A depressing day at LSE

For the first time in a month, I have travelled down to LSE. It is clear that I have not enjoyed this year to anything like the extent of last year. Last year I really enjoyed the Philosophy of Science course - much to my surprise. In retrospect, this is because of the seminar discussions. That is something I don't have this year. But the main factor is that I don't know the people on the course this year like I knew them last year. Last year there was Caroline, Victor, Leonardo, Anne Marie, Matt, the various Americans, Femke, and so on. This year I don't even know the names of any of the people on my course, yet alone have lunch with them regularly like last year.

So today I was down for John's History of Science lecture/seminar. Much of this term is material we did last year, but today's was pretty good being on atomism and corpuscular theories - something I wasn't interested in last year but am more so this year - mainly due to Kepler's attack of Epicureanism in De stella nova. But as usual, no one wants to get a drink or lunch afterwards.

A brief trip to the library and some new books. Then I figured I would go and crash out in the MSc sudents roon in the Philosophy depeartment building. Stretched out across three chairs I am soon asleep. I wake to hear several other students talking about me - who is this old guy crashed out in our room?

So I headed off for a walk in the rain towards Covent Garden. Then the idea hit me to go and visit the National Gallery and find out some more details of the exhibition I'd like to see of the Delaroche Lady Jane Grey picture. Of course the main part of the NG is free. I had no real plan in mind, instead heading right at the first junction taking me into fairly modern paintings - Renoir's girl in the rain, and so on. Highlights were the Rhetoric by Justus of Ghent and Sassaferrato's portrait of the Virgin Mary

Justus's Rhetoric

Sassaferrato's Virgin Mary - staggering blue colour on the original. Very expensive pigment I don't doubt.

But it is a poor day and I was feeling pretty unhappy as I sat in a pub eating my dinner and reading one of the books I got from LSE library, prior to seeing Satyagraha.