EXHIBITION DEDICATED TO THE 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF G.I. FISCHER VON WALDHEIM IN THE MOSCOW STATE UNIVERSITY’SEARTH SCIENCE MUSEUM

The article describes the exposition dedicated to the 250th anniversary of G. I. Fischer von Waldheim, the eminent naturalist, head of the Natural History Museum of Moscow University, founder of the Moscow Society of Naturalists. The exposition is located in the MSU Earth Science Museum’s rotunda.

Tan Dun and Water Passion after St. Matthew

Tan Dun created ​Water Passion after St. Matthew, written to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the death of J. S. Bach. Not only Tan follows the western tradition to use the texts from the Gospel of Matthew, but he also wrote some texts by himself in this piece, for example, the opening words, “A sound is heard in water, in darkness, the tears are crying for rebirth.” This innovation reflects his respect for tradition and oriental philosophy which is there is no beginning and end of life.

Unity in bronze: German universities and the 250th anniversary of the Royal Society

This essay explains the emergence of a new era in global science and politics through increasing scientific nationalism in the years leading up to World War I. Based upon original archival research, we examine how the cultural geopolitics of international scientific jubilees triggered a major change in the self-representation of Prussian and non-Prussian German universities from delivering individual congratulatory addresses to the demonstration of unity through one joint address and present. The analysis focuses on the first centenary of the Royal Frederick University in Kristiania and the quincentenary of the University of St Andrews, both held in 1911, before discussing how all 21 German universities agreed to convey their felicitations with one voice—as Universitates Germaniae —and one address—an inscribed bronze votive tablet—to the Royal Society in London on the occasion of its 250th anniversary as a chartered institution in 1912. We argue that in the context of growing imperial and economic rivalry between European nation-states, the politicization of these jubilees reinforced scientific nationalism and encouraged a unified appearance of German universities overseas, no less than 41 years after the constitution of the German Empire. By analysing changing material, practical, and imaginative resource ensembles in science and politics, we reveal how the geographical imagination of national unity materialized in the German universities’ use of bronze tablets for conveying academic appreciation and geopolitical messages in London, and at the Groningen tercentenary in 1914, and thereby heralded a new era characterized by a national university system, an escalation of scientific nationalism, and global wars.

And Once Again the Invisible Battle… Review of the book by A.I. Demchenko “Appassionata”

Alexander I. Demchenko is well known to the musicological community and art lovers as the author of numerous books on various aspects of artistic creativity. His new monograph (Appassionata, Essays on Beethoven’s Music, Commemorating the 250th Anniversary of his Birth. Monograph. Moscow, 2021. 164 p.), addressed both to specialists and a broad circle of connoisseurs of the art of music, is focused entirely on analysis of the content-semantic essence of the artistic heritage of the great composer, to which all the cited facts of his life and consideration of the means of musical expression are subordinated. The core of the presentation is embodied in the works of Beethoven the basic essence of human existence (life activities, lyrical feelings, repose) and what determines the leading constants of Beethoven's attitude to the world (heroic moods, drama, epos).

Grigorii Ivanovich Fischer von Waldheim: In Commemoration of 250th Anniversary of His Birthday

This paper commemorates the 250th anniversary of birth of Grigorii Ivanovich Fischer von Waldheim, a German naturalist who came to Moscow in 1804 at the invitation of the trustee of Moscow University M. N. Muravyov to take the chair in natural history and the post of director of the University Museum of Natural History. The paper analyzes the historiography on Fischer von Waldheim and recounts the circumstances of his invitation to Russia. Special attention is given to his fifty-year-long work in Russia and his still underestimated contributions to the development and institutionalization of natural sciences, and the establishment of natural history education at Moscow University and Moscow Medico-Surgical Academy.

Travels in Scottland: Poems for Walter Scott @250

Welcome to the fifth collection by Wyvern Poets, in collaboration with the University of Dundee. 2021 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), father of the historical novel and, effectively, of a new kind of mass ‘time travel’. Scott’s prolific output exported an image of his homeland with global appeal, if not always scrupulous authenticity. Stuart Kelly’s 2011 biography, Scott-land, is subtitled The Man Who Invented a Nation, perhaps without too much exaggeration. Scott’s antiquarian vision transformed a turbulent past into a pre-industrial landscape for the Romantic imagination, virtually overwhelming its place of origin or at least melding with it, as he rapidly became one the best-selling authors on earth. John Davidson’s ‘The Salvation of Nature’ (1891), fantasised a future Scotland bought out by an entertainment conglomerate. The World’s Pleasance Company, Ltd. demolishes anything built after 1700, ‘rewilding’ Scotland into a kind of neo-medieval theme park re-staging the past for tourists. Davidson’s story was both satirical exaggeration and backhanded tribute to Scott’s work for bringing history to life in a certain form. Hence this collection considers the many ways in which Scott’s evocative, but also problematic reimagining of his homeland remains relevant to our time and beyond.

The Two hundred and Fiftieth-anniversary Celebration of the Royal Society and The International Entomological Congress

This chapter describes how John Henry Comstock was asked to represent Cornell University at the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Royal Society of London in 1912. On the evening after the Comstocks' arrival in London, Henry went to the first informal meeting of the delegates to the Royal Society Celebration. On July 16, 1912, there was an impressive service in Westminster Abbey, which was attended by the delegates who were all in Academic dress. That evening, there was a great dinner in the Guild hall for the delegates. Eleven of the wives of delegates, including Anna Botsford Comstock, were entertained at dinner by Lady Bradford at her home in Manchester Square. The closing event of the celebration was the garden party at Windsor Castle. The delegates were received by their Majesties in the palace and were shown through it afterwards. Henry then attended the International Congress of Entomologists in Oxford in August of 1912.