Astronomys wonderful tool the telescope to be explored at upcoming lecture
The telescope - ‘astronomy’s wonderful tool’ - will be the focus of a free public lecture on Thursday 8 October as part of the International Year of Light 2015.
Dr John Reid, a former Head of the Department of Physics at the University of Aberdeen, will be presenting the lecture on the history of telescopes and will explore how instrument makers and astronomers developed telescopes over the centuries into some of the most sophisticated of all scientific tools.
From the very first devices developed over 400 years ago which were little more than a couple of lenses at either end of a cardboard tube to the performance of today’s instruments, telescopes continue to show how the twinkling light of the stars can reveal the complexity of the universe at large.
Leicester has played its role in the development and design of telescopes and space instrumentation, including the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), which is planned for launch in 2018 as a successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.
‘The Telescope: Astronomy’s Wonderful Tool’ by Dr John Reid will take place on Thursday 8 October at 6.30pm in the Ground Floor Lecture Theatre 2 of the Ken Edwards Building. It is free to attend. The talk will last about an hour and include time for questions.