255
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
E. Boutsikas et al. (eds.), Advancing Cultural Astronomy, Historical & Cultural
Astronomy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64606-6_13
Finally, A Very Fruitful Interdisciplinary
Cooperation…
Michel Cotte
I don’t remember exactly the date and circumstances of my first meeting with Clive
Ruggles. It was surely during a meeting related to the question of astronomical heritage, where I represented ICOMOS (the International Council of Monuments and
Sites). Initially, the World Heritage Centre recommended to the IAU Commission
members to meet ICOMOS and to examine a possible joint venture to promote the
heritage of astronomy. It seems for me that happened October or November of the
year 2008, in the ICOMOS office in Paris, and a working relationship was launched
at the end of 2008, that quickly developed early in 2009.
1
Context was the joint
UNESCO and IAU international year of Astronomy (2009), which strongly stimulated initiatives and meetings of different bodies and persons.
If I do not remember very well the location and exact topic of this initial meeting,
I clearly remember the first impression given by Clive’s character. I immediately
perceive his Latin volubility and prompt movement of arms and face illustrating his
talk; that sounded as something unexpected from a British citizen but very sympathetic. In other words, it is not possible to ignore Clive’s personality among a range
of experts and scientists drawn from many scholarly fields.
At that time and perhaps even today, ICOMOS and beyond ICOMOS the World
Heritage Committee were not very much aware of scientific heritage and didn’t pay
notable attention to it. As usual, what is not well known by an individual or a community has little importance and value for them. Furthermore, at that time, some
notable nomination projects of scientific heritage had met important difficulties
1 The two most ancient joint mutual working documents in my personal archives are: an orientation
paper from Clive related to “Astronomy and World Heritage” including a series of comments from
I from December 2008, and the first version of the Thematic Study Plan mutually elaborated from
January 2009.
M. Cotte (*)
University of Nantes & ICOMOS, Nantes, France
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
E. Boutsikas et al. (eds.), Advancing Cultural Astronomy, Historical & Cultural
Astronomy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64606-6_13
Finally, A Very Fruitful Interdisciplinary
Cooperation…
Michel Cotte
I don’t remember exactly the date and circumstances of my first meeting with Clive
Ruggles. It was surely during a meeting related to the question of astronomical heritage, where I represented ICOMOS (the International Council of Monuments and
Sites). Initially, the World Heritage Centre recommended to the IAU Commission
members to meet ICOMOS and to examine a possible joint venture to promote the
heritage of astronomy. It seems for me that happened October or November of the
year 2008, in the ICOMOS office in Paris, and a working relationship was launched
at the end of 2008, that quickly developed early in 2009.
1
Context was the joint
UNESCO and IAU international year of Astronomy (2009), which strongly stimulated initiatives and meetings of different bodies and persons.
If I do not remember very well the location and exact topic of this initial meeting,
I clearly remember the first impression given by Clive’s character. I immediately
perceive his Latin volubility and prompt movement of arms and face illustrating his
talk; that sounded as something unexpected from a British citizen but very sympathetic. In other words, it is not possible to ignore Clive’s personality among a range
of experts and scientists drawn from many scholarly fields.
At that time and perhaps even today, ICOMOS and beyond ICOMOS the World
Heritage Committee were not very much aware of scientific heritage and didn’t pay
notable attention to it. As usual, what is not well known by an individual or a community has little importance and value for them. Furthermore, at that time, some
notable nomination projects of scientific heritage had met important difficulties
1 The two most ancient joint mutual working documents in my personal archives are: an orientation
paper from Clive related to “Astronomy and World Heritage” including a series of comments from
I from December 2008, and the first version of the Thematic Study Plan mutually elaborated from
January 2009.
M. Cotte (*)
University of Nantes & ICOMOS, Nantes, France