CASTINE — The Castine Scientific Society has announced that Christopher Columbus united the hemispheres, despite being a relative latecomer to the New World, largely because he publicized his journey. He was one of the first to hold a “press conference,” according to a society statement.

Columbus will be the subject of a lecture series at 3 p.m. Saturdays, July 18 and Aug. 22, at the Wilson Museum. The museum is open 2 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays.

It was Columbus’ findings that led to the first permanant settlements since the Bering Land Bridge disappeared. The lecture series, “The Road to San Salvador,” will be presented by Matthew Hatvany, a doctoral candidate in history at the University of Maine.

Columbus recently has been portrayed as everything from an explorer extraordinaire to a genocidal imperialist and ecological rapist but Hatvany attempts to be objective in his examination.