Thursday, 4th June, Cheltenham Town Hall

See links below for further details

At the centre of every atom is a nucleus, made up of protons and neutrons. The number of protons determines the kind of element (hydrogen, helium, lithium etc.) the atom is, and hence all its chemical properties. Each element, though, can come in different isotopes with different numbers of neutrons, and the different isotopes have different uses based on the nuclear rather than the chemical properties. This talk explores some of the isotopes and the uses they are put to in a range of diverse areas such as medical imaging and treatment, nuclear weapons and power, environmental monitoring, geological dating, and astronomy

What may well be the most extraordinary surviving artefact from the ancient Greek world was discovered just over a century ago.  In 1900 sponge divers off the coast of the Mediterranean island of Antikythera found a wreck which was to yield a device containing over thirty gear wheels dating from the 1st century B.C., and now known as the Antikythera Mechanism. This device is an order of magnitude more complicated than any surviving mechanism from the following millennium, and there is no surviving precursor. It is clear from its structure and inscriptions that its purpose was astronomical, including eclipse prediction. In this illustrated talk, the results from our international research team will be outlined, which has been using the most modern imaging methods to probe the device and its inscriptions. The extraordinary sophistication of the Mechanism's design has fundamental implications for the development of Greek astronomy and technology. The latest results may suggest a link back to Archimedes, and show that the Mechanism even had a dial to indicate when the Olympic Games should take place!