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Halley Lectures

The Halley Lectures are a series of annual public lectures hosted by the University of Oxford, in memory of the astronomer Edmond Halley. Currently, some podcasts of the lectures can be found through the Oxford Physics Public Lectures. These lectures aim to promote public understanding and engagement with science, mathematics, and related fields, and to inspire new generations of researchers and students to pursue careers in these areas. They are often delivered May or June each year at the Sir Martin Wood Lecture Theatre of the Clarendon Laboratory

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The Halley Lectures are a series of annual public lectures hosted by the University of Oxford, in memory of the astronomer Edmond Halley. Currently, some podcasts of the lectures can be found through the Oxford Physics Public Lectures.1 These lectures aim to promote public understanding and engagement with science, mathematics, and related fields, and to inspire new generations of researchers and students to pursue careers in these areas. They are often delivered May or June each year at the Sir Martin Wood Lecture Theatre of the Clarendon Laboratory

History

The tradition of the Halley Lecture in the University of Oxford was founded by Henry Wilde for the 1910 return of Halley's comet. By Wilde's direction, it is to be given annually on a subject related to astronomy or terrestrial magnetism. With time, University expanded their scope to interpret astronomy including astrophysics, and terrestrial magnetism to include "and terrestrial magnetism to include "the physics of the external and internal parts of the terrestrial globe" geophysics. The first Halley lecture Celestial ejectamenta. was delivered by Henry Wilde himself on Tuesday, 10 May 1910.

Purpose

The purpose of the Halley Lectures is to bring leading experts in various fields to the University of Oxford, where they can share their knowledge and insights with the public. The lectures aim to promote public understanding and engagement with science and mathematics, and to inspire new generations of researchers and students to pursue careers in these areas.

Format

The Halley Lectures are open to the public and are typically well-attended by people of all ages and backgrounds. Each lecture lasts approximately one hour, and is followed by a Q&A session where the audience can ask questions and engage with the speaker.

Topics

The topics covered in the Halley Lectures are diverse and reflect the wide range of disciplines within science and mathematics that illuminate astronomy, astrophysics, cosmology, cosmogenesis, exobiology, and earth science. Selection of lecturers is made based on timeliness of the topic, their expertise and contributions to their respective fields.

Chronology of Halley Lectures

Date Lecturer Title
27 October 2022 Amina Helmi Dynamics and History of the Milky Way2
8 May 2019 Marc Kamionkowski Is Dark Matter Made of Black Holes3
22 May 2018 Adam Showman45 Weather on Remote Worlds6
7 June 2017 Rainer Weiss Observation of the mergers of binary black holes: The opening of gravitational wave astronomy7
8 June 2016 Scott Tremaine The origin and structure of the solar system comet cloud8
19 June 2015 Peter J. Webster Understanding the Monsoon9
13 June 2014 Eliot Quataert From Smooth to Lumpy—the Physics of Galaxy Formation3
29 May 2013 Ewine van Dishoeck Building stars, planets and the ingredients for life between the stars10
14 June 2012 Susan Solomon The World's Chemistry in Our Hands: Global Environmental Challenges Past and Future1112
11 March 2011 Michel Mayor Other Worlds in the Universe? The Quest for Earth Twins
25 May 2010 Brian Schmidt The Accelerating the Universe
24 April 2008 George Smoot The History and Fate of the Universe
23 May 2007 Ron Ekers Paths to Discovery in Radioastronomy -Prediction and Serendipity
21 May 1985 Malcolm Longair Universe - present, past and future13
23 May 1972 Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar The increasing role of general relativity in astronomy14
4 June 1976 Charles H Townes Interstellar molecules15
16 May 1962 Hermann Bondi Physics and Cosmology16
6 May 1955 Martin Ryle Radio stars and their cosmological significance17
1 May 1951 Jan Oort Origin and development of comets18
16 May 1950 Edward Bullard The origin of the Earth's magnetic field19
12 May 1948 Fritz Zwicky Morphological Astronomy2021
3 June 1941 William Marshall Smart Sea and Air Navigation22
16 May 1940 Fritz Paneth The origin of meteorites23
5 June 1939 Harold Spencer Jones The earth as a clock24
16 June 1938 Armin Otto Leuschner The minor planets of the Hecuba group25
28 May 1937 Basil Schonland The lightning discharge
5 June 1935 John Stanley Plaskett The dimensions and structure of the galaxy.26
8 May 1934 Edwin Hubble Red-shifts in the spectra of nebulae27
1 June 1933 Henry Norris Russell The composition of the stars28
19 May 1932 Arthur Milne The white dwarf stars29
30 May 1930 Arthur Eddington The Rotation of the Galaxy30
31 May 1929 Gilbert Walker Some problems of Indian Meteorology31
20 May 20, 1927 Frank Stratton Modern eclipse problems32
28 May 1924 John Joly Radioactivity and the Surface History of the Earth33
17 May 1923 George Simpson Scott's Polar Journey and the Weather3435
23 May 1922 Harold Jeffreys The Nebular Hypothesis and Modern Cosmogony36
17 May 1921 John Knight Fotheringham Historical Eclipses37
12 June 1920 Ralph Allen Sampson On Gravitation and Relativity38
22 May 1913 Louis Agricola Bauer The Earth's Magnetism39
10 May 1910 Henry Wilde Celestial ejectamenta40
References

References

  1. "Oxford Physics Public Lectures". Oxford University.
  2. "Halley Lecture: Dynamics and history of the Milky Way". 27 October 2022.
  3. "Is Dark Matter Made of Black Holes".
  4. "Adam Showman". 10 June 2016.
  5. "Remembering Adam Showman". 23 March 2020.
  6. "Theoretical physics". University of Oxford Department of Physics.
  7. "Observation of the mergers of binary black holes: The opening of gravitational wave astronomy".
  8. "Halley Lecture". ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  9. "Halley Lecture. 'Understanding the Monsoon'" (PDF). ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  10. "Halley Lecture - 'Building stars, planets and the ingredients for life between the stars' Prof Dr E.F. Van Dishoeck | University of Oxford Department of Physics".
  11. "Public Outreach". University of Oxford Department of Physics.
  12. "Lectures and Seminars Trinity Term 2012 (1) - University of Oxford".
  13. Longair, M. S. (October 1985). "The Universe - present, past and future". The Observatory. 105: 171–188. Bibcode:1985Obs...105..171L.
  14. Chandrasekhar, S. (October 1972). "The increasing role of general relativity in astronomy". The Observatory. 92: 160. Bibcode:1972Obs....92..160C.
  15. Townes, Charles H.. "Interstellar molecules. (A written version of the Halley lectures 1976, delivered in Oxford, 4 June 1976)." Physics-Uspekhi (1979): n. pag. (Usp. Fiz. Nauk; (USSR); Journal Volume: 127:3) https://www.osti.gov/etdeweb/biblio/5636519
  16. Bondi, H. (August 1962). "Physics and cosmology". The Observatory. 82: 133–143. Bibcode:1962Obs....82..133B.
  17. Ryle, M. (August 1955). "Radio stars and their cosmological significance". The Observatory. 75: 137–147. Bibcode:1955Obs....75..137R.
  18. Oort, J. H. (August 1951). "Origin and development of comets". The Observatory. 71: 129–144. Bibcode:1951Obs....71..129O. Reprinted as: Oort, Jan Hendrik (1951). Origin and development of comets, the Halley lecture for 1951, delivered at Oxford on May 1. OCLC 10898462.
  19. Bullard, E. C. (August 1950). "The origin of the Earth's magnetic field". The Observatory. 70: 139–143. Bibcode:1950Obs....70..139B.
  20. "Morphological Astronomy". Nature. 162 (4120): 627–628. October 1948. Bibcode:1948Natur.162..627.. doi:10.1038/162627a0. S2CID 4103200.
  21. "Fritz Zwicky: Halley lecture".
  22. William Marshall Smart, Sea and Air Navigation: Being the Halley Lecture Delivered on 3 June 1941 Oxford University Press, H. Milford, 1941.
  23. "The origin of meteorites; being the Halley lecture delivered on 16 May 1940". WorldCat. OCLC 5431515.
  24. "The earth as a clock, being the Halley lecture delivered on 5 June 1939". WorldCat. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  25. "The minor planets of the Hecuba group, being the Halley lecture delivered on 16 June 1938". WorldCat. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  26. The dimensions and structure of the galaxy; being the Halley lecture delivered on 5 June 1935. OCLC 8108564.
  27. Hubble, Edwin Powell. "Red-shifts in the Spectra of Nebulae." Oxford (1934) WorldCat
  28. The composition of the stars. 1933.
  29. J., H. S. (February 1937). "Five Halley Lectures". Nature. 139 (3511): 266–267. Bibcode:1937Natur.139..266H. doi:10.1038/139266a0. S2CID 4079876.
  30. "The rotation of the galaxy, being the Halley lecture delivered on 30 May 1930". www.worldcat.org. WorldCat.org. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  31. "Some problems of Indian meteorology; being the Halley lecture delivered on 31 May 1929 | WorldCat.org". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  32. Modern eclipse problems, being the Halley lecture delivered on 20 May, 1927, with notes for the observation of the eclipse of 29 June, 1927 WorldCat
  33. "Radioactivity and the surface history of the earth; being the Halley lecture, delivered on 28 May, 1924". WorldCat. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  34. "Scott's Polar Journey and the Weather". Nature. 117 (2953): 778. June 1926. doi:10.1038/117778a0. S2CID 4032924.
  35. "Scott's polar journey and the weather". WorldCat. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  36. Jeffreys, Harold (May 1923). "The Nebular Hypothesis and Modern Cosmogony: being the Halley Lecture delivered on May 23, 1922". Nature. 111 (2794): 662–663. Bibcode:1923Natur.111..662J. doi:10.1038/111662a0. S2CID 32292299.
  37. "Historical eclipsis". WorldCat. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  38. "On Gravitation and Relativity: being the Halley Lecture 1920". WorldCat. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  39. "The earth's magnestism". WorldCat. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  40. "Celestial ejectamenta the first Halley lecture delivered before the University on Tuesday, May 10, 1910". WorldCat. Retrieved 14 July 2023.