Dr Francisco Diego was the first ever Flamsteed speaker in 1999, and effectively a founder-member of the society. His long association with society led to him being made an honorary member at our 10th anniversary lecture in September 2009.
It was, therefore, a great pleasure to invite Francisco back to give a talk to the Flamsteed, on a topic that he was clearly passionate about – how Earth became a paradise, and what we can all do to help restore and retain our fragile environment.
Francisco’s lecture showed how unlikely it was for complex life to form in the Universe. To get to that point, he took us on a journey of the history of the Universe and how our understanding of the Universe has changed over time. He developed a graphically illustrated timeline of the universe, using a rope stretched along the front of the lecture theatre. It represented the Universe from the time of formation to the present day, with each millimetre representing around 1 million years.
He went on to describe how our modern technological civilisation is threatening our environment and put forward some ideas for potential solutions.
The lecture was thought-provoking and engaging, and certainly generated much discussion amongst Flamsteed members at the end of the evening.
Flamsteed members who missed the live event, or those who would like to see it again, can find a recording of the talk here (password supplied to members via email):
Photos from the evening by Bobby Manoo.