Junior Science Society

subject was "The Biological Effects of Radiation." This was an extremely lively meeting, greatly enjoyed by all; and I later received a letter from Dr. Marsden, the guest speaker, saying how he enjoyed giving the lecture.

Three talks were given by members of the society at the next meeting. Tim Young spoke on "Soapless Detergents"; Rod MacLeod talked about "Hearts"; and Robert Ashburn propounded Einstein's Theory of Relativity. All three talks were of a good standard and a very entertaining meeting ensued. This type of meeting is very beneficial to the speaker as it is often their first chance at preparing and delivering a lecture of any sort.

The last of the four "indoor" meetings was a talk on "Plastics" by Dr. Tidswell of Bradford University. This was a fairly technical talk, but was so delivered that its content was grasped by most members who attended. (And I must mention how good Bradford University are at producing speakers of a very high standard, even at short notice.)

The fifth meeting took the form of a visit to the Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope in Cheshire. Twenty pupils and a member of staff went from each school, travelling by coach. Although the weather was reasonable, most members thought that eight hours travelling did not justify the two hours spent at Jodrell Bank. Unfortunately, the main dish was not operating because of high winds; but there were several working models including a self-operated 25-foot dish, and a very interesting film was shown.

That concludes this report on a full, and on the whole, successful term.

G.S.Y.

The Society had its usual quota of meetings during the Easter term, and we were fortunate in being able to welcome two outside speakers.

Mr. Brown, a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and the International Lunar Society, gave us a stimulating talk on "Modern Developments in Astronomy," and Mr. Archer from St. John's College, spoke about "Some social insects and their near relations." We should like to thank both these speakers for giving up their Saturday evenings to talk to us and providing such a fine insight into their respective subjects. The other meeting of note was a film meeting. The films shown included one about the work of the Forestry Commission and another illustrating the products obtained from oil and the research being done to find new uses for them.

As this goes to print, we learn with regret that Mr. Riley is retiring from the Chairmanship of the Society. Both past and present members would like to thank him for all the hard work he has put in behind the scenes during the past five years and we hope we shall be able to welcome him as a guest to future meetings. J.S.C.