I have not posted for a bit because I feel like I am in a hunter-gatherer phase of my research process. I thought it might be interesting to anyone reading this blog (because you are my people) to hear a little about what that has looked like lately. Part of doing science is doing research – this could be at the beginning of a project to get more background information, or in the middle as we are rethinking and revising our hypotheses, or toward the end as we are finalizing our conclusions. I think we get caught up sometimes in the sexiness of new discovery and ‘Eureka’ moments and lose sight of the scientific method that underpins it all. We, as scientists, would absolutely love a linear, straight line trajectory from hypothesis to experiment to results to Nobel Prize, but that is never how it works in actuality. It is those of us who look at science through an historical lens that tend to spin it that way, I think. Makes for a better story…or does it?
A couple weeks ago, I completed a 3-day short course on palaeography, which according to the Oxford Dictionary is, “the study of ancient writing systems and the deciphering and dating of historical manuscripts”, with a focus on the Medieval period. Before you get too impressed, it was definitely more of an undertaking than I could have imagined when Past Lindsay (with her one year of Latin 12 years ago) signed up for the course. I was in the room with impressive humans, but I can assure you that I was not one of them. I sure did learn a lot, though, and everyone there was very kind and helpful, not just with helping me work my way through the course, but also in sabbatical project-related recommendations for my time here in the UK.
The professor of the course suggested I look into St. Bartholomew’s church, which is a church that was built in 1123 and was referenced in some of the manuscript work we were doing. The relation to my project is not the church itself, but in the fact that a hospital was built at the same time that was affiliated with the church. So, the original vision (a literal vision, as was often the case with such things) by Rahere, the founder of the church, was really a place of both spiritual and physical healing. One cannot really talk about the history of medicine (which is so intertwined with the history of science) without mentioning St. Bart’s (as it is affectionately known). As an aside (I know, I know – ALL of my writing feels like an aside – I will get back to the main point shortly), one of the women in the class also said that this was the church featured in the Hugh Grant film, Four Weddings and a Funeral, so I was sold on both counts.
After the course was over, I went to St. Bart’s (the church, which is ‘The Great’ – ‘the Less’ is a smaller church on the grounds of the hospital) and learned that they have a series of programming celebrating their 900th birthday this year. There happened to be a concert that Sunday in the church as a belated celebration of Easter and as part of this 900th birthday celebration, as well. They were planning on performing George Handel’s Messiah, which is the one with the famous ‘Hallelujah chorus’. In modern times, we think of Handel’s Messiah as more of a Christmas piece, but it is about the birth, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus and was traditionally performed at Easter. This medieval church/hospital was not on my radar at all when I started this journey, and all of a sudden I had tickets to see Handel’s Messiah performed in a 900 year old church!
I attended the concert and it was pretty incredible. There were no microphones on the singers – not even the soloists. They were not needed. The acoustics in the church were stunning. I got there early to poke around and see what I could learn. It is a beautiful space and I picked up literature there on both the history of the church as well as the hospital. One thing I learned during the concert is that people stand up for the ‘Hallelujah chorus’, and when everyone in the audience stands up in choreographed unison, one stands up, too. I am not a religious person, so I was not sure if this is a typical response to this piece of music or what. Of course, I researched it when I got home.
It turns out that no one is 100% sure how the tradition got started, but it is a thing. The legend goes that King George II, who had commissioned Handel to write 4 pieces for his coronation (an important detail because they are also going to be played during the King Charles III’s coronation in a couple of days), stood during that particular song during the debut London performance in 1743. So, of course, if the King stands, then everyone has to stand and that was that. There is much speculation about why the King might have stood – from how emotionally moved he was by the work to his gout flaring up and just needing a break from sitting, but either way, it was an interesting thing to experience and something new I learned.
It also linked to an earlier part of my trip because I saw Handel’s memorial at Westminster Abbey, where he is buried, when I visited in my first week here. I think it is interesting that he is buried in the poet’s corner and not with the musicians.
After the concert, I did some research into the hospital and found out they have a small museum on site. I made a plan to visit and wandered around there in an afternoon. I will do a whole separate post on St. Bart’s Hospital, but it pointed me in a number of new directions in terms of historical figures to check out and filled in some gaps in my knowledge about timeline. It also got me thinking more about Dr. Alexander Fleming and the discovery of penicillin, due to an exhibit on changing medicine prior to WWII, so that prompted more research and more museums, etc. etc.
One of the unexpectedly cool things I saw at St. Bart’s was a little plaque on the wall that caught my eye because it mentioned Sherlock Holmes. I have always been a big fan of mysteries and forensic science, so Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories are right up my alley. It turns out, St. Bart’s was Dr. Watson’s alma mater and it was in their chemistry lab where he first met Holmes…extra credit in my heart if you can name the book!
You just never know where research will take you – from Handel to Holmes.