School of Physics & Astronomy

Rescheduled for Thursday 23rd February 2012, 6.15pm-7.15pm, Business School Western Lecture Theatre

The Stoner Colloquium from Sir John Meurig Thomas (University of Cambridge) will take place in the Business School Western Lecture Theatre on Thursday 23rd February 2012 at 6.15pm. The Colloquium on "The Genius of Michael Faraday" is hosted by the School of Physics & Astronomy in conjunction with Leeds Philosophical & Literary Society and will be open to staff, students and the public.

Please RSVP to Rosie Corbin at r.corbin@leeds.ac.uk if you would like to attend.

The Heather Stoner Legacy

A legacy kindly left to the School by E.C. Stoner’s widow Heather Stoner will be supporting this year’s Stoner public lecture series.

The Genius of Michael Faraday

Abstract: Lord Rutherford said of Michael Faraday that he was one of the greatest experimenters ever; Albert Einstein believed that Faraday was responsible for the greatest change in the intellectual structure of physics since Newton. There is little doubt that Faraday bequeathed a greater corpus of useful knowledge than any other physical scientist. How did it come about that Faraday, a deeply religious man who left school at thirteen to become an errand boy and then an apprentice to a bookbinder (a young man who never attended high school or a university and knew no mathematics), could reach such pinnacles? In terms that are intelligible to non-scientists and interested lay persons, the speaker shall endeavour to answer the above and related questions. The tale of Faraday's achievements and discoveries is one of the most romantic in the history of science; his character, intellect and commitment speak to us through all ages.

The Speaker: Sir John Meurig Thomas FRS FREng

Sir John once occupied the chair of chemistry created for Michael Faraday at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, of which he was Director (1986-1991). Formerly he was Head of the Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Cambridge (1978- 1996) and Master of Peterhouse (1993-2002). He is now Honorary Professor at the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, Cambridge.

The Stoner Colloquia

The School of Physics & Astronomy hosts talks from prestigious guest speakers approximately 4 times a year. These are special events, open to all, held in honour of Professor E. C. Stoner who was a Professor at Leeds from 1939 to 1963 and a Cavendish Chair of Physics (1951-1963). In addition to his groundbreaking theory of itinerant ferromagnetism, his work on on the distribution of electrons among atomic levels in 1924 ultimately found understanding in the Pauli exclusion principle. An interesting "sidelight" was an interest in Astrophysics, and in 1932 he calculated the limiting mass of a white dwarf star! 

Speakers in the last few years have included: Professor K. Burnett (VC of the University of Sheffield), Professor M. Warner (Cavendish laboratory, Cambridge University), Professor J. M. D. Coey (School of Physics & CRANN, Trinity College, Dublin), Dr Matthias Bode (Argonne National Laboratory, USA) Professor Werner Hofmann (Max Planck Institute, Germany), Professor Sean Langridge (Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, STFC), Professor Art McDonald (Sudbury Neutrino Observatory) and Sir Michael Atiyah (University of Edinburgh).

Directions

Business School, University of Leeds campus

Business School, Western Lecture Theatre

Parking is free on campus at 5pm.