Science: Giants of Physics

Class Details

There will be three sets of talks. The first concerns the development of scientific enquiry, starting from Boethius and ending with Newton. In the Middle Ages, despite glorifying the Renaissance, the emphasis in that period led to a denigration of scientific developments including the Copernican Revolution. The second set is about five brilliant Hungarians – one of the greatest, Leo Szilard, realised the possibility of nuclear fission which played a crucial part in the creation of nuclear weapons. Finally, I will talk about Women in Physics showing how some women have struggled to overcome barriers and made great contributions to our understanding of the science they created.