Astronomer Royal speaks

19 September 2008

Esteemed astronomer and LJMU Honorary Fellow, Professor Martin Rees delivered a Roscoe lecture entitled 'A Cosmic Perspective on 21st Century Challenges' on Thursday 18 September. 

A packed St George's Hall listened intently to his explanation of how the Earth evolved and its likely future, given his belief that this century, above all the billions of years of the Earth's existence, is the most significant, with us holding the planet's future in our hands.

The author of over 500 papers and numerous books, Professor Rees is a leading figure in astronomy. He is particularly known for advancing our understanding of cosmic microwave background radiation as well as galaxy clustering and formation. In addition to being Astronomer Royal and President of the Royal Society, he is also a Cross Bench Peer in the House of Lords, where he gained his title of Lord Rees of Ludlow.

"An integral part of Liverpool's identity has been the way it looks beyond itself. From the days of Jeremiah Horrocks to the present time there has been a fascination with astronomy and the stars," said Professor David Alton, chair of LJMU's Foundation for Citizenship, which hosts the Roscoe Lecture Series. "LJMU is at the very forefront of contemporary astronomy and William Roscoe had a great love of the world beyond himself. He would have been fascinated by the insights that Martin Rees brought to his lecture."

Prior to the lecture, Professor Rees presented a group of pupils (pictured below) from Childwall Sports College with an LJMU Good Citizenship award for their voluntary work with the Proudman Oceanographic Lab, which aims to protect the Irish Sea and other costal waters. The award winners were: Amal Abdulkadir, Ashley Ali, Usman Ali, Amy Buckley, Abbey Clark, Adam Keig, Edward Martin and Jenny Tu.

Click here to download an mp3 recording of the lecture.