Glyn Davies Malcolm’s hobby is collecting postcards of all types. His wife says that it is an obsession rather than a hobby. His talk was about postcards from their introduction until the beginning of World War I. Postcards were introduced in 1869 as a cheaper alternative to the penny post. They cost only 1/2d to send. They … Read more
Mike told us that, in the past, a few separate rivers were joined by canals to form a huge connected waterways system. This was a strictly commercial enterprise aimed at transporting freight to fuel the Industrial Revolution. The canals now fit seamlessly in to the landscape and are mainly used for our leisure enjoyment. Mike … Read more
Modern architecture came to Britain from the Continent in the 1930s by way of black and white illustrations and publications. These were followed by architects who were refugees many of them Jewish, from Hitler’s pre-war Germany. They transformed our British architecture. Modernism could be considered as an equilateral triangle with a different factor at each … Read more
Professor Peter Redgrave works at the Sheffield University and lectures in the Department of Psychology. He says that his research philosophy assumes that to diagnose and correct what has gone wrong in a complicated system like the brain, it is helpful to have a good understanding of its normal function. In his talk he explained what Parkinson’s disease is, … Read more
Alan was Editor of the Star and re-launched the Sheffield Telegraph in 1989. There is evidence of early forms of type in ancient China and possibly Korea but in Europe it is Johannes Gutenberg who is credited with ‘inventing’ type. He wanted to make reusable letters and produced 300 letter forms, including upper and lower case letters, … Read more
Brains began evolving millions of years ago. All vertebrates (fish, frog, bird, monkey, man) have brains of the same design but in different species the brain’s size and sophistication depends on the characteristic that is most important to the species. In humans it is thinking, in dogs smell, in dolphins sonar, in bats radar. Why … Read more