Event

Futures Past: Lessons from the History of Prediction

Jennifer Jahner, professor of English at Caltech and this year’s Fletcher Jones Foundation Distinguished Fellow, explores the deep historical roots of the modern forecast, from ancient techniques of divination through the development of medieval medical prognostication.
Lectures

From weather to the economy, disease to politics, forecasts define our modern world, modeling our future in degrees of chance and probability. At its origins, the forecast began literally as a form of “casting”—tossing dice, bones, or other objects to reveal future possibilities. Drawing on The Huntington’s manuscript collection, this talk introduces a consummate premodern predictive technology—the book—and explores how astrology and other “applied sciences” helped readers navigate uncertainty. Though it seems distant to our data-driven present, the premodern world of prognostication holds valuable lessons for our own, especially as we plan for an increasingly uncertain climate future.

A circular diagram with four orange rings. The center is divided into four parts with oblong petal-like shapes, alternating yellow and white. The entire image is filled with text and singular characters.

The Sphere of Life and Death, England, ca. 1485–1499, folio 15v. | The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens.