The MIT chapter of Tau Beta Pi (TBP), the national engineering honor society, is sponsoring the Fall 1998 Leonardo da Vinci Dinner Lecture Series. Each of the dinner lectures, which are open to TBP members and all faculty, brings together about 20 students and several faculty to hear a short lecture by one of the faculty members, and enjoy fine dinner and hearty conversation together. Tau Beta Pi sponsors the dinner series with the goal of "fostering a spirit of liberal culture" at MIT, exemplified by Leonardo's curiosity and wide range of interests, as well as to provide a way for faculty to interact with students outside of the classroom.

The fall opening lecture, entitled "Why I Don't Believe in Science and Engineering," was given by John Deutch on September 21. This lecture served to introduce this term's lecture series and was open to the entire MIT community. Below is a list of lecture topics that will be presented this fall.

09/24/98 "Myth, Memory, and the Declaration of Independence" by Pauline Maier, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of American History

10/06/98 "The Athena Experience: what we learned and what we should do" by Steven Lerman, Class of 1922 Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Center for Educational Computing Initiatives

10/13/98 "Building Quantum Computers" by Seth Lloyd, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering

10/20/98 "An Engineer Goes to Washington" by Sheila Widnall, Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics

10/27/98 "Developing Student Leadership at MIT: Combining Knowledge and Personal Effectiveness" by Phillip Clay, Associate Provost and Professor of Urban Studies and Planning

11/03/98 "Application of Science to the Study of Art Objects" by Robert Ogilvie, Professor of Metallurgy, Emeritus

11/10/98 "Exciting Advances in Bioengineering" by Alan Grodzinsky, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Associate Director of the Center For Biomedical Engineering

11/19/98 "How the Mind Works" by Steven Pinker, Professor of Cognitive Science and Director of the McDonnell-Pew Center for Cognitive Neuroscience

12/03/98 "Music Interpretation: just the notes or more?" by Ellen Harris, Professor of Music

Dinners are free and all members of the MIT faculty are invited to participate. Each dinner is from 6-8 pm in the West Dining Room of Ashdown House, the graduate dorm across from the MIT Chapel. For more information or to make dinner reservations, visit the Leonardo dinners Web page at http://web.mit.edu/tbp/www/dinners or contact me as the Leonardo Dinners chair, at keitha@mit.edu.