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Faster than Light?

This talk will explain how the speed of light was first measured, and how an obscure but brilliant patent clerk in Bern, Switzerland by the name of Albert Einstein deduced that the speed of light is the upper speed limit for everything in the Universe.

Exporting Russia: Diaghilev’s Beginnings

In this lecture we follow his early years, when he published The World of Art, a provocative Russian journal, exhibited Russian visual art in Paris, and then brought Russian music there, culminating in his production of Musorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov.

Toothpaste, Custard and Chocolate: Mathematics Gets Messy

This talk looks at mathematical modelling of real, complex fluids in flow situations – some with serious commercial applications, and some just for fun.

Prokofiev's War and Peace

Sergei Prokofiev’s War and Peace (1953) was an adaptation of Tolstoy’s novel begun during WWII. He saw it as a personal interpretation of the novel.

Russia After Communism

What is Russia’s place in the world now? And what does the turbulence of the last 25 years tell us about where it is heading?

The USSR in the Cold War Years

After Stalin’s death in 1953, successive leaders tried to find ways to revitalise the Soviet regime and rethink its promises to the Soviet people. Life within a system no longer based on terror and intense industrial transformation offered citizens strange alternatives.

Elementary Particles and Their Interactions

Matter consists of a mêlée of elementary particles. There are protons and neutrons, made up of quarks, and many other short-lived massive particles. One hope is to discover particles of dark matter, but this has so far eluded our best efforts.

Lenin and the Russian Revolution

How, as a Marxist, did he justify the seizure of power and would the October Revolution have been possible without him? How in this centenary year, are these events being commemorated in Putin’s Russia?

The February Revolution in Russia

To mark the anniversary of the Russian Revolution, the dilemmas of modern empire and monarchy will be discussed, firstly in general terms and then specifically in terms of Russia.

Living Without Electricity

What happens when power, communications, and transport are all disrupted, when shops cannot function, and when most people cannot find out what is happening? Storm Desmond in 2015 revealed how dependent on electricity modern city life has become. What lessons have been learnt?

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