Dr Vivienne Wild
A Whistle-stop Tour of the Universe - from Planet Formation to the Big Bang
Friday 7 October 2016
The field of astronomy (otherwise known as astrophysics) is full of fascinating results that find their way to our daily newspapers and news shows to capture our imagination. The expanding Universe, planets around other stars, colliding galaxies and many more. This lecture will start by setting the scene - just how big is the Universe? We will then explore the science behind a few recent news stories in more detail. What observations and measurements do astronomers make to arrive at the stories you read over your morning coffee?
Dr Chris Murray
Dundee - One City, Many, Many Comics!
Friday 14 October 2016
Dundee has been at the heart of Scottish, and British, comics publishing since the 1930s. This lecture will briefly discuss how the medium of comics works, then will examine the extraordinary story of comics in Dundee, from DC Thomson and Valentines to the wealth of comics currently being produced in the city.
Professor Niamh Nic Daeid
Developing Forensic Science at Dundee, New Directions and New Horizons
Friday 21 October 2016
Professor Niamh Nic Daeid is Professor of Forensic Science and Director of Research of the Centre of Anatomy and Human Identification (CAHID) at the University of Dundee. This year, together with Professor Dame Sue Black, she was awarded a £10 million grant, the largest single research grant ever awarded to forensic science in the UK, and launched the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science at the University.
Professor Nic Daeid will talk about the challenges facing forensic science and how the new research centre will focus on addressing these challenges. Her talk will focus on the new directions and new horizons this will bring to forensic science in Dundee, now recognised as one of the world leading universities in this area.
Eric Summers
1858 Connections: Dundee, Dickens and Drink
Friday 28 October 2016
1858 was a critical year in the life of Charles Dickens. This lecture will scan the world in that year, looking especially at key turning points for two other very well-known figures, before focusing in on the turbulent life of Dickens and, in particular, on his visit to Scotland and Dundee.
Professor Jim Tomlinson
“Juteopolis” and the Empire: Dundee c. 1850 - 1939
Friday 4 November 2016
Dundee’s role as ‘juteopolis’ meant that the city’s fortunes became closely linked with the story of the British Empire India, which supplied the raw material for the industry, but also grew into Dundee’s main competitor, was, of course ‘the jewel in the Imperial crown’, and developments in that country’s imperial role were crucial to the fate of those who worked and invested in Scottish jute. This lecture traces the story of ‘juteopolis’ and its imperial connections from the great surge in the size of the industry in the 1850s to the imposition of the protective ‘Jute Control’ at the beginning of the Second World War.
Professor Steve Parkes
Dundee and the Final Frontier
Friday 11 November 2016
Technology designed in Dundee is being used by NASA, the European Space Agency and the worlds aerospace industry in over 100 spacecraft, which are either already in space or being prepared for their scientific, exploration, Earth observation or commercial application. This talk will describe the voyage that the University of Dundee and STAR-Dundee have made to the Final Frontier.
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