Prof Allan Chapman	Although Galileo is widely credited in popular culture with the invention of the telescope a little known fact is that on July 26, 1609, Thomas Harriot - an English Astronomer - made a drawing of the moon through his telescope over 4 months before Galileo. Since then, the telescope has been extensively used for astronomy over the last 400 years, and many designs have been developed by scientists throughout the ages. Indeed Ireland once had the biggest telescope in the world which was and still is located at Birr, Co. Offaly. In recent decades, astronomers have begun putting telescopes in space, away from the dust and clouds that are present in the atmosphere. This breakthrough gave humankind a new and unique view of the Universe in which we live, a view that had never been seem before. The Hubble Space Telescope is the most famous of these telescopes, and has served astronomers since it was put into orbit in 1990 by the Space Shuttle Discovery. Among the next generation of telescopes are the Kepler Space Telescope, which is hunting for exosolar planets, the James Webb Space Telescope, which will be the successor of the Hubble Space Telescope. We have come a long way from those first steps to the nowadays dizzy heights of the space telescopes - our eye on the universe. This is the story of 4 centuries of invention, discovery and the satisfaction of our quest for knowledge of the world about us.
Based at Wadham College, Oxford, Prof Allan Chapman has presented many TV programs including Channel 4 Series Gods in the Sky. He has appeared on the Sky at Night on numerous occassions as well as participated on University Challenge. Not only a television personality, Professor Chapman has written many books on the history of science and astronomy. Prof Alan Chapman is a brilliant public speaker. He regards giving a public lecture as a piece of theatre and his performances merit an award! On top of a unique and brilliant lecturing style he has a vast knowledge of the history of astronomy and is sure to give one of the best lectures Astronomy Ireland has ever seen. A reproduction of Galileo's telescope alongside a modern astronomical telescope.

Book seats HERE

Order DVD HERE

The lecture takes place in:
Schrodinger Theatre, Fitzgerald Building, Trinity College, Dublin 2.
And can be accessed by the Westland Row or Lincoln Place entrances.