The Quekex24 Lectures
The Quekex Lectures are on contemporary and historical aspects of microscopy, and are given by experts in their fields. This year we are happy to welcome three microscopical experts who will present their talks as follows:
The Quekex24 Pre-Meeting Lecture
Recreating John B. Dancer’s Wet Collodion Micro-photograph Technique: an illustrated lecture on the earliest method of making microphotographs developed by the inventor John B. Dancer. Given by Mark Osterman
Tuesday, 15th October 2024
Mark Osterman is a former process historian at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York. He is well known in the photo conservation community as the foremost historian of the evolution of photography. His speciality is the wet and dry collodion techniques, and he will go through the technique of making a wet collodion microphotograph from a wet collodion negative in this informative presentation.
Mark and his wife France Scully Osterman run the Scully & Osterman Studio in Rochester where they teach a wide range of historic processes. See www.collodion.org for more information.
The Lecture will be available (to members only) after the Exhibition
The Quekex24 Morning Lecture
Touched with Prolifick Virtue: The Art and Science of Pollen. Given by Rob Kesseler, Emeritus Professor of Arts, Design & Science at Central Saint Martins, London
Saturday, 19th October
The phrase ‘touched with prolific virtue’, was the term coined by Nehemiah Grew (1641-1712) who was the first person to describe pollen when viewed under the microscope. Rob has his own website devoted to the microscopical art and science of biological structures in their different forms.
The Lecture will be available (to members only) after the Exhibition
The Quekex24 Afternoon Lecture
The Good, The Bad, and The Algae. Given by Christopher Howe, Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge
Saturday, 19th October
Many people think of algae as bad, clogging up ponds or forming toxic growths in lakes and reservoirs. In fact, they are very useful, and beautiful when viewed down the microscope. In his talk, Professor Howe describes how they contribute to a wide range of domestic items, from blancmange to toothpaste. In the last few years, there has been a lot of interest in using algae to make environmentally friendly biofuels. He’ll discuss the feasibility of that and then describe work in his own lab using algae to generate electricity directly and power small devices.
The Lecture will be available (to members only) after the Exhibition.