Talks to U3A groups


Beginning of Everything
A brief description of the origin and the very early history of the Universe. It took about three minutes to kick-start the Universe. If this happened 13.8 billion years ago, how can we be so sure?


  Recording   Handout


Given to: Warrington U3A






Great Moon Hoax
As we all know, the Apollo moonlandings of the late 1960s and early 1970s were faked by NASA. What is the 'evidence' that supports this claim and does it stand up to scientific scrutiny?


  Recording   Handout


Given to: Aughton & Ormskirk U3A, Bolton U3A, Formby U3A,
Lymm & Thelwall U3A, North West Region U3A AGM, Poynton U3A






Legacy of the Hubble Space Telescope
A brief history of the Hubble Space Telescope and a description of its legacy in terms of its scientific contributions to our understanding and the way that it touched the public consciousness.


  Recording   Handout


Given to: Southport U3A






Lighter Side of Astronomy
A light-hearted look at astronomy and astronomers, plus some of the weird and wonderful telescopes that they use.


  Recording   Handout


Given to: North West Region U3A Summer School, Southport U3A






Star of Bethlehem
A light-hearted look at the Gospel of St Matthew. What are the astronomical candidates for the Star of Bethlehem? How well do they fit the account? Do known events fit the timeline of the nativity?


  Recording   Handout


Given to: Formby U3A, Southport U3A, Stourbridge U3A






Warping Space and Time
The science fact and science fiction of black holes. How are they formed, what are their properties and how can we 'observe' them? What about TV and the movies? Does Hollywood ever get it right?


  Recording   Handout


Given to: Formby U3A, Southport U3A, Warrington U3A






Weird World of the Very Very Small
How do we describe the world on a scale of atoms and molecules? The concepts underlying quantum mechanics seem to be at odds with common sense, but quantum theory describes reality on the atomic scale.


  Recording   Handout


Given to: Aughton & Ormskirk U3A, Formby U3A






Wildlife Photography
Illustrated with images taken over many years of African safaris, this talk describes how wildlife photographs can be improved by considering composition, focus, lighting, shutter speed and lens aperture.


  Recording   Handout


Given to: Stourbridge U3A


Steve Barrett      October 2019

S.D.Barrett@liv.ac.uk 		Link to University of the Third Age
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