Guest host Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell
The University of Kent, Division of Natural Sciences hosted the 7th Stephen Gray Lecture with guest host Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell from the University of Oxford, with Mansfield College, and Dundee University. Jocelyn is an astrophysicist hailing from Northern Ireland who, as a postgraduate student, discovered the first radio pulsars. She has also been a global champion of women in science for many decades. Her lecture was based around astronomy and poetry, the later being a hobby of hers which has developed over the years.
From Jocelyn’s study of astronomy and poetry, we can see that there are several poems dedicated to the theme. However, there is a caveat to her collection: ‘if the science is bonkers, it doesn’t make it into the collection’.
During the evening, poems were read by volunteers, including students from the School of Physics and Astronomy. These included poems by Robert Frost, Antler, Stanley Kunitz, Kenneth Rexroth, John Haines, Elizabeth Jennings, many of whom were amateur astronomers as well as accomplished writers. Robert Frost was known for his keen observations of the wonders of the Universe, including the stars, which is reflected in his poetry.
There are a number of common themes in which these poets write; black holes, comets, space exploration, the big bang, the scale of the universe, moons and planets. During the lecture it was interesting to hear these themes occur during the readings. For example, Stanley Kunitz was about five years old when Halley’s comet came back in 1910, and this was pensively recalled in his poetry. Elizabeth Jennings, the first poet that started Jocelyn’s fascination with astronomical poetry, wrote a wistful piece on the distance between us and faraway stars.
The Lecture was open to everyone who wished to attend and the audience was diverse, ranging from undergraduate students from across the University to retired professors and members of the general public. We would like to thank Dame Jocelyn for her lecture, and to all those who attended, we hope you enjoyed it as much as the team did.
Attendees said:
“Such a great talk yesterday. It was really entertaining and has opened me up to reading more poetry in future.” From a stage 4 School Physics and Astronomy student.
“I have personally very much enjoyed the talk and the atmosphere was incredible. I have not seen so many people leave a gathering at the University with such wide smiles on their faces for a long time. It felt great and I wanted to say thank you”. From a senior staff member from the School of Physics and Astronomy.
First row, left to right: Elizabeth Chipperfield (PhD candidate, School of Physics & Astronomy), Anna Bray (undergraduate, School of Physics & Astronomy), Jocleyn Bell Burnell (Stephen Gray Lecturer), Adrija Bhowmick (undergraduate, School of Physics & Astronomy), Chris Vijeu (undergraduate, School of Physics & Astronomy)
Second row, left to right: Luke Cornwell (PhD candidate, School of Physics & Astronomy), Emily Swift (undergraduate, School of Physics & Astronomy), Aashini Patel (PhD candidate, School of Physics & Astronomy), Juni Kvarving (PhD candidate, School of English)
Third row, left to right: Ewan Jewkes (undergraduate, School of Physics & Astronomy), Carys Herbert (PhD candidate, School of Physics & Astronomy) , Kylie Dunleavy (undergraduate, School of English)
Thank you to our poetry readers: Amber, Carys, Emily, Ciara, Izzy, Chris, Aashini, Lucy.