James Fradgley BA MSc FRAS
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Located in Wimborne Dorset and willing to travel about 30 miles. I am also able to give talks by Zoom
BA Physics with Astronomy.
MSc.
FRAS
Lecture Topics:
- 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 (extracts from the 2 talks above).
- 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' - 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 they are: a lot of moving about and risk
- 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).
 
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