“How 70 Years of Science Changed Abingdon” – Heritage Open Days event
A talk, by eminent local scientist and author, Frank Close, about how in the last 70 years science has changed Abingdon and how Abingdon science has changed the world. It takes place in the unique setting of Abingdon’s medieval Abbey Buildings.
In 1952, Harwell was just six years old. An influx of scientists was transforming Abingdon from a market town and home of the MG Midget to the international centre of science and technology that it is today. The talk reviews how our view of the universe has evolved during the second Elizabethan era and the key role that local science centres have played in this.
Frank Close is Emeritus professor of Theoretical Physics at Oxford University, former head of theoretical physics at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, and former Head of Communications and Public Education at CERN. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and won their Michael Faraday Prize for excellence in science communication in 2013. In addition to having published some 200 papers on nuclear and particle physics, he is the author of 20 popular books on science including two linked to Abingdon nuclear spies – his highly acclaimed history and expose of atomic espionage, “Trinity” about Klaus Fuchs and “Half Life” about former Abingdon resident, Harwell scientist and probable spy, Bruno Pontecorvo. His latest, published in June, titled “Elusive” is a biography of the Higgs Boson.
NB the talk is free, but space is limited so please book your place here.
