John Wild Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46063097 So there is a new £50 note planned, though I expect I would rarely see one. The plan is to feature an image of a British scientist. I plan to suggest Sir Charles Wheatstone. Any others going to follow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_holden Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 Already did it! ? I don't suppose there's much chance of his winning, but maybe he'll get a mention on the shortlist. I can't remember ever even seeing a £50 note in real life, never mind spending one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_Hardy Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 I've also nominated him. Surely he should be a good candidate, with his major contributions to science in acoustics, optics and electrics? However I suspect that Stephen Hawking will win because of the recent obituary and prior film publicity! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Wild Posted November 2, 2018 Author Share Posted November 2, 2018 13 minutes ago, Paul_Hardy said: I've also nominated him. Surely he should be a good candidate, with his major contributions to science in acoustics, optics and electrics? However I suspect that Stephen Hawking will win because of the recent obituary and prior film publicity! I expect that is right. We can only try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Timson Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 23 minutes ago, Paul_Hardy said: However I suspect that Stephen Hawking will win because of the recent obituary and prior film publicity! To be fair there is a little more to it than that. He was a genuinely brilliant scientist who fully deserved being buried in Westminster Abbey next to Newton. His work on black holes, in particular Hawking radiation and its theoretical consequences, has become part of the core of cosmology with great implications for the beginning of our universe. And he did all that with the major handicap of the disease which paralysed and eventually killed him. Have a read of this and you'll see what I mean. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_Hardy Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 11 hours ago, Chris Timson said: To be fair there is a little more to it than that. He was a genuinely brilliant scientist who fully deserved being buried in Westminster Abbey next to Newton. ... I wasn't trying to belittle Stephen Hawking. One of my lifetime memories was hearing him give a lecture in 1973 on the thermodynamics of black holes, and whether they could be a portal for interstellar travel. He had just got his first voice synthesizer, and used that for the main talk, but when it came to questions he answered in his own voice, with the aid of an interpreter. It was I think the last time he did so in public. In his introduction he said that in his work the usual units of metres, kg, seconds weren't appropriate - he dealt with objects at least the size of the sun, during the most minute fractions of a second, at incredible temperatures. So if you set the speed of light (c)=1, the charge on the electron=1, and, Planck's constant=1, then you got a set of units that were "damn hot, damn heavy and damn fast", and his equations became a lot simpler! Anyway, we are straying away from concertinas ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Madge Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 There is going to be a large faction who want the person chosen to be female. I believe Ada Lovelace is leading the polls at the moment. Robin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Timson Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 My personal choice would be for Rosalind Franklin, FWIW. Sorry CW, fine scientist though he was, he didn't lack for honours and respect during his life, unlike Franklin. Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathhag Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 So I have always been a big fan of Ada. But I had never heard of Rosalind Franklin. Although I always considered a highlight of my life when I was 17 and walking by the University’s Of Chicago Presidents home and who should come out but James Watson . He invited me in for tea with his wife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OLDNICKILBY Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 My Factory stands on land once owned by Ada Lovelaces family. Just a coincidence that in 1983/4 we made the first mouldings for Bruno Moreau and Andre Nacatch for their invention of the Smart Card. I had great difficulty understanding how you could download Notional cash on to this micro chip. What was he talking about !. I have a certain respect for the Hawking proposal as I to have the dreaded M N D. I a,m unable to even get a scale of C from my Tina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Mansfield Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 I’ve nominated CW as well for services to optics, mechanics, and concertinas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikefule Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 It's not often I stray into anything remotely resembling political correctness but, much as I'd find it satisfying to see the inventor of the concertina on a bank note, I think "for the greater good" the Treasury should look at other options than white males. British female scientists: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/dorothy-hodgkin-and-the-most-inspirational-british-women-scientists-9353921.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Hare Posted November 13, 2018 Share Posted November 13, 2018 On 11/3/2018 at 9:27 AM, Paul_Hardy said: ...So if you set the speed of light (c)=1, the charge on the electron=1, and, Planck's constant=1, then you got a set of units that were "damn hot, damn heavy and damn fast", and his equations became a lot simpler... Now, that is damn' interesting. Do you by any chance know of a reference where this idea is explained in more detail? It's about time I brushed up the Physics I did 40+ years ago, and that sounds like as good a place as any to start... Ta. Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_Hardy Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 On 11/13/2018 at 12:16 PM, lachenal74693 said: Now, that is damn' interesting. Do you by any chance know of a reference where this idea is explained in more detail? It's about time I brushed up the Physics I did 40+ years ago, and that sounds like as good a place as any to start... Ta. Roger Google for "Natural Units", or see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_units. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Ghent Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 On 11/6/2018 at 11:07 PM, OLDNICKILBY said: My Factory stands on land once owned by Ada Lovelaces family. Just a coincidence that in 1983/4 we made the first mouldings for Bruno Moreau and Andre Nacatch for their invention of the Smart Card. I had great difficulty understanding how you could download Notional cash on to this micro chip. What was he talking about !. I have a certain respect for the Hawking proposal as I to have the dreaded M N D. I a,m unable to even get a scale of C from my Tina Sorry to hear that Nick... Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McDouglas Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 On 11/3/2018 at 4:27 AM, Paul_Hardy said: Anyway, we are straying away from concertinas ... Yes, but thank you for the fascinating anecdote! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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