Dr Iain Stewart
On Thursday 11th December Professor Iain Stewart from Plymouth University gave an outstanding lecture. Professor Stewart will be familiar to many who have watched his highly acclaimed TV series, in particular “EARTH; Power of the Planet” the title of his illustrated talk. In addition Prof. Stewart has other series covering popular geological topics on Mediterranean Geology, the geology of the Pacific Ring of Fire, volcanoes, earthquakes and recently on the Climate Change debate.
Iain Stewart's book based on the BBC series
The topic of the lecture covered a number of fascinating areas, including the fact that although many poorer people have to live in areas threatentened by natural disasters, richer people often choose to. One picture showed a school in India which had been devastated by an earthquake; standing next to it, undamaged were two business centres, demonstrating the difference in the quality of design and building materials for the two types of building. There were a number of very concerning messages about climate change and the quantity of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere. The audience went away having been entertained, but with many thought-provoking ideas to consider.
At the end of the lecture Professor Stewart presented a signed copy of his book to Rosie Al-Mulla, who had organised the evening with the help of the College Geology Society and Mr Loader.