Category: Science Group

On Friday 19^th April members of the science group together with a few colleagues from National Trust and History made an all day visit to Oxford.

Oxford is an interesting city with impressive buildings, the Oxford Colleges and several museums.

The main aim was to make group visits to the Natural History and Pitt Rivers museums which were pre booked for the afternoon.

On arrival outside the Ashmolean Museum, following a photo opportunity the group dispersed to explore. Many found their way to the History of Science Museum, the Ashmolean, and the Radcliffe Camera, the Open Bus Tour, cafes and a Wetherspoons named The Four Candles.

It is an eye-catching building next door but one to Oxford University’s history faculty. It was originally the city’s High School for Boys, which opened in 1881. The comic actor Ronnie Barker was a former pupil and later one of the Two Ronnies. Probably their best-known sketch was ‘Four Candles’. Barker walks into a hardware store and asks for and gets ‘four candles’. However, he really wanted fork handles – ‘andles for forks’. Thanks to everyone for navigating the city and meeting up on time for the booked visit.

At our March meeting, on Friday 15^th, Terry Hill told the tale of seven not so famous scientists who unfortunately met untimely deaths caused by their inventions or discoveries.

One of the seven was Sabin Arnold von Sochocky (1883 to 1928).  He used the discovery of radium by Pierre and Marie Curie to invent radium luminescent paint in 1908.

 Radium paint was widely used for 40 years on the faces of watches, compasses, and aircraft instruments, so they could be read in the dark. Radium is a radiological hazard, emitting gamma rays that can penetrate a glass watch dial and into human tissue. 

He died at the age of 44 from radiation poisoning.

This was followed by an introduction to Rainforests and their importance to our ecosystem.

Friday April 19^th is our visit to Oxford for the Science Museums.   No meeting at John Godber Centre.

David Rose

At our February meeting David Vincent, ably assisted by Christine, presented a very interesting Part 2 of the ‘Greening of Nottinghamshire’

He described the early planning stages and then went on to explain how the many coal spoil heaps in the county were transformed into the country parks and in some cases farmland that we enjoy today.

In addition to the spoil heaps there were miles of interconnecting railway lines, many of which are now walking and cycling trails.

You may recognise Linby Colliery

March Meeting Friday 15^th 10.00 am JGC

Terry Hill will be telling the tale of ‘The Unlucky 7’ scientists who came to a premature end.

I will be introducing an environmental theme starting with the location of rainforests and their climate plus exploring the significance of the different layers of the rainforest.

Finally there will be a briefing about the April visit to Oxford.

David Rose

To accommodate the pantomime at John Godber Centre, we met a week early on the 12^th January and we continued the photography theme.

Firstly we looked at an early method of producing a photographic image called Cyanotype.

All members of the group attending in February will be carrying out this process to make their own.  Here’s one I made earlier…..

Following on from this John Tedstone gave a presentation about a Victorian photographic pioneer named Julia Margaret Cameron who was one of the most important figures in early photography.  She lived at Dimbola, on the Isle of Wight, in the 1860s. The photographs she created remain among the most famous images of many Victorian celebrities.

Finally we had a ‘slide show’ about Oxford and the science museums as a prelude to our visit on April 19^th.

February Meeting: Friday 16^th.

a) A practical session to make a cyanotype image

b) Part 2 of David Vincent’s presentations about ‘The Greening of Nottinghamshire’

David Rose

Our first meeting of 2024 is a week earlier than usual on Friday 12^th January 10.00am in the main hall at JGC

The original plan was for everyone to create a fixed cyanotype ‘photographic’ image of selected objects but now the practical element will take place as part of the February meeting.

This month we will cover the theory of this process and learn the basics of how to carry it out.

As part of this we will be a look at how photography techniques evolved alongside advances in physics, chemistry and technology.

The 2024 Science Visit to Oxford is on Friday 19^th April

8.15am depart from Ogle Street   return from Oxford at 5.15p eta in Hucknall by 8.00pm

The cost is £23.00 each. £3.00 of this is to book group entry to the Museum of Natural History and the Pitt Rivers Museum which is on the same site.

More details at this meeting and bookings will start at this meeting.

 Following my master class with our treasurer Gary the payment by card machine will hopefully be available for use.

If you wish to pay by cheque please make it payable to ‘Hucknall and District u3a’

Please write your name and ‘Science Visit’ on the back.

David Rose