News Release
September 2006
Bethlehem, Pa., September 12, 2006—Moravian College will celebrate the 23rd year
of the Cohen Arts and Lecture Series with a presentation by science historian and author
James Burke titled, “Staying Ahead: Innovation for the Day After Tomorrow.” The
lecture will be held on Tuesday, October 3 at 8:00 p.m. in Johnston Hall, on Moravian’s
Main Street Campus. General admission is $15 with proceeds benefiting the Moravian
College Scholarship Fund.
Hailed by the Washington Post as “one of the most intriguing minds in
the Western world,” James Burke takes audiences on a creative journey through the
history of science, technology and social change. Burke is the creator, producer and
host of many award-winning TV series including Connections (PBS), Connections2 and Connections3 (Discovery), The
Day the Universe Changed (PBS), After the Warming (PBS) and Masters
of Illusion, for the National Gallery of Art.
With a unique and entertaining perspective on how people and institutions
change, Burke has been a popular speaker for such companies as IBM, NASA, Procter & Gamble,
Microsoft, Cisco and countless universities and museums. He has also produced customized
videos for companies seeking to explain new technologies and ideas.
His latest book, Twin Tracks, explores the surprising connections
among the seemingly unconnected people, events and discoveries that have shaped our
modern world. In 2007, he will launch an innovative project, www.k-web.org, an online
interactive teaching tool. Users of this revolutionary educational resource will journey
through a 3-dimensional web, made up of 2,500 of history’s key personalities interlinked over 20,000 ways,
to discover the remarkable serendipity behind humankind’s tireless commitment to
invention and innovation.
Drawing upon a wealth of knowledge and dazzling insights, Burke humorously
includes such momentous historical coincidences as: “How the popularity of underwear in
the 12th century led to the invention of the printing press” or “How the
arrival of the cannon led to the development of movies.”
Burke is the bestselling author of Connections, The Day the Universe Changed and The
Knowledge Web. His other books include The Pinball Effect, The Axemaker’s
Gift and Circles, a collection of his Scientific American monthly
columns that ran for six years. He also wrote the introductions in Inventing Modern
America (MIT, 2002), and was a contributing author to Talking Back to the
Machine (Copernicus, 1999) and Leading for Innovation (Drucker Foundation,
2002).
Burke has advised the National Academy of Engineering, The Lucas
Educational Foundation and the SETI project. He is currently a contributor to TIME magazine and
in 2007 will release his next book, American Connections, about the signers
of the Declaration of Independence.
The Cohen Arts and Lecture series have featured a host of outstanding
speakers and performers, including Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Tom Friedman;
television journalist David Brinkley; folk singer Burl Ives; scientist Carl Sagan;
feminist writer and lecturer Gloria Steinem; political analysts Andrea Mitchell, David
Gergen, and Tom Wicker; former president Jimmy Carter; pianist Vladimir Feltsman; the
Tokyo Symphony Orchestra; and the New York Philomusica chamber ensemble; author Kurt
Vonnegut; a political panel comprising commentator Cokie Roberts; former New York governor
Mario Cuomo; political consultant James Carville, and former governor and presidential
chief of staff John Sununu; former ambassador Andrew Young; environmental activist
Joseph P. Kennedy II; best-selling author Anna Quindlen; and CNN Crossfire’s Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala. Last year, Richard Leakey,
one of the foremost authorities on wildlife and nature conservation, presented “Human
Origins and the Survival of the Species.”
The program was established at the college in 1984 through the generosity
of Bertha F. (Berte) Cohen ’37 and the late Bernard L. Cohen, to express personal appreciation
for their longtime association with the College and the Bethlehem community. Bertha Cohen
is a 1937 Moravian graduate and a former member of the college’s board of trustees.
Bernard Cohen was a member of the Lehigh University class of 1936.
Proceeds from the Cohen Arts and Lectures Series support the Cohen Arts and Lectures
Scholarships awarded to high-achieving full-time Moravian College seniors. More than
50 Moravian students have been recipients of the scholarships.
Tickets for the lecture may be purchased at the HUB desk in the Haupert
Union Building, located at the corner of Monocacy and West Locust Streets, or with
credit card by phone (610-625-7880) during normal business hours. A free ticket is
available for Moravian students, faculty, and staff, emeriti, honoraries, retirees,
as well as, LVIAC students, faculty, and staff. Complementary tickets may be
picked up at the HUB desk. For information, call 610-861-1491.
Moravian College is a private, coeducational, selective liberal arts college located
in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Tracing its founding to 1742, it is recognized as America's
sixth-oldest college. For more information call (610) 861-1491 or visit the web site
at www.moravian.edu.
