Why on Earth Did They Invent That?

On Tuesday 1st March retired professor Ian Barclay from John Moores University, came along to pose the question, “Why on earth did they invent that?”

Ian gave us a witty and stimulating account of inventions through the ages and the ups and downs of inventing. Interspersed with quiz questions about the most unlikely and bizarre items, he explained why some inventions become world-wide successes or crazes and why others never make it.

Another absorbing afternoon, with 51 people turning up. Methinks our reputation is growing!

History of Liverpool University Physics Department

Tuesday 7th Sept:  Peter Rowlands from Liverpool University Physics Department gave us a fascinating account of some of the world famous physicists who worked in Liverpool, the essential role of Liverpool in developing technology important for the second world war and one of the world’s first “synchrocyclotron atom smashers”, a foreunner of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN we now hear so much about. This machine was installed in a windowless room in the cathedral crypt, under the current site of the steps to the Metropolitan Cathedral!