Grunde Jomaas
Thu 02 Nov 2017, 17:30 - 18:30
Swann Lecture Theatre, Michael Swann Building

If you have a question about this talk, please contact: Bob Fisher (rbf)

Reception afterwards will be held in Classroom 2 & 3, Sanderson Building

Before one of his Christmas Lectures at the Royal Institution, Michael Faraday said:                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                                                        
"... were it left to my own will, I should prefer to repeat [The Chemical History of the Candle] almost every year, so abundant is the interest that attaches itself to the subject, so wonderful are the varieties of outlet which it offers into the various departments of philosophy. There is not a law under which any part of this universe is governed which does not come into play and is touched upon in these phenomena. There is no better, there is no more open door by which you can enter        
into the study of natural philosophy than by considering the physical phenomena of a candle."                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                        
Today, 150 years after his death, there are still many unresolved engineering and scientific problems related to fire and fire safety. For example, high fidelity scaling laws for fire phenomena are still not in place. As a result, small scale fire testing in laboratories will most often not lead to understanding of fire phenomena at building scale. This is a challenge both for single elements and assemblies, and for flame spread along a flat sample as well as for fire development in rooms. As a result of this lack of understanding, fire disasters continue to cause large losses of life worldwide.                                                   
                                                                                                                                                                        
In this lecture, a history of oxidative processes from the Phlogiston Theory to flammability experiments in outer space will be given, ending up with the activities    
and contributions of the lecturer to the chemistry and physics of flames, such as information about experiments carried out in parabolic flights (low gravity) and      
on board the Cygnus resupply spacecraft while orbiting Earth (microgravity).

All are welcome to attend, please confirm attendance by email to: louise.farquharson@ed.ac.uk