Events Spring-Summer 2010
For further information and to book your place at an event please contact Rachel Harrison, contact@af-nmm.org, Tel: +44 (0)208 312 8629
Lecture
Queen Elizabeth 2: Queen of the Seas
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Stephen M. Payne OBE RDI
President of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, Vice-President and Chief Naval Architect, Carnival Corporate Shipbuilding, Southampton.
After strenuous war service and spectacular careers as liners, the venerable Cunard 'Queens' Mary and Elizabeth became increasingly uneconomic as the popularity of air travel advanced in the late 1960s. Faced with bankruptcy, Cunard withdrew both ships and pinned their hopes of survival on a new ship, Queen Elizabeth 2. Initially dogged by budgetary and time overruns, the QE2 - as she became known - entered much anticipated service in May 1969. For nearly four decades she graced the world's oceans as flagship of the British merchant fleet, before withdrawal in November 2008. This lecture will trace the origins of the design of the ship, highlight her technical and accommodation features and chart her career from launch to present-day lay-up in Dubai. Never has so much rested on the success or failure of a single ship.
Thursday 18 February 2010, 18.30 - 20.30
In the Leopold Muller Lecture Theatre, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
Lecture
William Willett and British Summer Time
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David Rooney
Curator of Transport, Science Museum, London
As we put our clocks and watches forward for another session of British Summer Time, we've got one man to thank for introducing the idea. William Willett, Victorian house-builder and fitness fanatic, first proposed his time-shifting scheme in 1907, and we have been arguing about it ever since. Discover more about the surprising history of Summer Time in this illustrated talk by time historian David Rooney.
A historian of technology and Curator of Transport at the Science Museum, David was formerly Curator of Timekeeping at the National Maritime Museum, where he organized the exhibition '100 Years of British Summer Time' at the Royal Observatory in 2007. He writes and speaks widely on the history of technology and his book, Ruth Belville: the Greenwich Time Lady, was published by the NMM in 2008.
Monday 29 March 2010, 18.30-20.30
Royal Observatory, Greenwich
International Conference
The National Maritime Museum in the USA
Empires of Science in the long 19th century
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This international conference, jointly organized by the National Maritime Museum and the Huntington Library, will explore the relationship between the expansion of territorial empires and the use and influence of scientific knowledge in the long 19th century. Over two days, a group of leading scholars will address topics such as the practice of science on frontiers, the perceived role of science in the development of political and intellectual empires and the influence of governments and scientific institutions in creating, regulating and disseminating scientific research and practice within empire. Confirmed speakers include Lewis Pyenson, Daniel Headrick, Janet Browne, Crosbie Smith and Michael Reidy.
Friday 9-Saturday 10 April 2010
The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, USA
Exhibition opening
Toy Boats
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The NMM is proud to be the UK venue for this international touring exhibition of toy boats.
Between 1850 and 1950 the development of ships underwent a massive change, as steel and steam replaced wood and sail. This ignited the imaginations of children and toy makers and was met by an equivalent 'Golden Age' in the development of toy boats.
Borrowing extensively from the collection of the Musée national de la Marine in Paris and some of Britain's foremost collectors, 'Toy Boats' will contain over 100 colourful and imaginative toys which recall the grand liners, submarines and battleships that defined and defended the nation. Exhibition dates: 1 May - 31 October 2010.
Wednesday 28 April 2010, 18.30-20.30
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
Lunch and tour
'H2' lunch
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Join Senior Horologist Jonathan Betts for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to get inside the workings of John Harrison's 'H2'. You are invited to join us for lunch at the Royal Observatory's Endeavour Room, followed by a visit to the Horology Studio and the opportunity to join Jonathan as he catalogues and cleans this beautiful and fascinating chronometer - a task undertaken just once every 50 years.
The 'H1' to 'H4' timekeepers were Harrison's eventually triumphant response to the biggest scientific challenge of the 17th and 18th centuries: the longitude problem in marine navigation. One solution was known to be the use of accurate, robust clocks on ships at sea, keeping 'home time' to compare with 'local time' in order to find one's position east or west of a home port. Lincolnshire carpenter John Harrison was the first person successfully to make clocks accurate and sturdy enough.
Wednesday 19 May 2010, 12.00-15.00
Royal Observatory, Greenwich
Festival
Greenwich and Docklands International Festival 2010
2010: Earth
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'Earth', the Festival theme for 2010, will be developed to maximize use of Greenwich parks and the Museum's open spaces, while exploring the area's popular traditions, diversity and global links. Creative responses to the environment will run throughout the programme, with surprising new approaches to familiar local green spaces.
24 June-4 July 2010
Please look on the website for further details: www.festival.org/festival-themes.htm
Summer Games at the Queen's House
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Join us for a summer's evening of Pimm's and summer games in the beautiful setting of the lawns of the 17th-century Queen's House.
Enjoy a game of croquet and quoits with friends, colleagues and fellow supporters of the National Maritime Museum as the sun goes down over the River Thames.
You can play a gentle round of croquet on the practice courts but the more competitive among you may wish to take part in the tournament and play for a chance to win the much-coveted title National Maritime Museum Croquet Champion 2010!
Tuesday 6 July 2010, 18.00-21.00
Please save the date. A formal invitation will follow.
Queen's House lawns, Greenwich