordinary discoveries that shaped the Copernican Revolution. At the heart of the book is her play, “And the Sun Stood Still,” imagining Copernicus's hesitation to publish his outlandish idea -- and the struggle that convinced him to let his manuscript see the light of day.

10/22/2011
A unique tree tour led by Benjamin Cromie, AICP

 The secret history of Philadelphia trees revealed!

10/20/2011
A lecture by Jenny Sabin

How do you create an easy, modular, environmentally sustainable greenhouse for the 21 st century? “Look to nature,” says Jenny Sabin, an architect and designer.

10/05/2011
Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg

Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg are Professors of History at Louisiana State University. Burstein is the author of seven other books, including Jefferson’s Secrets and The Passions of Andrew Jackson. Isenberg is also the author of Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr and Sex and Citizenship in Antebellum America. Students of political culture in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, they previously collaborated on a study of death in early America: Mortal Remains (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003).

09/24/2011 - 09/25/2011
APS Museum

Join us for a family-friendly weekend full of hands-on activities and engaging events! Make a mini-greenhouse. Design your own unique leaf print. Create a book arts project with artist Rosae Reeder. Roll a seed ball. Taste delicious, one-of-a-kind ice cream flavors from Little Baby’s Ice Cream Tricycle.

09/23/2011
Rebecca Kamen

Rare books viewed during residencies at the American Philosophical Society and Chemical Heritage Foundation libraries have informed and inspired the development of recent work. As an artist, exploring significant history of science collections creates a unique opportunity to render and transform words into tangible, visual form. These cumulative experiences have instilled a profound sense of awe and wonder for the world around me, and continue to create new bridges between art and science in my work as both an artist and professor. 

09/20/2011
A lecture by Fritz Haeg

 Fritz Haeg will present his recent work including the series of Edible Estate gardens – highly visible domestic urban productive pleasure gardens planted from Istanbul to Austin, London to Los Angeles – and the urban wildlife architecture of Animal Estates. Both projects suggest city environments that are more connected to nature, useful, participatory, and fun.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 6:00 pm

09/12/2011
Science on Tap

Chile peppers are one of the most notable gifts of the New World to the Old. The global spread of chile peppers altered world cuisine, giving us everything from moles to masalas. Just as important, the “heat” of chile peppers provides a window for understanding the sensations of pain and temperature.

09/09/2011
APS Museum

 A striking greenhouse for the 21st century grows in the American Philosophical Society’s (APS) garden near the corner of Fifth and Chestnut Streets.

09/02/2011 (All day) - 09/17/2011 (All day)
A play by Aaron Cromie, Mary Tuomanen and Genevieve Perrier for the APS Museum

At the turn of the 19th Century, an exotic plant sprouts from an unusual box sent across the Atlantic Ocean by famous world explorer, raconteur, and botanist André Michaux to Empress Josephine’s French estate. What blooms is a story full of tall tales, love songs, and one unique French garden.

08/05/2011
First Friday at the APS Museum

 

 

 

Join us for our second special spotlight evening of the summer! Learn about the art and science of porcelain-making in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

07/09/2011
Second Saturdays at the APS Museum

Come to the APS Museum to learn the story of Zarafa, the first giraffe to set foot in France. Artist Aubrey Levinthal will lead hands-on art activities inspired by the baby giraffe. Stick around to hear APS Museum educator Tara Miller read the story “A Giraffe Goes to Paris” at our first kid-friendly story circle! (story readings at 1 and 2pm)

06/03/2011
First Friday at the APS Museum

SPOTLIGHT on Printmaking Learn about the charms and challenges of printmaking in the late-18th and early-19th century. Jane Boyd, Research Curator for Of Elephants and Roses, will offer spotlight tours focusing on the prints featured in the exhibition. Artist Diane Podolsky will demonstrate block printing and leaf printing throughout the evening. 

(spotlight tours at 6:15pm and 7pm)

05/14/2011
Second Saturdays at the APS Museum

Josephine Bonaparte—wife of the famous French Emperor, Napoleon—had one of the largest flower gardens in Europe. She was famous for growing rare and exotic flowers from around the world. Join artist Julianna Struck, who will show you how to create your own unique artwork made up of flower petals and leaves. Don’t forget to stop inside the Of Elephants & Rosesexhibition to learn more about the art and science of flowers.

04/14/2011

Roses exotic and roses erotic; roses botanical and roses theoretical. 

A girl named Rose who became Napoleon’s wife and Empress of France.
A famous American expatriate in Paris who called Alice B. Toklas her Rose.

03/18/2011
Thomas B. Allen

Friday, March 18, 2011• Reception: 5:30 p.m. • Program: 6:00 p.m

02/25/2011
Woody Holton

Friday, February 25, 2011 • Reception: 5:30 p.m. • Program: 6:00 p.m. A lecture, reception, and book signing

01/28/2011
Judith Resnik & Dennis Curtis

Friday, January 28, 2011 • Reception: 5:30 p.m. • Program: 6:00 p.m.  A lecture, reception, and book signing    

11/17/2010
BARNET SCHECTER

Please join us for a lecture, reception, and book signing

10/29/2010
STEWART B. NELSON

A lecture, reception, and book signing