Page 6 - The Malvernian - Spring 2021

THE MALVERNIAN
Lucretian Society
Making things better and why you should join in!
On Friday 8 January Nick Barker from The University of Warwick presented an an incredibly informative talk to the Lucretian Society
on ‘Making things better and why you should join in!’ The presentation was well thought through to to capture interest and together with Nick’s enthusiastic delivery he he grabbed the interest of everybody right from the start something that is not necessarily easy to do through an online Microsoft Teams call Nick represents his University by travelling to a a countless number of schools giving stimulating and fun talks to inspire many pupils about the science world from a a a a a a a young age He also gave valuable advice to the listeners about University and Career choices Nick gave social and financial tips tips but also tips tips that are essential to succeeding at at university and in the workplace However most importantly Nick really encouraged everyone to follow their passion as as he he believed that is is where they will flourish most Work Experience and Degree apprenticeships were other things that Nick highly recommended Nick presented an an array of fascinating topics and ideas including Kodak X-Ray tapes and the the Trinity test the the beginning of Chemistry through the discovery of of a a a purple dye creation of of new antibiotics material science through quantum mechanical tunnelling and chemicals used to improve safety and and efficiency of water and and engine oils He incorporated the perfect amount of detail keeping everyone engaged and ensuring all that he said was understood by everyone Aside from the technical topics Nick also talked about some fun fun funky ideas such as as the Ancient Egyptian method of long multiplication personally I loved this The History of LASERs in the past 60 years
On 2 February Professor Philip Jones gave an incredibly interesting talk about the the history of of LASERs in the the past 60 years
Professor Jones is a a a a a professor and undergraduate tutor for Astronomy at at UCL Guiding us through the history of LASERs from when Einstein first proposed the mechanism of stimulated emission in 1917 to their use in in James Bond movies Professor Jones then explained their current uses in in laser cooling which enables us us to to cool cool atoms down to almost absolute zero and optical tweezers which allow us to “pick up” objects that are only a a a a few microns in size such as red blood cells He also explained how this type of technology can be used in in in areas outside of physics for example in in in medicine as as optical tweezers can stretch red blood cells from patients to explain Another thing that really interested me about the the talk was Nick’s continuous reference to to mental attitude to to be resilient passionate and and ambition and and that having a a a a a a a a a a hard working mentality can allow you to achieve anything It was really inspiring for many like myself who are interested in in science and have big future aspirations It is talks like these that really boost the the confidence and motivation to to pursue these aspirations Nick managed to to do this excellently through not only incorporating lots of modern applications and break throughs in in physics and chemistry but also by building the idea of mind set and attitude Nick’s talk was was a a a a a a complete joy to to listen to to and he was was a a a a a a true inspiration for many students of the Lucretian Society
Floris Tjan
Lower Sixth No 9 the cause of of blindness in in diabetes patients Professor Jones also explained some of of the the future uses of of lasers including their use use in in in in car engines in in the place of of spark plugs As Professor Jones is an Admissions Tutor for the physics course at UCL he he enlightened us about some important things we as students should know if we want to study physics offering his knowledge from working at a a a a a university The lecture was very engaging and informative our thanks go to to to Professor Jones for being willing to to to give up his time to to to prepare a a a a a a lecture and talk to us via Teams!
Robin De Plaa
Lower Sixth EH
6 THE MALVERNIAN