Review of Session 2007-2008
PRIZE LECTURES Security, Insecurity, Paranoia and Quantum Mechanics .................................. 46 New Antibiotics from the Sea Bed to the Hospital Bed .................................. 64 100 Years of Radio Astronomy: Past, Present and Future ............................... 69 Fuelling the Fire: On How Obesity Fuels D isease.............................................................................................................. 74 Mind, Matter and Mathematics ..................................................................... 79 45 Review of the Session 2007-2008 James Scott Prize Lecture Security, Insecurity, Paranoia and Quantum Mechanics Stephen M. Barnett SUPA, Department of Physics, University of Strathclyde 4 February 2008 The James Scott Prize Lectureship was established in 1918 in memory of James Scott, a farmer at East Pittendreich, near Brechin, by the Trustees of his Bequest. This prize is awarded quadrennially for a lecture on the fundamental concepts of Natural Philosophy. This year’s award goes to Professor Stephen Barnett FRS FRSE, who is based in the Department of Physics at the University of Strathclyde. Professor Barnett is one of the world’s most eminent scientists in the field of Quantum Optics. A previous winner of the Institute of Physics’ Maxwell Medal, he is perhaps best known for his co-discovery of the Barnett-Pegg phase operator. This established the first formally correct approach for handling both angles and phase as descriptions within quantum systems. Still within quantum physics, Professor Barnett holds a number of patents relating to techniques for writing unbreakable codes. For a subject that is potentially beyond most people’s understanding, Professor Barnett is well known for presenting the counter-commonsense implications of quantum mechanics in an accessible and entertaining way, stripping the subject of its supporting mathematics and leaving only the essence of pure ideas.
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