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A series of one hour programmes enabling small mixed groups, including schoolchildren, graduates and senior scientists to probe important scientific and technological concepts in an interactive format with a world leading expert on a particular topic.
Michael Garret discusses the physical properties of gases and demonstrates how air is liquefied. Liquefied gases are a key resource for survival with an amazing range of applications and there are now few industries which are not in some way dependent on this raw material. Life-saving operations in hospitals, the purification of polluted rivers and lakes, superconductivity (demonstration) are but a few fields which require liquefied gas supplies.
60 minutes. PAL VHS tape
Cost: £25.00 + VAT
The Nobel laureate Professor Sir John Cornforth, overcomes his deafness to present an elegant account of how he, and his wife Rita, disentangled a historically important puzzle in steroid synthesis. Meticulous detective work uncovered the fact that an erroneous step had previously been made in the application of the correct rule in a previous study. Early examples of powerful modern synthetic chemistry techniques, such as cascade reactions, are to be found in this work.
60 minutes. PAL VHS tape
Cost: £25.00 + VAT
An elegantly simple optical diffraction demonstration, conducted by Amand Lucas, with an inexpensive laser pointer is used to show the way in which X-rays can reveal the structure of crystals, in particular the double helix structure of DNA.
60 minutes. PAL VHS tape
Cost: £25.00 + VAT
Molecules have structures that are every bit as real in the mind of the chemists who create them, as have the edifices of brick, steel and concrete designed by architects and built by engineers.
Sir Harold Kroto of the University of Sussex lectures on the architecture of the microcosmos.
60 minutes. PAL VHS tape
Cost: £25.00 + VAT
This series of half-hour programmes record scientists who are not only outstanding researchers but also outstanding communicators in a format which allows them to reveal their personal views on key concepts and achievements as well as their approach to scientific method .
John Murrel and discusses the basic physical principles relating to the gaseous, liquid and solid states with the aid of models and demonstrations. Attention is drawn to phase changes and subtle features involving intermediate phases such as liquid crystals, supercritical fluids and pseudosolids. These aspects are developed further in interactive discussions.
30 minutes. PAL VHS tape
Cost: £12.50 + VAT
Chris Freeman, the founder and first director of the Science Policy Research Unit introduces Burnell, the father of the protein crystallography techniques which enabled the double helix structure of DNA to be unravelled. Burnell's major impact on scientific research in the post-war industrialised economies through his 1939 treatise The Social Function of Science is discussed. The presentation and the ensuing debate also probe the complex political pressures to which Burnell was subject during the period 1930-60.
30 minutes. PAL VHS tape
Cost: £12.50 + VAT
Held continuously since 1826 when they were instituted by Michael Faraday, the Royal Institution discourses are a means of informing the public about the intellectual, economic, social and ethical aspects of science.
The following programmes are from a series of Royal Institution discourses recorded by the Vega Science Trust for BBC television.
Presented by John Maynard Smith, a lecturer about the essential features of life: heredity and DNA. The processes upon which all life depends are becoming well understand but appear to be far too complicated to have arisen by chance in the primitive oceans. How can this apparent paradox be resolved?
60 minutes. PAL VHS tape
Cost: £25.00 + VAT
Radio astronomical observations of our galaxy have revealed hordes of molecules in the interstellar medium. Extremely fast reactions result in the high abundance of complex organic compounds in the space between the stars. Amazingly, the key to all this is the chemistry of the helium ion!
William Klemperer of Harvard University presents this lecture on the chemistry of interstellar space.
60 minutes. PAL VHS tape
Cost: £25.00 + VAT
In 1985 an experiment, designed to unravel the carbon chemistry in red giant stars, revealed the existence of C60 Buckminsterfullerene (the third allotropic form of carbon). The story of the discovery and the way its symmetry relates to the natural and physical world are described. This elegant cage molecule, which has the same shape as a football, heralds a new era of novel 21st century materials.
Sir Harold Kroto of the University of Essex introduces the molecule C60 Buckminsterfullerene.
60 minutes. PAL VHS tape
Cost: £25.00 + VAT
Since the time of Faraday lines of force in space have been "observed " by sprinkling iron filings around a magnet. The lecturer explains how, with modern techniques we can "see" lines of force inside a solid magnet. The studies reveal a fascinating dynamic world in which lines of force form vortices (quantised bundles) that hop and swirl inside a superconductor (much like Tornados do in the atmosphere).
Akira Tonomura from Hitachi Ltd., Japan looks at magnets and magnetism.
60 minutes. PAL VHS tape
Cost: £25.00 + VAT
A significant proportion of our electricity is generated by thermonuclear reactions. The dangers attached to these processes and the radioactive products are well known and publicised. Much less well-known are the measures taken to ensure that the highest levels of safety are realised in practice.
A lecture on nuclear power plant safety presented by John Collier of Nuclear Electric plc, UK.
60 minutes. PAL VHS tape
Cost: £25.00 + VAT
There is a long tradition of applying scientific techniques to study the works of art. The discourse reviews past and present approaches and shows that these advances have not only illuminated art history but also revolutionised our techniques for active and preventative conservation, thus ensuring the survival of works of art for the future.
David Bomford from the National Gallery considers the interface of Science and Fine Art.
60 minutes. PAL VHS tape
Cost: £25.00 + VAT
The discovery of carbon and nanotubes is one of the most exciting advances of the last part of the twentieth-century. These tubes (some one 1000 times smaller than conventional carbon fibres) have tensile strengths of about 100 times that of a steel and conduct electricity like metals. They promise a revolution in structural and electrical engineering.
Sumio Iijima of NEC, Japan considers one of the most exciting materials to come out of the 20th century.
60 minutes. PAL VHS tape
Cost: £25.00 + VAT
How green are you prepared to be? Burning fossil fuel is choking our planet with carbon dioxide, but would you stop using petrol or allow wind farms to be built in your back yard? Is it finally time for renewable energy to stop being the alternative and start becoming the mainstream, eventually transforming our lives? What is the next big energy source?
Chaired by Colin Blakemore, the panel consists of Tony Marmont, Catherine Mitchell, Chris Morris and panel regular Jacqui McGlade.
Streamed Video from Vega Trust
VHS copies available from The Open University
A face to face interview with Sir John "Kappa" Cornforth of Sussex University
The Nobel Laureate Professor Sir John Cornforth, overcomes his deafness to present an elegant account of how he, and his wife Rita, disentangled a historically important puzzle in steroid synthesis. Meticulous detective work uncovered the fact that an erroneous step had previously been made in the application of a correct rule in a previous study. Early examples of powerful modern synthetic chemistry techniques, such as cascade reactions, are to be found in this work.
Streamed Video from Vega Trust or
VHS copies available from Vega Trust
Cost: £25.00
[ Chemistry Images Post_16 Front Page | Publisher Address Index | Publisher and Programme Title Index | Keyword Index ]
[ANGLESEY ALUMINIUM - RTZ | BBC STUDIES | BOULTON-HAWKER FILMS LIMITED | CFL VISION | CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION | CONCORD VIDEO AND FILM COUNCIL | CLASSROOM VIDEO | ETSU: NEW AND RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES BUREAU | FOCAL POINT AUDIO VISUAL LTD. | FILMS FOR THE HUMANITIES AND SCIENCES | INSTITUTE OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERS | JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION SOFTWARE | LABORATORY OF THE GOVERNMENT CHEMIST | LEEDS UNIVERSITY TELEVISION | NEW MEDIA | OPEN UNIVERSITY | RESOURCES IN TRAINING AND EDUCATION LTD. | ROYAL SOCIETY OF CHEMISTRY | SHEFFIELD UNIVERSITY TELEVISION | SHOTLIST - EBS TRUST | THE VEGA SCIENCE TRUST | VIEWTECH EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 1 (Formerly EDUCATIONAL MEDIA FILM & VIDEO LTD. Catalogue) | VIEWTECH EDUCATIONAL MEDIA 2 (Formerly VIEWTECH FILM AND VIDEO Catalogue - Includes new material) | THE WELLCOME TRUST | UNIVERSITY OF YORK - CENTRE FOR ANALYTICAL SCIENCE AND INSTRUMENTATION | YORK FILMS OF ENGLAND ]