Piazzi Smyth Symposium

Charles Piazzi Smyth fascinates a wide range of people – Astronomers, Historians, Photography experts, Egyptologists, Art lovers, and the public in general – especially Edinburgh citizens who are fascinated by the history of their City.

During Sept 2-4 2019 we are holding a series of events to celebrate the life and work of Charles Piazzi Smyth, and his talented partner in life and science, Jessica.

These include:

• A movie screening of “A Residence Above the Clouds”, a 2016 film which records the experiences of Scottish and Spanish students coming together in Tenerife to try to reproduce Piazzi Smyth’s classic experiments in Mountain Top Astronomy.
• A public lecture by Denis Pellerin on “Piazzi Smyth: Royal Astronomer and Stereo Photographer”. Denis is from the London Stereoscopic Company, and will talk about the past, present and future of stereo photography, and Piazzi Smyth’s place within it.
• Symposium: Stars, Pyramids and Photographs.  This will include two full days of talks and debate by experts and researchers on topics related to the life and legacy of Charles Piazzi Smyth – mountain top astronomy, photography, meteorology, and pyramidology. What did he do, and what has happened since? Although the presentations will be by experts, our aim is to make as much as possible accessible to a wide audience.

All the events are open to the public and will take place at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, George Street, Edinburgh.

Tickets are available for all events through a University of Edinburgh registration page.

Further information on the events can be found on the Charles Piazzi Smyth webpages.

Event resources