APPEAL-9: How to Build the Biggest and Most Complex Discovery Machines

APPEAL 9 – Year of Engineering 2018 How to Build the Biggest and Most Complex Discovery Machines With the designation of 2018 as the Year of Engineering, it is a great time to discuss with A-level pupils the connections between engineering, particle physics and particle accelerators. Particle accelerators present engineers with a variety of challenges […]

From Space to Spacetime

Saturday 9th June 2018 10.30 am – 5.00 pm St Cross College, University of Oxford – Martin Wood Lecture Theatre, Department of Physics Since antiquity there has been a fascination with the notions of space and time with Aristotle’s philosophy remaining dominant until the advent of the heliocentric Copernican system of the Solar System marked […]

Rugby 2018

Every year Rugby School hosts a day for physics teachers, which includes lectures and workshops. http://www.iop.org/education/teacher/support/rugby-meeting/page_70979.html 3D Printing in Education Marcin Poblocki, Research Technician at University of Liverpool 3D printing was developed by Charles Hull in 1984 https://uk.3dsystems.com/our-story https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Hull Chuck Hull (Charles W. Hull; born May 12, 1939) is the co-founder, executive vice president and […]

Rugby 2018

Every year Rugby School hosts a day for physics teachers, which includes lectures and workshops. http://www.iop.org/education/teacher/support/rugby-meeting/page_70979.html Robotic Exploration of the Solar System Prof. Emma Bunce, University of Leicester https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/physics/people/emmabunce https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Bunce On Thursday 7th of June I was lucky enough to attend this lecture. The following are my notes (and any mistakes are mine). I have […]

Neutrons and Lollipops: What do they have in common? Dr Silvia Capelli ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Harwell Science Campus, Didcot, UK Abstract: Crystals can be found anywhere around us: from sugar and salt on our dining tables, to snowflakes and gemstones in nature, up in roofs in solar panels or in […]

The physics of Ballet

During February (2017) I was lucky enough to attend a lecture/demonstration jointly hosted by the Institute of Physics and the Royal Ballet held at the Royal Opera House about the link between physics and ballet. The presenters were: Dr James Shippen, who is a mechanical engineer at Coventry University, specialises in applying engineering theory to […]

Astro Academy: Principia

Even though I have retired from day to day physics teaching I still intend attending courses when I can. On Wednesday 15th February I was luckily able to attend a presentation on a new initiative, Astro Academy: Principia, by the National space academy held at the Royal Astronomical Society. https://www.ras.org.uk/ http://nationalspaceacademy.org/ The National Space Academy […]

Opera

A disadvantage of being married is that I sometimes have to go to things that I would rather not, such as opera (although I usually get a pair of earrings out of it – https://www.coventgarden.london/shopping/les-neredies). Now when I was younger I didn’t mind so much but my patience seems to have decreased with age and […]

February the 11th 2017

February 11th If you read my last post you may have realised that my blog will not just be about physics now. Please don’t assume that this is because I am fed up with physics. This is absolutely not the case. You will find that most of my posts will still be about this wonderful […]

Depression

For most of my life I have battled depression. The overwhelming cause has been the feeling of inadequacy but today I realised that the cause now is the state of the world around me. I try thinking that I have more years behind me than in front and that I have no children but then […]