The Institute of History of Medicine and Science "López Piñero" (joint mission of the University of Valencia and the CSIC), based in the Palau de Corveró (Corveró Palace), and the Film Hall of the UVEG present the cinematographic cycle "Observing the Universe", that will begin on Thursday the 22nd of November with the showing of the movie "Cartesius" (Roberto Rossellini, Italy, 1974). The next Thursday, day 29th of November, will be shown

"Einstein and Eddington" (Philip Martin, UK, 2008). Lastly, two weeks after, Thursday 13th of December, the cycle will close with the showing of two movies: "The Dish" (Rob Sitch, Australia, 2000), and the famous short movie "Le voyage dans la lune" (Georges Méliès, Francia, 1902).

The showings, which will take place the stated Thursdays at 18:00 in the assembly hall of the Palau de Corveró (Corveró Palace), will be shown in their original version with subtitles in Spanish. Each session will be preceded with a presentation run by the Film Hall of the University and a posterior talk in which the audience will be able to participate in. The cycle looks towards the Universe, treating the discipline of Astronomy from an arrange of different points of view, that go from the study of the well-known figures of René Descartes, Albert Einstein and Arthur Eddington, to the illustration of milestones in the world of Astronomy such as the landing of men in the moon.

The first movie, Cartesius, is framed in the XVII Century, and illustrates the biography of the great philosopher René Descartes. In it, Rossellini tries to reflect the author's reflections and the vital events that marked him. The movie dramatises the interest of the philosopher in the new scientific theories and his discussions with well-known astronomers.

In the second session, the full-lenght movie "Einstein and Eddington" offers a glimpse into the life of these two distinguished scientifics whose contributions gave away a new stage of science, with the rise of the Theory of Relativity. The movie tells the exchange of letters between the German theoricist and the English observer, in the context of the First World War, which did not manage to hamper the discovery of the scientific truth.

Lastly, on Thursday 13th of December the cicly will close with a session centered around the landing of men in the moon, from two distinct point of view: one real and one fantastic. In the first place, "The Dish" takes as a basis the real events that the broadcast of the first steps of man on the moon in 1969, to create a brilliant comedy. In the second place, the first science fiction movie of history, "Le voyage dans la lune", by Georges Méliès, tells the fantastic story of six brave astronauts that travel in a space capsule to the moon.