Some photos from Cambridge - The New Cavendish Laboratory at the Ray Dolby Centre building

[BDennis]

Some photos from a wander round Cambridge in September. I had booked a ticket for a free public evening lecture on Black Holes at the University Physics Department so I made a day of it to do a "camera wander" and did some shopping for new walking boots. When on my own I usually leave the car at the Madingley road park and ride and skip the bus and walk - there is surprisingly no charge for parking! I took the OM-1 Mk ii and 8-25mm f4 lens for photos.

I walked along JJ Thomson Avenue to check out where I was going for the evening lecture at the Physics department - it was in the Ray Dolby Centre building which opened earlier this year and is the new home for the Cavendish Laboratory. I took some shots to make this pano of the building. There was a sign outside saying there was a cafe on the first floor open to the public, so I went in for my morning caffeine fix! In my imagination the sound of the wind in the trees outside seemed to die down as I approached the door reminiscent of the Dolby effect...


Ray Dolby Centre Cambridge by Bill Dennis, on Flickr

Yes, the building was named for that Ray Dolby - there was a display about is work in the entrance foyer
Ray Dolby - Information Display by Bill Dennis, on Flickr

Star Wars movie poster in the display - "It was George Lucas' blockbuster Star Wars, released in 1977, that exposed many moviegoers to Dolby stereo sound for the first time. Many cinemas upgraded their systems from mono to stereo as a result."
Star Wars Poster - Ray Dolby Information Display by Bill Dennis, on Flickr

I took a shot from the cafe terrace - there are quite a few modern buildings on the campus, it would be worth a trip back with the 8mm Fisheye I think
Ray Dolby Centre Cambridge by Bill Dennis, on Flickr

I had read that the Cavendish Lab had a museum which had recently moved to the site and it had some interesting artefacts on display related to the history of scientific discoveries at the laboratory. I asked the lady who brought my coffee about this and she said "everything is in the public foyers in the building" and gave me a map showing a walking tour you could do around the public areas of the building. So after coffee I did that, some interesting stuff to see...

This spinning coil apparatus was used for the absolute determination of the ohm (standard unit of electrical resistance) in the 1880s

Rayleigh's spinning coil apparatus for the determination of the ohm, 1880 by Bill Dennis, on Flickr
Determination of the Ohm - Apparatus Information by Bill Dennis, on Flickr

Chart showing the first observation of a pulsar by Jocelyn Bell on the 6th of August 1967 (she should have got the Nobel prize, but her supervisor got it...).
Chart Showing First Observation of a Pulsar by Bill Dennis, on Flickr

J. J. Thomson's cathode ray tube used for the discovery of the electron in 1897
The discovery of the electron: J. J. Thomson's cathode ray tube by Bill Dennis, on Flickr

First cloud chamber for imaging the trajectory of sub-atomic particles, 1912
The first cloud chamber, 1912 by Bill Dennis, on Flickr

Another shot of the building
Ray Dolby Centre Cambridge by Bill Dennis, on Flickr


Waiting for the Black Holes lecture to start - hosted by Kavli Institute for Cosmology. Lord Martin Rees was supposed to be one of the speakers but he was double booked so were shown a recorded video of his part.

Black Holes Lecture at Cavendish Laboratory Cambridge by Bill Dennis, on Flickr


The new Cavendish Laboratory is well worth a visit if interested in the history of science - there is information about public visiting on their website here:

https://www.phy.cam.ac.uk/about/visitus/#walking-tour

Bill

[Harold Gough]

The Dolby Centre and no stereo?

Harold

[davcoll]

Thank you, Bill, some very interesting stuff there.

[rsh1960]

Very interesting, you learn something new everyday.