Life, the Universe and Everything   Science in the Pub Number 68 With panellists Fred Watson, David Malin and John O'Connor Compered by Paul Willis Tuesday, March 19th 2002, 7:00pm Northern Star Hotel 112, Beaumont Street, Hamilton, Newcastle Science in the Pub visits the Northern Star pub in Newcastle to take a look at the Big Questions. Although basically an astronomy night, there will be the opportunity to delve into the role of science in our lives. Is it necessary? Why are some so opposed or indifferent to science while others are passionate about it? We will consider how our culture is enshrined within the way we view the Universe and whether astronomy plays a role in defining what we believe in. Is astronomy where science meets art? We have two eminent astronomers from the Anglo Australian Observatory, Dr. Fred Watson and Professor David Malin and the University of Newcastle's Associate Professor John O'Connor, physicist and science communicator. Compere Dr Paul Willis, Reporter - Palaeontologist, will entice our scientists to bare their souls and call on the audience for questions and comments on Life, the Universe and Everything! The hosts for this session are: ABC Newcastle, ABC Science, and the University of Newcastle. Fred Watson Fred Watson comes from a long line of Freds, but seems to be the first one to have become an astronomer. Born and raised in England's north-country, he was educated in Scotland, gaining his doctorate at the University of Edinburgh. He has worked at both of Britain's Royal Observatories, and has observed with large telescopes in Hawaii and the Canary Islands. In Australia, during the 1980s, he helped to pioneer the use of fibre optics in astronomy. Fred is now Astronomer-in-Charge of the Anglo-Australian Observatory near Coonabarabran, where he is responsible for the scientific output of the Anglo-Australian and UK Schmidt Telescopes. Fred's own scientific interests are in the motions of stars and galaxies, and in the development of new instrumentation for astronomy. When time permits, he also carries out research on the history of optical instruments. He does the odd bit of writing and broadcasting and, like many astronomers, spends a lot of time wondering what the Universe is for (and why it is in such a mess). Fred's activities outside work centre on his family and his passion for music. David Malin was born in 1941 and spent most of his younger life as a child. During puberty he trained as a chemist and joined a large chemical company in the north of England. There he developed a vision, which has never left him, and viewed the workings of world through ever more powerful microscopes, learning more and more about less and less. After 18 years of painful squinting he tired of this, and in 1975, he left for Australia and joined the fledgling Anglo-Australian Observatory, more or less fully grown. In these early times, before computers and sliced bread, the southern sky was almost unexplored. With access to two fine new telescopes, only a fool could fail to make exciting discoveries right from the start. In 1987 he found a funny faint galaxy which is now known as `Malin-1'. He has also given his name (more or less freely) to another class of galaxy he discovered, Malin-Carter ellipticals (galaxies with faint shells). It is also applied to a technique (`Malinisation'), which he does not understand, and to an asteroid, which he has not yet seen. He now spends his time making colour pictures of things which really only exist in black and white, and, as childhood slowly re-asserts itself, explaining them to people of all colours. He now needs a microscope to see almost anything. John O’Connor is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Newcastle with interests in squash and boomerang throwing. John’s career in science started when he received a National Undergraduate scholarship to study Maths and Science at ANU. He started out to be a Mathematician but lost his way and became a Physicist instead. After being awarded his PhD in 1979 he took up his first position as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Sussex (1979-1981) after which he returned to a lecturing position at Newcastle. He has recently been awarded a DSc. His research interest is in Surface Science which entails studying the properties of the first few atomic layers of solids—because he believes that this is where all the real action is. John adds, "This does not stop the good-hearted jibes that we 'only scrape the surface' in our research!". John’s enjoyment of physics really commenced with a vacation job which involved getting the lecture demonstrations into order and catalogued at ANU. On this he says, "I cannot recall when I have had more fun or learnt more physics". This 'order from chaos' enabled Mike Gore to lay the foundations for Questacon in Canberra. John was also an occasional roving scout on Mike Gore’s behalf, to science centres in Europe and North America. When John arrived in Newcastle he also participated in the establishment of Supernova which is Newcastle's hands-on science centre. John has always enjoyed the challenge of putting physics into a form that anyone can understand. This has lead to the development of a series of public shows that are presented as part of the University’s SMART program and to his weekly science talk back show on the local ABC radio with Lindy Burns. John offers, "In my view, it does not matter what career a person ends up in, they cannot avoid science. It is all around us, even if we exclude modern technology, science still affects our lives in so many ways that without an understanding of how the world works, we live unnecessarily in fear and are vulnerable to those that would prey on that fear. Besides that, approached the right way science can be so much fun! ...true to the tradition of Science in the Pub, our panellists have written their abstracts in verse. Fred offers the following poem: Forbidden Lines The Universe, a largish place, Is blessed with lots of empty space Where things go on, behind our backs, Things too hot for tabloid hacks. Here, atoms, free from earthly pressure, Cavort in rare and wanton pleasure, And, in their frenzied celebration, Emit forbidden radiation. Back on Earth, it took a while For scientists to spot the guile With which such nuclei betray Their games in distant nebulae. An unknown substance, it was deemed, Produced the spectrum lines thus seen. They christened it `nebulium'. (They should have guessed---it rhymes with `dumb'.) Then, in nineteen-twenty-eight, Someone came who put them straight. A clever chap called Ira Bowen, Told them things they should have knowen. "Forbidden lines, you see, become Permitted, when the pressure's gone. The secret's there in vacuo--- Nebulium's just N and O". "How brilliant!", his peers exclaimed, "Old Ira's got nebulium tamed!" Unfortunately, in the street, Few people heard of Ira's feat, And, in the folklore of the sky, Nebulium's still riding high. Alas, I fear, it's much the same With all things done in science's name. Once ideas get recognition, They regress---to superstition. Reference: I. S. Bowen, Astrophysical Journal, 67, 1-15, 1928. David provides the following thoughts: A dotty universe The sky at night is spread with spots whose random scatter suggests 'join the dots'. The shapes we see are in the mind, and are different for all of human-kind. Join the dots is the game we play when we have nothing much to say. The stars are silent, we hear them not, we cannot say if they are cold or hot. Stars don't smell, they are beyond our reach; how to make sense of this, I beseech? There's nothing like it in the natural world, a great puzzle, still being unfurled. But if we find we are short of facts we devise fine stories to fill the gaps. The ancient Greeks were good at this, and invented constellations hard to miss. Great legends abound, mixing fishes and sex, huge monsters and horses with human necks. Naming the signs embodied strange Greecian arts And they wrote kinky stories of bodily parts. David also offers us the following thoughts from Manilius (c 15 AD): Now learn what Signs the several Limbs obey Whose Powers they feel, and where Obedience pray. The Ram defends the Head; the Neck the Bull; The Arms, bright Twins, are subject to your Rule; I' th' Shoulders Leo, and the Crab's obeyed I' th' Breast, and in the Guts the modest Maid: I' th' Buttocks Libra, Scorpio warms Desires In Secret Parts, and spreads unruly fires: The Thighs the Centaur, and the Goat commands The Knees, and binds them up with double Bands, The parted Legs in moist Aquarius meet, And Pisces gives protection to the Feet. Manilius Astronomica Bk II, ll 453-465 trans Thomas Creech (London: Jacob Tonson 1697) 67. Last, but not least, John offers as his abstract the following verse with the comment, 'my apologies to my much loved poet and to everyone who recognises the origins of my verse'. He sent the demos flying and the audience kept their seats, He cleared the misconceptions in his stride, And the man from Newcastle never shifted in his stance It was grand to see that communicator ply. Through weightlessness and polarisation, on rainbows and radiation, Down the periodic table he did slide. And he never drew a diagram till he ended safe and sound At the bottom of the double helix ride.   Science in the Pub™ is the Eureka Award winning endeavour in science communication. Regular sessions are generally staged 3-4 times per year, (generally 7-9pm on Wednesdays) at the Harlequin Inn, 152 Harris Street, Pyrmont in Sydney.   Admission costs $5 worth of raffle tickets, your chance to win one of many excellent prizes! We can organise Science in YOUR Pub anywhere in Australia, or the world, when commissioned! Please contact Robyn Stutchbury, phone: 02 9427 6747; fax: 02 9427 6767; email: Robyn Stutchbury on rstutch@bigpond.net.au.  Visit our website at http://www.scienceinthepub.com/. Future Science in the Pub sessions (see the website for full details):
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