Colin Stuart - 13 journeys through space and time : Christmas lectures from the Royal Institution

First published in Great Britain in 2016
by Michael OMara Books Limited
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Copyright Michael OMara Books Limited 2016

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ISBN: 978-1-78243-687-4 in hardback print format
ISBN: 978-1-78243-688-1 in ebook format

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The Christmas Lectures are something I always look forward to, so I was delighted to be asked to take part in Dr Kevin Fongs 2015 Lectures about surviving in space. Being able to participate in the event while 400 km above Earths surface on board the International Space Station was a highlight of the mission for me.

Living and working on the ISS is an extraordinary privilege and a unique experience. Perhaps what struck me most about my time in space and arrival back on Earth is just how good our bodies are at adjusting to dramatically different environments. Six months of spaceflight is tough on the human body forcing changes to our vestibular, cardiovascular and immune systems in addition to skin, muscle mass, bone density and eyesight. However, within just a few weeks of landing, the human body is able to fully recover, although bone density may take up to a year. These changes that take place provide a great opportunity for scientists and research teams to learn more about how the human body functions.

We have learned a vast amount about space travel since the first human was launched into orbit in 1961, but there is still so much to discover and we are learning more all the time. Its vitally important that we excite the next generation of scientists and explorers about the discoveries that lie ahead of us; the Christmas Lectures are a fantastic way of doing this. An important part of the Principia mission was the successful educational outreach programme, reaching over 1 million schoolchildren through a variety of different activities. An investment in todays young students is key if we are to solve the challenges of tomorrow.

This book is a wonderful testament to how far weve come in our understanding of space and the striking developments in technology that have allowed us to explore our universe. Its also fascinating to see how the Royal Institution has consistently delivered cutting-edge science to the young Lectures audience over the years. Visiting the moon seemed a very distant dream to that audience less than a century ago and now not only have we landed there, but also were exploring the very real possibility of travelling to Mars, too. I hope this book inspires you to make your own journey into science.

For many, the Christmas Lectures at the Royal Institution (RI) are just as much a part of the festive schedule as mince pies and turkey. This world-famous event has run almost every year since 1825, briefly stopping for a war-enforced hiatus between 1939 and 1942. Since 1966 the Lectures have been broadcast on television, reaching a wider audience of science enthusiasts around the world, and today they are available to watch online on the RI website. The brainchild of eminent Victorian scientist Michael Faraday who was keen to educate and excite the young people of the United Kingdom about the wonders of science the Lectures have always taken place in what is now known as the Faraday Lecture Theatre at 21 Albemarle Street, the home of the RI since its inception in 1799.

Young people from all over the UK still flock to the RI each year to hear about the latest developments in science, with spectacular demonstrations always playing a crucial role. Former RI director Sir Lawrence Bragg perhaps summed it up best when he wrote in a letter to his lecture assistant Bill Coates: Never talk about science, show it to them. Each year the Lectures are packed full of amazing explosions, eruptions and intrigue.

The roll call of past Lecturers includes many famous names, from Sir David Attenborough to Richard Dawkins, Dame Nancy Rothwell to Heinz Wolff. But in these pages we focus on those Lectures relating to the topics of space and time. Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences, with successive generations gazing up at the night sky and trying to make sense of our place in the universe. But, as our understanding has evolved, weve begun to appreciate how the world of the very small the atomic world is just as crucial in the story of how we came to be here.

Each Lecture series featured in this book was some hours long when originally presented, taking place over a number of days around Christmas and New Year. The aim of this book isnt to give a long and comprehensive account of each Lecture as it happened, but to highlight some of the fascinating themes that run through them and take the reader on a journey of astronomical discovery. Well see how our knowledge of the sun and the stars, the moon and the planets has evolved through the centuries, along with the technology with which the leading scientists of the age have showcased the wonders and complexities of our universe and beyond.

1881

In this fascinating series of Lectures were treated to an overview of our place in the solar system, a picture still very much in progress at this time. Recent discoveries of new planets, as well as moons orbiting those planets, will be brought to life with much fervour and enthusiasm. Well then leave the solar system to wonder at the stars beyond and attempt to picture just how far away they are from Earth and whether they have planets of their own. Balls ability to make the complicated simple through well-thought-out and poetic analogies is striking in its brilliance.

Our exploration of the solar system begins with the star at its heart. We know the sun is hot, but just how hot? Ball asks us to imagine an experiment with... burning glass that most boys have often tried: the age-old trick of setting fire to things with a magnifying glass. He tells us that scientists have experimented with a similar lens a yard wide. Steel has thus been melted by the sunbeams... therefore the sun must have a higher temperature than that of molten steel; higher, indeed, than any temperature we can produce on Earth, he says. (Today we know that it actually has a surface temperature of around 5,500C.)