St John's College News
Can you send me a Graduate Prospectus of the College?
Can you send me a Graduate Prospectus of the College?St John’s College does not have a separate college prospectus for graduate enquirers. Information about the College can be found on the College website and on the website of the Graduate Admissions Office, Board of Graduate Studies. The Graduate Admissions Office no longer issue a hard copy prospectus.read moreFAQs
FAQsread moreThe Pelling Scholarship
The Pelling ScholarshipIn March the College proposes to elect a graduate student studying History in any Faculty to the Pelling Scholarship, tenable from the following October .(i) members of the College engaged in study which will count towards the requirements of a PhD degree in History (in any Faculty);(ii) applicants to the College for admission: (a) as Graduate Students intending to…read moreThe Paskin Scholarship
The Paskin ScholarshipIn March the College proposes to elect a graduate student studying Archaeology or Philosophy to the Paskin Scholarship, tenable from October.Eligibility (i) members of the College engaged in study which will count towards the requirements of the PhD degree in Archaeology or Philosophy;(ii) applicants to the College for…read moreThe J C Hall Scholarship
The J C Hall ScholarshipIn March the College proposes to elect a graduate student studying Law to the J C Hall Scholarship, tenable from the following October.Eligibility (i) members of the College engaged in study which will count towards the requirements of the PhD degree in Law or Criminology;(ii) applicants to the College for admission: …read moreSlave Trade Abolition in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk
Slave Trade Abolition in Cambridgeshire and SuffolkProject resources are freely available at www.slavetradeabolition.org. If you would like a CD of these resources sent to you please email us giving full contact details.Throughout the year of the Bicentenary, 2007, commemorating the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act 1807, St John’s College ran an innovative project generously funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, working with secondary school…read moreThe Way to the Stars: Build Your Own Astrolabe
The Way to the Stars: Build Your Own AstrolabeMore Information About Astrolabes The Whipple Museum of the History and Philosophy of Science an in-depth look at a 14th-century English astrolabe Oxford Museum of the History of Science The Astrolabe, East and West, an online exhibition images of astrolabes from their catalogue The British Museum astrolabes are some of the highlights from the British Museum collections In…read moreThe Way to the Stars: Build Your Own Astrolabe
The Way to the Stars: Build Your Own AstrolabeHow to Use Your Astrolabe: What's in the Sky Tonight? You can use your astrolabe to find out what will be visible in the sky throughout any night. The instructions below explain how to find out what you can see on 20 March at 7.30pm GMT (19.30 on the 24-hour clock). You can easily adapt the instructions to apply to any date and time. The time must always be set according to…read moreThe Way to the Stars: Build Your Own Astrolabe
The Way to the Stars: Build Your Own AstrolabeBuild Your Astrolabe: The Constellations Use the images below to locate and label some of the most recognisable stars and constellations on the rete of your astrolabe. You will need a permanent marker to write on the transparency. The constellations below are labelled with CAPITAL LETTERS, the stars are named in lower case. Click on the links in the text to see artistic…read moreThe Way to the Stars: Build Your Own Astrolabe
The Way to the Stars: Build Your Own AstrolabeBuild Your Astrolabe You will need: Flatpack Astrolabe Kit (pdf) A printer Thin card Acetate transparencies or tracing paper Scissors Glue Permanent marker (to write on transparency) Split-pin paper fastener Ribbon or thin string What to do: Download this pdf file: Flatpack Astrolabe Kit…read moreThe Way to the Stars: Build Your Own Astrolabe
The Way to the Stars: Build Your Own AstrolabeThomas Betson of Syon Thomas Betson (d. 1516) was a religious author and librarian. He was a deacon at Syon Abbey in Middlesex from 1481 until his death, and served as the Abbey's librarian. The Abbey had one of the largest libraries in England at that time. Although he was mainly a religious thinker and author, Betson had a very wide range of interests. This can be seen in…read moreThe Way to the Stars: Build Your Own Astrolabe
The Way to the Stars: Build Your Own AstrolabeCompositio et operatio astrolabii The Arabic text of this work has been lost, and it survives only in a Latin translation possibly made by the twelfth-century scholar Joannes Hispalensis. It was one of the sources that Chaucer used for his own Treatise on the Astrolabe. As the title suggests, the work falls into two parts. The first describes how to construct an astrolabe,…read moreThe Way to the Stars: Build Your Own Astrolabe
The Way to the Stars: Build Your Own AstrolabeGeoffrey Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340 to 1400) is most famous for having written The Canterbury tales. His Treatise on the astrolabe was written during the 1390s. It is the first 'technical manual' of its kind to be written in English instead of Latin, Greek, or Arabic. It was evidently a popular work because it exists today in more manuscript…read moreThe Way to the Stars: Build Your Own Astrolabe
The Way to the Stars: Build Your Own AstrolabeWhat is an Astrolabe? Astrolabes are an ancient astronomical instrument. They were first used in ancient Greece, were extensively developed in the medieval Islamic world and became the key astronomical instrument of the western middle ages. When mapping the heavens astronomers assume that the stars seen in the night sky are all at an equal distance from the earth, existing on…read moreThe Way to the Stars: Build Your Own Astrolabe
The Way to the Stars: Build Your Own AstrolabeThese webpages were created by the Hoyle Project Associate to support 'Build Your Own Astrolabe' hands-on events held as part of Cambridge Science Festival on 13 March 2010 and 19 March 2011. Use the links below to find out about astrolabes and to make your own working replica. What is an astrolabe? Medieval astronomy: Geoffrey Chaucer's Treatise on…read moreCatering
CateringCollege MealsThe Buttery Dining Room is open everyday during term time, offering a set menu for lunch and dinner, including a daily vegetarian option. The self-service, restaurant provides a varied selection of meals and snacks at subsidised prices, ranging from take-away baked potatoes, freshly baked pizza and sandwiches, to a choice of three main meals with vegetables along with a varied…read moreCurious People - Bibliography
Curious People - BibliographyWhat's on this page? The bibliography lists all the books and manuscripts that were used to make Curious People: a history of exploration. It directs people to the original sources so that they can check the facts and find out more about the subject. Each reference to a book or manuscript has some of the following elements laid out in the following order: Author, with the surname…read moreCurious People - Feedback
Curious People - FeedbackIf you have any comments or questions about this resource, or would like to make suggestions for its improvement, we would be happy to hear from you. Please contact the Library at special.collections@joh.cam.ac.uk The Library welcomes visits from schools and other organisations. If you are interested in organising a visit to the Library, on exploration or any other topic, please…read moreCurious People - Find out more
Curious People - Find out moreWhat's on this page? Below are some books and websites to look at if you want to find out more about exploration. These are just suggestions – there are many more good resources on exploration out there. Try searching a library catalogue or online bookstore for words like ‘Polar regions’, ‘Explorers’, or ‘Discoveries’. Let us know if you have any ideas about books or websites that…read moreThe Scramble for Africa
The Europeans called Africa the ‘Dark Continent’ because it was unknown to themThis map of Africa is from a 1917 atlas. It is colour coded to show what each European power owns. The key is in the bottom left-hand corner. The divisions were arbitrarily decided by the colonising countries. They were not based on existing tribal or geographical boundaries. Some of the new boundaries split tribes in half. Others made huge territories that were difficult to…read morePortuguese Discoveries
Portuguese DiscoveriesThe map on the left was made in 1535. It shows how well the north and west coasts of Africa had been mapped by then. The names of towns are crammed in all along the edge of the coast, but the interior of Africa is almost blank. This reflects how little was known about what lay inside the African continent. The interior is decorated with a rhinoceros, mythical kings, and cyclopes. Portuguese…read moreMedieval Geography
Medieval GeographyPeople in medieval Europe had lost all the knowledge about the world that classical civilizations like the Greeks and Romans had discovered. They found their own ways of picturing the earth. The medieval map of the world on the right appears in a thirteenth-century work of philosophy by William of Conches. Does it look like the earth to you? On this map, the northern hemisphere shows Europe and…read moreMappae Mundi
Mappae MundiThe map on the left is from a Victorian copy of a medieval world map that was made around the year 1300. It is called the Hereford Mappa Mundi because the medieval original is in Hereford Cathedral. Mappa Mundi (plural: Mappae Mundi) comes from the Latin words mappa meaning towel, and mundus meaning world. Maps like the one in Hereford were originally painted on cloth, and later drawn onto…read moreThe Unknown Southern Continent
The Unknown Southern ContinentThe southern continents of Australia and Antarctica were still unknown to Europeans long after parts of all the other continents had been explored. Ptolemy, a geographer in ancient times, had suggested that there was one huge continent in the south of the world. 1500 years later mapmakers were still putting this imaginary super-continent on their maps. They labelled it, in Latin, Terra…read moreThe Northwest Passage
The Northwest PassageBy the late sixteenth century, Spain and Portugal controlled the two best routes from Europe to the riches of Asia. Other European countries hoped to find another way from the Atlantic to the Pacific by sailing through the Arctic, north of America. British explorers Martin Frobisher (in the 1570s), John Davis (in the 1580s) and Henry Hudson (in 1610) all looked for this Northwest Passage, but…read more