Press Info

Want to know more about astronomy? Want to see the wonders of the Universe?

Information about our talks for the press.

Our last public talk was "Travel through space with Lucy Hawking - George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt" on Wednesday 7th October at 6.30pm (with coffee and tea at 6pm)

Explore the wonders of the Universe with author Lucy Hawking as she presents a young person's guide through the galaxy! Lucy will be talking about her latest book, `George's Cosmic Treasure Hunt,' the follow-up to the brilliant 'George's secret key to the universe'. Discover the mysteries of physics, science and the universe with George, his new friends next door - the scientist Eric and his daughter, Annie - and a super-intelligent computer known as Cosmos, which can take them to the edge of a black hole and back again. Learn more here.

Speaker Bio
Lucy Hawking studied French and Russian at the University of Oxford. She is the author of two adult novels, and has written for the Daily Mail, the Telegraph, The Times and the Evening Standard. She has been a guest presenter and regular contributor on radio. Lucy's first children's novel George's Secret Key to the Universe was published by Doubleday in September 2007. Written in collaboration with her father, the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Cambridge, Stephen Hawking, this humorous science fiction adventure introduces its young readers to concepts of science non-fiction, and has been described as `a true beginner's guide to A Brief History of Time' Publishers Weekly, as well as `a terrific page turner' Education Today. The success of this marriage between theoretical physics and comic children's fiction can be seen in its sales figures: 100,000 copies sold in hardback. George and the Cosmic Treasure Hunt, Lucy's second children's book, will be published by Doubleday in April 2009.

Our spring 2009 talk was "Poetry of the Night: A marvellous union between science and literature" by David H. Levy on 9th March 2009 at 7:30pm (with coffee and tea at 7pm)

On October 2, 1605, Londoners were treated to an almost total eclipse of the Sun at around the same time that Shakespeare's King Lear was exploring humanity's relation to the cosmos. "These Late Eclipses in the Sun and Moon" (a passage from the play) begins a sophisticated discussion of that relation, based on real events in the night sky. This is just one example of the richness of astronomical allusions in English Literature that will be explored in this presentation.

Speaker Bio
David H. Levy was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, on May 22, 1948. He developed an interest of astronomy at an early age in his life. However, he pursued and received bachelor's and master's degrees in English literature. Levy has discovered 22 comets, either independently or with Gene and Carolyn S. Shoemaker. He has written over 30 books, mostly on astronomical subjects such as The Quest for Comets and his tribute to Shoemaker in Shoemaker by Levy. Also, he has provided periodic articles for the magazines Sky and Telescope and Parade Magazine. Periodic comets that Levy co-discovered include P/2006T1, 118P/Shoemaker-Levy, 129P/Shoemaker-Levy, 135P/Shoemaker-Levy, 137P/Shoemaker-Levy, 138P/Shoemaker-Levy, 145P/Shoemaker-Levy, and 181P/Shoemaker-Levy. The science writer is most famous for his co-discovery in 1993 of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which collided with the planet Jupiter in 1994.

Our Christmas 2008 talk was ""Mirror images, antimatter and time reversal" by Prof Peter Kalmus OBE (QMUL) on 4th Dec at 7:30pm (with coffee and tea at 7pm)

Talk synopsis
We explore, without mathematics, the three symmetries implied in the title. These are important in science, particularly in particle physics. At the microscopic level, the laws of mechanics and electromagnetism appear to be perfectly symmetrical, but the symmetry is broken by the weak interaction, the force that allows the Sun to shine. We explain how symmetry breaking could help us to avoid being annihilated by a science-fiction antimatter alien from another world. Again at the microscopic level there is a small asymmetry between the forward and backward directions of time. On larger scales however the direction of time is crucial, and time-reversed systems generally lead to absurd situations.

Speaker Bio
Peter Kalmus has carried out experiments at accelerators in the UK, USA, Germany and CERN. He has taught physics from A-level up to postgraduate courses. He received the Rutherford Medal for his contributions to the discovery of the W and Z particles, which provided the experimental evidence that electromagnetism and the weak interaction were aspects of the same force. He has also received the Kelvin Medal, and the European Physical Society Outreach Prize.

Some of these talks were funded by a Science and Technology Facilities Council Grant and others (2009) were funded by a Royal Astronomical Society Grant.