Astronomer Royal Lord Rees leads an international line-up of speakers when the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Continuing Education (ICE) launches its first series of Madingley Lectures next year.
Astronomer Royal Lord Rees leads an international line-up of speakers when the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Continuing Education (ICE) launches its first series of Madingley Lectures next year.
The free lectures will be given at Madingley Hall, the headquarters of ICE, and are open to all.
Dr Rebecca Lingwood, Director of Continuing Education, said: “The Madingley Lectures are an important part of ICE’s commitment to public engagement and they are one of the ways we aim to reach beyond the walls of the University, sharing Cambridge as widely as possible.”
The inaugural lecture by Lord Rees, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, takes place on January 10, 2011, and will be chaired by Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor of the University.
Lord Rees will speak on ‘Life in the cosmos’, exploring how, on at least one planet around at least one star, life began and a complex biosphere evolved and asking big the questions such as what lies in the far future, will life from Earth spread far beyond, or is life already widespread?
Other lectures in the first series include Dr Francis Warner, leading poet and dramatist and Honorary Fellow of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge, speaking on ‘Armageddon and faith: a survivor’s meditation on the Blitz’ on Saturday, February 19, at 3pm, followed by a piano recital by David Goode, world-renowned organist and Head of Keyboard at Eton College.
On March 14, Dr Hugh Hunt, Senior Lecturer at the University of Cambridge Department of Engineering and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, will give an evening lecture at Madingley Hall. This lecture is given in association with the Cambridge Society for the Application of Research (CSAR) and as part of the Cambridge Science Festival on ‘Dambusters and the engineering behind the bouncing bomb’.
Future lecturers will include Professor David Spiegelhalter, Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk at the University of Cambridge, on May 3, and Dr Simon Thurley, architectural historian and Chief Executive of English Heritage, on July 14.
The inaugural Madingley Lecture starts at 7pm on January 10, 2011. Booking details and information are available from www.ice.cam.ac.uk/madingleylectures
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