On Friday 10th November, John Bourke Dainton,
Sir James Chadwick Professor of Physics at the University of Liverpool and
Director of the Cockcroft Institute, visited Birkenhead School to open
officially the new Physics Department.
The day began with a lecture from Professor Dainton to the Sixth Form students,
Governors of the School and teachers past and present, on the topic of “What’s
the Matter?” Attempting to teach an entire year’s worth of Physics in 40
minutes, he managed to entertain even the non-Physicists amongst us,
allowing many to understand some of the more complicated facets of Physics. The
lecture was based on some of the work carried out at the Cockcroft Institute, a
collaboration between the Universities of Liverpool, Manchester and Lancaster,
into the fundamental building blocks of the universe, and what, if anything,
makes them up.
When the lecture was over, the guests and students congregated in the Physics
Department, for the official opening ceremony. Head of Science, Mike Hayward,
extended his thanks to all those who made the renovation possible; The Estates
Team, Ken Jones and the teachers of the Physics Department. Mr Hayward then
passed the stage to the Headmaster, Mr Clark, and Professor Dainton unveiled the
plaque dedicating the renovation of the department, officially opening the three
splendid new labs.
With the lecture finished, luncheon was served in the Bushell Hall for the
guests and Sixth Form students interested in the Sciences. I think it only fair
to record for the benefit of those who weren’t there, that the meal included
chicken in white wine sauce, new potatoes and several side dishes. The meal was
excellent, topped off with chocolate cake and cream, which clearly went down
well.
As a last favour before he left, Professor Dainton held a ‘question and answer’
session with the A-Level Physics students in the newly opened department,
focusing on his field of Particle Physics. Yet again he managed to explain
difficult concepts, usually reserved for those reading Physics at tertiary
level, in a way that most understood, and the rest pretended to. We are grateful
to Professor Dainton for opening the Physics Department, which we hope will
encourage more interest in Physics than the old brown desks and red floors ever
did.
Pictured left to right, past & present members of the Physics and Science Department: Dr John Holt, Harold McCready, Donald Cameron, Bob Birrell, Dennis Highcock, Professor John Dainton, Mrs Dainton, Keith Hawkins
Article written by David Parkes, A-Level Physicist and Oxford University candidate for Physics.
