A Half-Day Steve Morse-A-Thon
Valley Beth Shalom Synagogue
15739 Ventura Boulevard, Encino, CA 91436
Sunday, March 15, 2009
1:00 PM - 4:30 PM
From DNA to Genetic Genealogy: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask!
The study of genetics that started with Gregor Mendel's pea experiments in 1865 has now
entered the genealogy field with Megan Smolenyak's coining of the term "genetealogy" in 2000.
This talk introduces genes, chromosomes, and DNA, and goes on to show how DNA is inherited.
That knowledge of inheritance can be used for finding relatives you didn't know you had,
learning about your very distant ancestors and the route they traveled, and determining
if you are a Jewish high priest (Kohan).
One-Step Webpages: A Hodgepodge of Lesser-Known Gems
There are too many utilities on the One-Step website to be covered in a single talk, so many of them found their way to the cutting room floor when the Potpourri talk was being edited. However several of those are quite useful. This talk describes those gems that you might not otherwise be aware of. They range from problems with genealogical searches to problems with identity theft to problems with DNA.
The Jewish Calendar Demystified
The Jewish calendar is important to genealogists because Jewish vital records use the Jewish dates. This includes not only birth, marriage, and death certificates, but tombstone inscriptions as well. The Jewish calendar is both a solar and lunar calendar, with the months being synchronized to the moon and years to the sun. As such, the rules governing the calendar can be a bit daunting. This talk presents the calendar in an easy-to-under-stand fashion. Topics covered include the 19-year calendar cycle, the origin of time, errors in the Jewish and secular calendars, and the use of Hebrew letters to represent dates on tombstones.
Stephen Morse
Stephen Morse is an amateur genealogist whose research of his Russian-Jewish origins led him to develop remarkable programs that have been beneficial to all genealogists. Morse is also a computer professional with a doctorate degree in electrical engineering from New York University who has authored numerous technical papers, written four textbooks, and holds three patents. He is best known as the architect of the Intel 8086, which is the granddaddy of today's Pentium processor. He was the recipient of the IAJGS Outstanding Contribution Award in 2003 and continues to work tirelessly on behalf of all genealogical researchers.
Meeting Handouts Available:
This program is free to JGSLA member. Guests are $5. Refreshments will be served and our traveling library will be available.