Topic: Ginkgo: The Tree Time Forgot
Date: 20th March, 6:30pm
Venue: NMML, Delhi
Tea at 6:00pm
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Anil Kumar M.V. <akumar@nalandauniv.in>
Dear All,
The Vice Chancellor, Nalanda University would like to invite you all for a lecture which is part of the Nalanda Distinguished Lecture Series.
Ginkgo: The Tree Time Forgot by Professor Sir Peter Crane FRS, Carl W. Knobloch, Jr. Dean and Professor of Botany, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. His new book, "Ginkgo: The Tree That Time Forgot" was released on March 4, 2013.
SHORT ABSTRACT - Inspired by the historic ginkgo that has thrived in London’s Kew Gardens since the 1760s, Professor Crane will explore the history of the ginkgo from its mysterious origin through its proliferation, drastic decline, and ultimate resurgence. Crane also highlights the cultural and social significance of the ginkgo: its medicinal and nutritional uses, its power as a source of artistic and religious inspiration, and its importance as one of the world's most popular street trees.
LONG ABSTRACT - Perhaps the world’s most distinctive tree, Ginkgo is a botanical oddity that has remained stubbornly unchanged for more than two hundred million years. It is the most widely recognized of all botanical “living fossils.” Once regarded as a cousin of pines and yews, ginkgo was first distinguished from conifers in plant classifications of the early nineteenth century. The evidence that has come to light since - particularly an astonishing discovery made in Japan in 1896, about the intimate details of its reproduction - has reinforced the isolated position of ginkgo among living plants. Ginkgo barely survived the great Ice Ages and today the only remaining wild populations exist as relics in China. Nevertheless, Ginkgo earned a reprieve when people first found it useful about a thousand years ago and it has been widely cultivated ever since. It was probably introduced into Japan from China in the thirteenth century. Today Ginkgo is beloved for the elegance of its leaves, prized for its edible nuts and revered for its longevity. Beginning with the historic Ginkgo that has thrived in Kew Gardens since the 1760s, the lecture will explore the evolutionary and cultural history of the species from its mysterious origin through its proliferation, drastic decline, and ultimate resurgence. The lecture will also highlight the cultural and social significance of ginkgo: its medicinal and nutritional uses, its power as a source of artistic and religious inspiration, and its importance as one of the world’s most popular street trees.
BIOGRAPHY - Professor Crane’s work focuses on the diversity of plant life: its origin and fossil history, current status, and conservation and use. From 1992 to 1999 he was director of the Field Museum in Chicago with overall responsibility for the museum’s scientific programs. From 1999 to 2006 he was director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Crane was elected to the Royal Society (the U.K. academy of sciences) in 1998. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, foreign associate of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and a member of the German Academy Leopoldina. He was knighted in the U.K. for services to horticulture and conservation in 2004.
CHAIRPERSON - Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan is a leading Indian scholar of classical Indian dance, Indian art and Indian architecture and an art historian. She was the founder Director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Delhi.She is also the Chairperson of the Asia Project, of India International Centre, Delhi.
We would greatly appreciate your presence at the lecture. Please find the attached invitation.
Dr. Gopa Sabharwal
Vice Chancellor
Nalanda University
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