Atoms Then and Now

How old are atoms? What different shapes have they taken throughout history? And how can we put them to use - both practically and imaginatively?

Join Stuart Kenny of the University of York’s Department of Electronic Engineering and Helen Smith of York’s Department of English and Related Literature to discover the past, present and future of atomic thought. 

Together, they will take you on a journey that explores atoms in fiction and in fact, from Lucretius to Heston Blumenthal, and from Romeo and Juliet to Stuart's efforts to build an accurate atomic clock.

Stuart Kenny is a postgraduate research student with the University of York’s Department of Electronic Engineering. Having worked in industry for 17 years, he has returned to University to build an atomic clock.

Helen Smith is Professor of Renaissance Literature and Head of the Department of English and Related Literature at the University of York. She is currently writing a book exploring the liveliness of matter and its dramatic and poetic expression in the 16th and 17th centuries. 

Book tickets here

This event is presented as part of the York Festival of Ideas.