WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.000 As technology progresses, 00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:05.000 and as it advances, 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:07.000 many of us assume that these advances 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:09.000 make us more intelligent, 00:00:09.000 --> 00:00:11.000 make us smarter and more connected to the world. 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:13.000 And what I'd like to argue 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:15.000 is that that's not necessarily the case, 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:18.000 as progress is simply a word for change, 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:20.000 and with change you gain something, 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:22.000 but you also lose something. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:24.000 And to really illustrate this point, what I'd like to do 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:27.000 is to show you how technology has dealt with 00:00:27.000 --> 00:00:32.000 a very simple, a very common, an everyday question. 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:34.000 And that question is this. 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:37.000 What time is it? What time is it? 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:40.000 If you glance at your iPhone, it's so simple to tell the time. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:42.000 But, I'd like to ask you, how would you tell the time 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:44.000 if you didn't have an iPhone? 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:47.000 How would you tell the time, say, 600 years ago? 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:49.000 How would you do it? NOTE Paragraph 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:52.000 Well, the way you would do it is by using a device 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:56.000 that's called an astrolabe. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:00.000 So, an astrolabe is relatively unknown in today's world. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:02.000 But, at the time, in the 13th century, 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:04.000 it was the gadget of the day. 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:08.000 It was the world's first popular computer. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:12.000 And it was a device that, in fact, is a model of the sky. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:14.000 So, the different parts of the astrolabe, in this particular type, 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:17.000 the rete corresponds to the positions of the stars. 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:20.000 The plate corresponds to a coordinate system. 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:24.000 And the mater has some scales and puts it all together. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:26.000 If you were an educated child, 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:28.000 you would know how to not only use the astrolabe, 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:31.000 you would also know how to make an astrolabe. 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:34.000 And we know this because the first treatise on the astrolabe, 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:36.000 the first technical manual in the English language, 00:01:36.000 --> 00:01:38.000 was written by Geoffrey Chaucer. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:41.000 Yes, that Geoffrey Chaucer, in 1391, 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:45.000 to his little Lewis, his 11-year-old son. 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:50.000 And in this book, little Lewis would know the big idea. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:52.000 And the central idea that makes this computer work 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:55.000 is this thing called stereographic projection. 00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:57.000 And basically, the concept is, 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:00.000 how do you represent the three-dimensional image 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:02.000 of the night sky that surrounds us 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:05.000 onto a flat, portable, two-dimensional surface. 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:07.000 The idea is actually relatively simple. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:10.000 Imagine that that Earth is at the center of the universe, 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:13.000 and surrounding it is the sky projected onto a sphere. 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:16.000 Each point on the surface of the sphere 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:18.000 is mapped through the bottom pole, 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:20.000 onto a flat surface, where it is then recorded. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.000 So the North Star corresponds to the center of the device. 00:02:24.000 --> 00:02:27.000 The ecliptic, which is the path of the sun, moon, and planets 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:29.000 correspond to an offset circle. 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:33.000 The bright stars correspond to little daggers on the rete. 00:02:33.000 --> 00:02:36.000 And the altitude corresponds to the plate system. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:39.000 Now, the real genius of the astrolabe is not just the projection. 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:43.000 The real genius is that it brings together two coordinate systems 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:45.000 so they fit perfectly. 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:48.000 There is the position of the sun, moon and planets on the movable rete. 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:50.000 And then there is their location on the sky 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:55.000 as seen from a certain latitude on the back plate. Okay? NOTE Paragraph 00:02:55.000 --> 00:03:00.000 So how would you use this device? 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:06.000 Well, let me first back up for a moment. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:11.000 This is an astrolabe. Pretty impressive, isn't it? 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:14.000 And so, this astrolabe is on loan from us 00:03:14.000 --> 00:03:17.000 from the Oxford School of -- Museum of History. 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:20.000 And you can see the different components. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:22.000 This is the mater, the scales on the back. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:24.000 This is the rete. Okay. Do you see that? 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:27.000 That's the movable part of the sky. 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:29.000 And in the back you can see 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:31.000 a spider web pattern. 00:03:31.000 --> 00:03:35.000 And that spider web pattern corresponds to the local coordinates in the sky. 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:37.000 This is a rule device. And on the back 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:40.000 are some other devices, measuring tools 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:46.000 and scales, to be able to make some calculations. Okay? NOTE Paragraph 00:03:46.000 --> 00:03:48.000 You know, I've always wanted one of these. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:53.000 For my thesis I actually built one of these out of paper. 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:55.000 And this one, this is a replica 00:03:55.000 --> 00:03:58.000 from a 15th-century device. 00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:01.000 And it's worth probably about three MacBook Pros. 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:04.000 But a real one would cost about as much as my house, 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:07.000 and the house next to it, and actually every house on the block, 00:04:07.000 --> 00:04:09.000 on both sides of the street, 00:04:09.000 --> 00:04:11.000 maybe a school thrown in, and some -- you know, a church. 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:13.000 They are just incredibly expensive. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:15.000 But let me show you how to work this device. 00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:18.000 So let's go to step one. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:20.000 First thing that you do is you select a star 00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:23.000 in the night sky, if you're telling time at night. 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:26.000 So, tonight, if it's clear you'll be able to see the summer triangle. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:29.000 And there is a bright star called Deneb. So let's select Deneb. 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:32.000 Second, is you measure the altitude of Deneb. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:35.000 So, step two, I hold the device up, 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:38.000 and then I sight its altitude there 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:40.000 so I can see it clearly now. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:43.000 And then I measure its altitude. 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:46.000 So, it's about 26 degrees. You can't see it from over there. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:51.000 Step three is identify the star on the front of the device. 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:53.000 Deneb is there. I can tell. 00:04:53.000 --> 00:04:56.000 Step four is I then move the rete, 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:59.000 move the sky, so the altitude of the star 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:02.000 corresponds to the scale on the back. 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:05.000 Okay, so when that happens 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:07.000 everything lines up. 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:09.000 I have here a model of the sky 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:12.000 that corresponds to the real sky. Okay? 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:14.000 So, it is, in a sense, 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:17.000 holding a model of the universe in my hands. 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:20.000 And then finally, I take a rule, 00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:22.000 and move the rule to a date line 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:25.000 which then tells me the time here. 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:28.000 Right. So, that's how the device is used. 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:29.000 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:31.000 So, I know what you're thinking: 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:35.000 "That's a lot of work, isn't it? Isn't it a ton of work to be able to tell the time?" 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:39.000 as you glance at your iPod to just check out the time. 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:41.000 But there is a difference between the two, because with your iPod 00:05:41.000 --> 00:05:44.000 you can tell -- or your iPhone, you can tell exactly 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:46.000 what the time is, with precision. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:48.000 The way little Lewis would tell the time 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:50.000 is by a picture of the sky. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:53.000 He would know where things would fit in the sky. 00:05:53.000 --> 00:05:56.000 He would not only know what time it was, 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:58.000 he would also know where the sun would rise, 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:01.000 and how it would move across the sky. 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:05.000 He would know what time the sun would rise, and what time it would set. 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:07.000 And he would know that for essentially every celestial object 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:09.000 in the heavens. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:11.000 So, in computer graphics 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:14.000 and computer user interface design, 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:17.000 there is a term called affordances. 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:20.000 So, affordances are the qualities of an object 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:23.000 that allow us to perform an action with it. 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:25.000 And what the astrolabe does is it allows us, 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:28.000 it affords us, to connect to the night sky, 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:31.000 to look up into the night sky and be much more -- 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:34.000 to see the visible and the invisible together. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:38.000 So, that's just one use. Incredible, 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:41.000 there is probably 350, 400 uses. 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:43.000 In fact, there is a text, and that has over a thousand uses 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:45.000 of this first computer. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:47.000 On the back there is scales and measurements 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:49.000 for terrestrial navigation. 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:52.000 You can survey with it. The city of Baghdad was surveyed with it. 00:06:52.000 --> 00:06:56.000 It can be used for calculating mathematical equations of all different types. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:59.000 And it would take a full university course to illustrate it. 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:01.000 Astrolabes have an incredible history. 00:07:01.000 --> 00:07:03.000 They are over 2,000 years old. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:06.000 The concept of stereographic projection 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:08.000 originated in 330 B.C. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:10.000 And the astrolabes come in many different 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:12.000 sizes and shapes and forms. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:15.000 There is portable ones. There is large display ones. 00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:17.000 And I think what is common to all astrolabes 00:07:17.000 --> 00:07:19.000 is that they are beautiful works of art. 00:07:19.000 --> 00:07:22.000 There is a quality of craftsmanship and precision 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:25.000 that is just astonishing and remarkable. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:28.000 Astrolabes, like every technology, do evolve over time. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:32.000 So, the earliest retes, for example, were very simple and primitive. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:34.000 And advancing retes became cultural emblems. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:37.000 This is one from Oxford. 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:39.000 And I find this one really extraordinary because the rete pattern 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:41.000 is completely symmetrical, 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:45.000 and it accurately maps a completely asymmetrical, or random sky. 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:47.000 How cool is that? This is just amazing. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:50.000 So, would little Lewis have an astrolabe? 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:53.000 Probably not one made of brass. He would have one made out of wood, 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:56.000 or paper. And the vast majority of this first computer 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:58.000 was a portable device 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:01.000 that you could keep in the back of your pocket. 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:04.000 So, what does the astrolabe inspire? 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:06.000 Well, I think the first thing is that 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:10.000 it reminds us just how resourceful people were, 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:12.000 our forebears were, years and years ago. 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:15.000 It's just an incredible device. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:17.000 Every technology advances. 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:20.000 Every technology is transformed and moved by others. 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:22.000 And what we gain with a new technology, of course, 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:24.000 is precision and accuracy. 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:26.000 But what we lose, I think, is 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:29.000 an accurate -- a felt sense 00:08:29.000 --> 00:08:32.000 of the sky, a sense of context. 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:36.000 Knowing the sky, knowing your relationship with the sky, 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:40.000 is the center of the real answer 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:42.000 to knowing what time it is. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:46.000 So, it's -- I think astrolabes are just remarkable devices. 00:08:46.000 --> 00:08:49.000 And so, what can you learn from these devices? 00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:52.000 Well, primarily that there is a subtle knowledge 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:54.000 that we can connect with the world. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:57.000 And astrolabes return us to this subtle sense 00:08:57.000 --> 00:09:00.000 of how things all fit together, 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:02.000 and also how we connect to the world. 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:04.000 Thanks very much. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:06.000 (Applause)