Nicholas Blake
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Einstein a Go-Go: When Albert Gave a Lecture at University College Nottingham
January 9, 2025
In a teaching room within the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Nottingham hangs a blackboard, protected by a perspex sheet. This blackboard contains theoretical equations written on it by legendary physicist Albert Einstein during a lecture he gave at the University (then University College Nottingham) on 6 June 1930. Using archives, articles …
The day Mahatma Gandhi came to Beeston
July 15, 2024
On 17 October 1931 crowds gathered at the small railway station in Beeston, Nottinghamshire. It was a chilly afternoon, but that did not dampen the excited anticipation of the spectators. When they eventually saw him disembarking from the train, the watchers fell silent, curious. Clad in loincloth and sandals, with a shawl to protect him …
George Green Library: Then and Now
June 18, 2024
To commemorate 60 years since the opening of George Green Library, Tracey O’Sullivan, Library Advisor, shares her memories and photographs from working there since 1985. Imagine the scene: no computers, no mobile phones, no Wi-Fi, no laptops, no self-service machines, just lots of books, journals and the like; card index cabinets and photocopier machines that …
History of Hallward Library Part 4: Legacy of the Library
October 4, 2023
2023 marks fifty years since the opening of Hallward Library at the University of Nottingham. In this fourth and final blog post we delve through the University archives and contemporary publications kept at Manuscripts and Special Collections to explore the history of this unique building. The new University of Nottingham library opened in August 1973 …
History of Hallward Library Part 3: Building the Library
September 20, 2023
2023 marks fifty years since the opening of Hallward Library at the University of Nottingham. In this third of four blog posts we delve through the University archives and contemporary publications kept at Manuscripts and Special Collections to explore the history of this unique building. With the design of the new University of Nottingham library …
History of Hallward Library Part 2: Designing the Library
September 6, 2023
2023 marks fifty years since the opening of Hallward Library at the University of Nottingham. In this second of four blog posts we delve through the University archives and contemporary publications kept at Manuscripts and Special Collections to explore the history of this unique building. In early 1969 the University Grants Council agreed to fund …
History of Hallward Library Part 1: Need for the Library
August 23, 2023
2023 marks fifty years since the opening of Hallward Library at the University of Nottingham. In this first of four blog posts we delve through the University archives and contemporary publications kept at Manuscripts and Special Collections to explore the history of this unique building. In 1928, when University College Nottingham moved into the newly …
History of the James Cameron-Gifford Library, Sutton Bonington Campus.
April 23, 2023
Dr James Cameron-Gifford was a leading agriculturalist born in 1909. He first came to Nottingham in 1942 when he was appointed as Technical Officer with the Nottingham War Agricultural Committee. The object of the committee was to increase the county’s food production, and among the many tasks allotted to Cameron-Gifford was the development of a …
George Green Library: A Photographic History
April 6, 2022
George Green Library, originally known simply as the Science Library, was one of various buildings funded in the 1950s and 60s which signalled a massive investment in science teaching and research at the University of Nottingham, facilitated by the Vice Chancellor of the time, Bertrand Hallward. Although the proposed Science Library was originally conceived to …
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
June 25, 2020
In the 17th and 18th centuries, a time before Instagram, National Geographic, or even David Attenborough, there was great interest amongst Europeans in the animals which roamed distant realms. These fantastic beasts were eagerly read about in publications written by explorers brave enough to adventure to far-off lands, with detailed engravings made from eye-witness accounts …
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