In Conversation: Eric H. Cline & Mark Adams

Thursday, May 4, 2017, 6:30 - 7:30pm

Add to Calendar

Image
Eric H. Cline

Eric H. Cline

Eric H. Cline, author of Three Stones Make a Wall: The Story of Archeology, will have free, public discussion of the history of archeology with Mark Adams, the journalist and author of Turn Right at Machu Picchu.

Three Stones Make a Wall jacketThree Stones Make a Wall traces the history of archaeology from an amateur pursuit to the cutting-edge science it is today by taking the reader on a tour of major archaeological sites and discoveries, from Pompeii to Petra, Troy to the Terracotta Warriors, and Mycenae to Megiddo and Masada. Cline brings to life the personalities behind these digs, including Heinrich Schliemann, the former businessman who excavated Troy, and Mary Leakey, whose discoveries advanced our understanding of human origins. The discovery of the peoples and civilizations of the past is presented in vivid detail, from the Hittites and Minoans to the Inca, Aztec, and Moche. Along the way, the book addresses the questions archaeologists are asked most often: How do you know where to dig? How are excavations actually done? How do you know how old something is? Who gets to keep what is found?

Eric H. Cline is professor of classics and anthropology and director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute at George Washington University. An active archaeologist, he has excavated and surveyed in Greece, Crete, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and the United States. His many books include 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed (Princeton).

Mark AdamsMark Adams is the author of Mr. America, which The Washington Post named a Best Book of 2009, and the New York Times bestseller Turn Right at Machu Picchu, which Men's Journal recently selected as one of the Fifty Greatest Adventure Books of All Time. His work has appeared in many national publications, including ESPN: The Magazine, GQ, New York and the New York Times.

Photo of Mark Adams by Joshua Scott

Located in The Great Hall, in the Foundation Building, 7 East 7th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.