Previous Lectures
Previous Years' Programmes
This is a record of the lecture programmes from previous years - a season runs from September of one year to May in the next
2023 -2024 Covered by NL116 and 117
13 September: London's Industrial Archaeology, Prof David Perrett (Chairman, Association of Industrial Archaeology)
11 October: Biofabrication Techniques in Organ and Tissue Engineering, Dr Alexander Justin, Cambridge University
8 November: Cancer in the English Prison Population, Dr Elizabeth Davies, Head, Centre for Cancer, Society & Public Health, King's College, London
13 December: Modelling the Upper Atmospheres of Planets in and out of the Solar System, Prof Alan Aylward, UCL
10 January: What's in a Name? The Use of Onomastics for Science Policy, Dr Grant Lewison,
RSS Council
14 February: Urban Greening to Combat Climate Change (working title), Dusty Gedge, European Federation of Green Roof & Wall Assocs
13 March: The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, Dr Aisyah Faruk, RBG Kew
10 April: Using AI to Predict Bee Colony Behaviour, Dr Gordon Hunter, Kingston
8 May: Heat Pumps: For a Cooler Future, Dr Michael de Podesta
2022-2023 Covered by NL113, 114, and 115
14 September: Interstellar Travel by Prof Alan Aylward emeritus Professor UCL
12 October: The Thames Tideway Project by Dave Watts, Engineer at Thames Water
9 November: Conversational AI by Dr Julie Wall, UEL
14 December: Is it Possible to Live a Carbon Zero Life? by Dr Michael Podesta
11 January: Lessons from the Inquest into the Deaths of Diana Princess of Wales
and Dodi Al Fayed by Prof Atholl Johnston
8 February: The New NPL Optical Atomic Clock by Dr Rachel Godun, NPL
8 March: Artificial Intelligence and Alzheimer's, Prof Eric Aboagye, Imperial
12 April: Fusion Power.. .Within our grasp? by Robin Stafford Allen, Culham (Retired)
10 May: GPS by Dr Nick Stapley (RSS Council)
2021-2022 All lectures this season were by ZOOM - Covered by NL110, 111, and 112
22 September: Exoplanets, Prof Alan Aylward, UCL
20 October: The Quantum Kilogram, Dr Paul Quincey, ex NPL
17 November: Animal Testing and the 3R's: Dr Elliot Lilley
15 December: Creativity with Computation: Generative Design in Engineering, by Conor Black, Arup
19 January: The Diamond Light Source, Harwell, Dr David Price
9 February: Silicon Metal - A Cornerstone of Modern Technology, Dr Thomas Blase, Beata Buro
23 March: Accessibility and inclusive design shaping the future for mobile devices and life styles for everyone, Mr Chris Lewis
13 April: The New Science of the Body Clock, and How It Can Revolutionize Your Health, Prof Russell G Foster, Oxford University
11 May: A Printed Steel Bridge, Dr Craig Buchanan, Imperial College
2020-2021 All lectures this season were by ZOOM - Covered by NL107, 108, and 109
9 September: Milankovitch Cycles, Prof Alan Aylward
21 October: The Electricity Distribution Network and Power Transformers, Mr Paul Dyer, UK Power Networks, preceded by the Annual General Meeting
18 November: Light & Wellbeing- Circadian Alignment- Natural Light vs Artificial Light, Sophie Parry, Zumtobel Group
9 December: Bitcoin and the Blockchain, Keith Bear, Fellow, Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance
20 January: Gut Bacteria, Prof Lindsay Hall, University of Munich
24 February: A Map of the Invisible, Prof Jon Butterworth, UCL
24 March: Comparing Pathways to Domestication, Agriculture, and Civilisation across Asia and Africa, Professor Dorian Fuller UCL
14 April: Pharmaceuticals in the Environment, Dr Leon Barron, Imperial College
19 May: Biology and Light, Dr Elinor Thompson, University of Greenwich
2019-2020 Covered by NL105 and 106
11 September: Plastics, Dr Ron Bennett
16 October: The Surface of Mars: The Geological History of the Red Planet, Dr Joel Davis, Natural History Museum, preceded by the Annual General Meeting
30 October: From Gout to Mad Cow Disease - My Bioscience Life in Medicine, Dr David Perrett, Queen Mary University of London
13 November: Human Longevity, David Goldhill (Inspired by his book 'How to live to be 100')
11 December: Space Debris - a Horror Story, Spyros Grammenos, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd
15 January: Ants, Ant Intelligence, and Ant-hills in the Royal Parks, Dr Tim King, Wolfson College Oxford
12 February: The Carbide Age: Superlative Tool Materials for the 21st Century, Bryan Roebuck, Senior NPL Fellow
The following lectures were cancelled because of the outbreak of COVID19
18 March: The Apollo Moon Missions, Jerry Workman, FRAS CANCELLED
15 April: Pathology - exact title to be confirmed, Professor Atholl Johnston CANCELLED
20 May: Comparing Pathways to Domestication, Agriculture, and Civilisation across Asia and Africa, Professor Dorian Fuller UCL CANCELLED
Programme 2018-19 Covered by NL102, 103, and 104
12 Sep Applying Maths in Medical Imaging Assisting the diagnosis of liver cancers from ultrasound videos, Dr Gordon Hunter Kingston University
10 Oct Measuring the Earth from Space - and being a woman in science
Preceded by the Annual General Meeting. Wine & nibbles after the talk Dr Emma Wooliams
National Physical Laboratory
24 Oct Climate Change: Science, Policy and Opinion David Warrilow Royal Meteorological Society
28 Nov Quantum Biology - from animal migration to future cell therapies Dr Alex Jones
National Physical Laboratory
19 Dec Scanning Probe Microscopy Measurements in the nanoscale (Christmas meeting with wine and nibbles) Andrés Muñiz Piniella C4AD CIC
16 Jan NMR Spectroscopy - a miscellany of molecular microscopy, Dr Paul Driscoll
The Francis Crick Institute
13 Feb Things we have measured at the NPL Fiona Auty National Physical Laboratory
13 Mar Women in Zoology, Ann Sylph Zoological Society of London
10 Apr Forensic Science - DNA Evidence, Dr Georgina Meakin MCFSF FHEA, University College London
15 May Deep Learning, Professor James Orwell, Kingston University.
Programme 2017-18 Covered by NL99, 100, and 101
13 Sep How do we know anything? And how can we know things better?
Why measurement matters. The imminent redefinition of four SI units, Dr Michael de Podesta
National Physical Laboratory
11 Oct South East Asian Geology, Preceded by the Annual General Meeting. Wine & nibbles after the talk, Prof Robert Hall, Earth Sciences, Royal Holloway University
25 Oct Sopwith Biplanes, David Hassard, The Hawker Association
8 Nov Aerodynamics of today's Megastructures, Stefano Cammelli BMT Fluid Mechanics, Teddington
13 Dec Forensic Microscopy - Tales from the past, (Christmas meeting with wine and nibbles), Pam Hamer, Retired Forensic Scientist
17 Jan The History of Anaesthesia, Dr Douglas Justins
14 Feb The Geology of Italy, Plate tectonics, volcanoes, earthquakes, art and scenery, Dr Lidia Lonergan, Imperial College London
14 Mar Beekeeping, Simon Silvester, RSS member
11 Apr Conservation of Photographic Materials, Jacquie Moon, The National Archives, Kew
9 May Medieval Mottes and Prehistoric Mounds, Dr James Leary, Reading University
………………………………………………………………
Programme 2016-17 Covered by ML96, 97, and 98
7 Sep Life on Mars, Prof Andrew Coates, Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London
5 Oct The Plastic Ocean: a global pollution problem, Preceded by the Annual General Meeting. Wine & nibbles after the talk, Ronan McAdam, Grantham Institute, Imperial College London [ICL]
26 Oct Climate geo-engineering, Prof Joanna Haigh, Co-director, Grantham Institute of Climate Change & Environment, ICL
23 Nov The Curiosity Rover on Mars, Jerry Workman, Hampstead Observatory
14 Dec The selection of the right material: bottles to jet engines to brakes, (Christmas meeting with wine and nibbles),Prof Rees Rawlings, Imperial College London
25 Jan The importance of geology versus biology in Government marine policy, Prof Paul Leonard, Visiting Professor at Brunel
22 Feb Emerging Contaminants in the Environment: implications for Human Health, Dr Nick Voulvoulis, Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London
22 Mar 4D Science: how we use synchrotron x-ray glasses to see inside a volcano, Prof Peter D Lee, Acting Director, Research Complex at Harwell
12 Apr Laser remote sensing of fugitive gas emissions, Dr Tom Gardiner, National Physical Laboratory
17 May Spider Silks and Webs,Yue Jin Oh, Oxford Silk Group, Zoology Dept., Oxford University
Programme 2015-16 Covered by NL93, 94, and 95
9 Sep Fusion power - safe, clean, inexhaustible nuclear power: do we need it, and is it possible?, Dr Alan Costley
7 Oct New Horizons: space-probe mission to Pluto, Preceded by the Annual General Meeting. Wine & Nibbles after the talk, Dr Mike Goldsmith, Science writer
21 Oct Cold atoms: from fundamental physics to precision measurements, Dr Vera Guarrera. National Physical Laboratory
11 Nov Colour Perception, Bill Stevenson, Society of Dyers and Colourists
9 Dec Non-native invasives in freshwater, (Christmas meeting with wine and nibbles), Joe Pecorelli, Zoological Society, London
20 Jan Future of wireless communications: higher frequencies, higher data rates, shorter distances, Prof Alwyn Seeds, University College London
17 Feb Applied plasma physics: the new frontiers of space propulsion and medicine,Dr Thomas Harle, Fourth State Medicine
16 Mar Lecture for National Science Week, Inter-stellar chemistry observed from the Herschel space observatory 2010, Prof Geoffrey Duxbury, University of Strathclyde
13 Apr Electronic Music, Andrew Hanson, Outreach Manager, NPL
11 May Sustainable livestock grazing systems, Jamie McFadzean, Rothamsted Research,
North Wyke and University of Exeter
Earlier Programmes 2001-02 to 2014-15