Speaker profile
Mr James Fradgley
BA MSc FRAS MinstP
Available for booking
Summary
James has a BA in Physics and Astronomy and offers a variety of talks suitable for a wide audience.
Lectures
Life in the Universe - Are the aliens really there?
Astronomical & evolutionary factors for assessing the probability of there being complex life out there
How (on Earth) did Life Start?
The biochemistry of getting life started: did it start on Earth, and how plausible is the Panspermia theory?
Planets, Life & Panspermia
What does it take astronomically to make an appropriate environment for life to get started, and what sort of life can cross space
Orbital Oddities
Strange goings-on with 3 or more bodies' - Lagrange points, resonances, Roche limits, lots of odds and ends (with simulations)
Bad Science
A rant (some of it Astronomical) by a "Grumpy Old Man".
The Sun's Life Story
From a bouncing baby cloud of gas and dust to a miserly old White Dwarf.
Variable Stars - What makes them Tick?
Variable stars are common: what makes (some of the) different types of star vary.
Astronomical Causes of Climate Change
More factors than they tell you about in the press: solar effects, Milankovitch etc.
Inside Stars - Cooking Pots for the Elements
How (most of) the elements are made in stars, and please don't think all the heavy ones are made in supernovae.
The Birth of the Solar System
A view on how different sorts of planets and other bodies came to be where they are, with some heterodox comments.
Tides on the Earth - How do they really work?
A really messy subject, especially in the English Channel.
Light in the Universe
Some of the amazingly detailed things a few photons can tell us about the universe, by analysing spectra.
Calendars: Cultures and Clocks
A brief history of calendric development, including astronomical and political factors, with curious details from many cultures.
Discs round Stars and in Galaxies
A look at how discs form and some of the things they do in binary star systems and Active Galactic Nuclei.
The Story of Radio Astronomy
From how it all started to the sort of things we're looking at today.
Our World in Motion
The various ways in which the Earth moves, including some history of the development of ideas.
Active Galaxies - What are they?
A look at a large number of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) with details of what's going on.
Comets - What they are, where they come from?
Some history and effects of collisions with Earth.
Geography and Geology in the Solar System
Amazing differences between the planets and moons in the solar system.
Impacts on Earth - Large and Small
Risk, destruction and what can we do?
The First Billion Years
Dawn, the Dark Ages and Early Galaxies
Asteroids - What and where are they?
Strife Among the Martian Canals
A look at life on Mars as seen by Lowell's theories and Wallace's refutation.
Rodinia and the Boring Billion
What does Earth's history tell us to look for to find life on exo-planets?
Dark Matter and Dark Energy (for schools)
The Angular Momentum Problem
Why do stars rotate so slowly? A look at the early life of stars.
The Universe
A brief look at various odds and ends and what we know about them (or think we know).
