Albert Hall Research Articles

Religion in Politics

Father Gerald Vann’s broadcast talks here reproduced strike a topical note in view of the Albert Hall meeting of the Industrial Christian Fellowship at the end of September and of the discussion it aroused. Religion has an intimate relation to politics and prayer is the heart of religion. A man’s social and political action should, in fact, flow from his relations with God in prayer. But the primary question brought to the fore by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s speech is whether one’s prayer and religion are to play an essential part in particular practical judgments about society and politics.The attack on the Archbishop, in the letters to the Times for instance, did not lack an element of truth. There were times when he left the principles he rightly declared to be the province of religion for applications which were far from being the only ones acceptable to the conscience of the Christian.. But the fundamental problem raised was that of the very mission of the Church. Is the Church to turn from preaching eternal salvation through the Cross to concentrate all her energies on providing for the social well-being and happiness of the citizen on earth? In constantly driving home the social teaching implied in the Sermon on the Mount, as well as in the relation between man and his Creator, we are in danger of presenting that teaching upside-down. We may find ourselves standing on a platform shoulder to shoulder with Socialist and Communist, trying to raise our voices above theirs and to sell our wares by making them more attractive than those of our ‘rivals.’

The Church as a Social Force

THE mass meeting held at the Albert Hall, London, on September 26, was convincing evidence of the keen interest that is shown in the Church as a social force, especially in view of the fact that many times more applications for tickets were made than the huge hall could accommodate. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the Lord Privy Seal were supported by ambassadors, bishops and representatives of various religious bodies, commerce and industry at this meeting, which was arranged and organized by the Industrial Christian Fellowship as a sequel to the Malvern Conference of 1941. The Archbishop of Canterbury, who has shown a keen interest in, and done splendid work for, the social life of the country, and has already made valuable suggestions towards social reconstruction, emphasized that the Church has both a right and a duty towards declaring and supporting those principles which should govern the order of society. This is, after all, the natural sequence to the universally recognized duty of the Church to lay down principles for the conduct of individuals, the only difference being that the Church should now extend her influence to society, that is, groups of individuals. In the past, by ignoring society, fellowship has either not been fostered or has been broken where it existed, thus resulting in gross disparity of wealth and poverty, lack of leisure and so forth. The predominant motive guiding enterprise in the past has been that of profit. In the future, this must be put in its proper place, for it is not only an expression of selfishness but is also clearly not in the general interest. For the promotion of the general welfare there are two special problems, namely, land and money. The traditional Christian principle still holds good, that the right of property was a right of stewardship-never exclusive use. Therefore the Uthwatt Report, which aims at the combination of the advantage of public ownership and ultimate control with private initiative, is to be welcomed. So far as money is concerned, banks, now more or less amalgamated, should be limited in power to the amount deposited by their clients, while the issue of new credit should be a function of public authority.

Albert Hall Acoustics

THE changes made to house the recent season of Promenade Concerts have affected the appearance more than the acoustics of the Albert Hall. The subject has been discussed periodically ever since the Hall was built, but the oval ground plan and the great height are insuperable difficulties with reflecting surfaces. Most of the changes proposed, including that of Bagenal and Wood illustrated on p. 65 of their “Planning for Good Acoustics”, showing the source of sound placed far above ground–level, attempt to preserve the full seating capacity of the Hall. Recently conditions have changed considerably. For some time pugilists and politicians have been the chief users of the full capacity of the Hall. But now there are a number of recognized sporting–centres in London and politicians can address even larger audiences through the radio. Musicians have, however, lost the Queen's Hall and other concert halls.

Melbourne Meeting of the British Medical Association

THE annual meeting of the British Medical Association will be held in Melbourne on September 9-14, under the presidency of Sir James Barrett, deputy chancellor of the University of Melbourne. The meeting will be divided into the following sections, with the sectional presidents indicated: Medicine, Lord Horder; Surgery, Sir Thomas Dun-hill; Obstetrics and Gynaecology, J. S. Fairbairn; Radiology and Radiotherapcutics, H. M. Moran; Diseases of Children, Dr. Robert Hutchison; Neurology and Psychological Medicine, Prof. E. Bramwell; Ophthalmology, Dr. A. J. Ballantyne; Orthopaedics, Prof. E. W. Hey Groves; Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Francis Muecko; Pathology and Bacteriology, Prof. A. M. Drennan; Pharmacology, Therapeutics and Anaesthesia, Sir William Willcox; Public Medicine, including History of the Development of Medicine in Australia, Sir Henry Gauvain; Dermatology, Dr. S. Watson Smith; Medical Sociology, Dr. E. Kaye Le Flaming. The honorary local general secretary is Dr. J. P. Major, Medical Society Hall, Albert Hall, East Melbourne, C.2.

Will the Albert Hall Organ Recitals Succeed?

Will the Albert Hall Organ Recitals Succeed?

LONDON

<h3>Aid for Refugee Scientists</h3> Professor Einstein was the principal speaker at a meeting in London in the Albert Hall to raise funds for the Refugee Assistance Committee. More than 8,000 persons paid for admission and nearly $500,000 was obtained. The physicist Lord Rutherford presided. He said that four bodies were concerned in relief work for academic and professional workers: the Academic Assistance Council, of which he is president, the International Students Service, the Refugee Professionals Committee, and the German Emergency Committee of the Society of Friends (Quakers). Their object was to collect a fund for the relief of students, university teachers and members of the professional classes. They were working on behalf of all men of science and learning of all countries who had been debarred through no fault of their own from carrying on their specialized work. There was a flood of refugees into other European countries, which were

The Organ at the Royal Albert Hall

The Organ at the Royal Albert Hall

The British Medical Association Centenary

The British Medical Association CentenaryPublished Online:29 May 2014https://doi.org/10.1259/0007-1285-5-56-609SectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail AboutAbstractLast month the British Medical Association celebrated its hundredth anniversary in London and at Worcester, its birthplace. All the usual features of the annual gathering were provided, but on a larger and more sumptuous scale, to do honour to the occasion: the scientific sections were more numerous and better attended than ever before; the Exhibition was larger; the entertainments were more lavish and varied, and the brilliance of the social gatherings was unprecedented. Few who were present at the President's Reception will ever forget the vast circle of the Albert Hall with its three tiers of boxes filled with doctors in brilliant academic robes, eclipsing for once the splendour of their wives and daughters, while the huge dance floor was thronged with as many more, and for over an hour a ceaseless procession of members and guests from all parts of the world filed before the President and Lady Dawson.When the British Medical Association celebrated its jubilee, the discovery of the Röntgen ray was yet twenty-three years in the future. The word “Radiology” first appeared in the list of the scientific sections in 1910, when it was added to the title of the Section of Medical Electricity, but that section had been hearing radiological papers for many years previously. Indeed, radiological papers first appear in the programme for 1896: within a year of Röntgen's discovery! Before the Section of Medicine in that year, Dr. John Macintyre of Glasgow demonstrated the use of X rays in medicine with special reference to the soft tissues, while Mr. Mackenzie Davidson showed the surgeons the “apparatus necessary to produce Roentgen X rays, and skiagrams of cases illustrative of its use in surgery.” Next article FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 5, Issue 56August 1932Pages: 609-672 © The British Institute of Radiology History Published onlineMay 29,2014 Metrics Download PDF

Centenary of the British Medical Association

THE annual general meeting of the British Medical Association, which marks the official opening of the centenary meeting of the Association in London, will take place on July 23 at the Association's house in Tavistock Square, London. On July 24 a pilgrimage to Worcester has been arranged. In this city, in 1832, the project for an organised alliance of medical practitioners first took shape, under the guidance of Charles Hastings, who was born at Ludlow on Jan. 11, 1794. In the morning, Dr. W. G. Willoughby will unveil a plaque on a house in which Sir Charles Hastings formerly lived, the Mayor of Worcester assisting at the ceremony. An original portrait of Hastings (1839), by G. F. Faulkner, from the Board Room of the City Infirmary, will be handed over to the Association. From the house there will be a robed procession to the Cathedral to participate in a commemoration service, at which the sermon will be preached by Dr. E. W. Barnes, Bishop of Birmingham. A memorial window will be unveiled by the Right Hon. Lord Dawson of Penn. Lord Dawson will deliver his presidential address on July 26, at Queen's Hall, Langham Place, London, W.1. Next day the Lord Mayor and Corporation of London will hold a civic reception at Guildhall. A centenary dinner will take place at the Albert Hall, on July 28 Lord Dawson will preside and H.R.H. the Prince of Wales will be the principal guest. The clinical and scientific work of the meeting will be divided among twenty-four sections. In that devoted to the history of medicine (president, Dr. Charles Singer), in a discussion on various aspects of British medicine during the past hundred years, Sir Edward Sharpey-Schafer, the veteran physiologist, will open a discussion on the physiology of the period, while Dr. P. H. Manson-Bahr will open another dealing with tropical medicine. Personal letters and relics of British pioneers of tropical medicine will be shown by Dr. Manson-Bahr. A large number of Dominion and foreign guests is attending the centenary meeting.

Lecture Experiments on the Migration of Ions and the Passivity of Iron

THE following details of demonstrations successfully made throughout the recent Faraday Exhibition at the Albert Hall may be of use to those who wish to show the migration of ions and the periodic passivity of iron on the lecture table.

Exhibition of Electrical Measuring Instruments

AN article by R. W. Paul, published in the November issue of the Journal of Scientific Instruments, is of general interest, as it will help to keep green the memory of the Faraday Centenary Exhibition at the Albert Hall, London, in 1931. He gives excellent descriptions of many of the instruments shown, which illustrate the gradual development of accuracy and quickness in measurement. Ammeters were first made having needles of soft iron polarised by a powerful magnet and having a deflecting coil closely adjacent. In 1881, Ayrton and Perry designed such instruments, the scales being graduated in degrees, which were converted to amperes by the application of a constant. They were the first to use the term ‘ammeter’ instead of amperemeter. It is interesting to remember that Silvanus Thompson strongly discouraged the use of this word, and asked sarcastically why they did not also use the word ‘vometer’ for voltmeter. The Director of the Science Museum has arranged that much of the apparatus shown at the Exhibition will be displayed at the museum from February until May 1932.

Speeches at the Royal Albert Hall, 23rd September, 1931, at the opening of the Faraday Exhibition

Speeches at the Royal Albert Hall, 23rd September, 1931, at the opening of the Faraday Exhibition

Faraday Centenary Exhibition

WITH the possible exception of Italy, which in 1899 and 1927 organised the notable exhibitions to commemorate, first, the centenary of the invention of the voltaic pile, and secondly, the centenary of the death of Volta, no country, we believe, has arranged so interesting and striking a display of scientific instruments, apparatus, and appliances in honour of one man as that which is to be seen in the Faraday Centenary Exhibition at the Albert Hall, formally opened by the Right Hon. J. C. Smuts on Sept. 22, just after his inauguration as president of the British Association.

At the sign of the hexagon, Albert Hall

Journal of the Society of Chemical IndustryVolume 50, Issue 39 p. 793-794 Article At the sign of the hexagon, Albert Hall First published: 25 September 1931 https://doi.org/10.1002/jctb.5000503903AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume50, Issue3925 September 1931Pages 793-794 RelatedInformation

News and Views

THE preliminary programme has now been issued of the centenary meeting of the British Association, to be held in London on Sept. 23-30, under the presidency of the Right Hon. J. C. Smuts. So far, of course, only the barest outline of the proceedings is possible, but it is clear already that the meeting is going to be worthy of the occasion. The reception room and offices for the meeting will be in the University of London (Imperial Institute Road, South Kensington). General Smuts will assume office at a meeting in the afternoon of Sept. 23 in the Albert Hall, where the Faraday Centenary Exhibition is being held, and will deliver his presidential address on the same evening at the Central Hall, Westminster. Special tickets will be required for General Smuts?s address; arrangements are being made for relaying it to other halls if necessary. Evening discourses will be given by Prof. W. A. Bone (photographic analysis of explosion flames), Sir P. Chalmers Mitchell, Sir Arthur Keith, Sir Oliver Lodge (a retrospect of wireless communication), Sir William Hardy, and Sir James Jeans. The Huxley Memorial Lecture of the Royal Anthropological Institute will be delivered on Sept. 29 by Dr. G. Thilenius, and members of the Association are invited. Various public lectures will be given in certain polytechnic institutions in London. It is expected that receptions will be given on Sept. 24 by the Royal Society, in connexion with the Faraday celebrations, and on Sept. 25 by H.M. Government. Exhibits and demonstrations are again being arranged by the British Broadcasting Corporation. London and its neighbourhood will provide plenty of opportunities for sectional excursions. Down House, Darwin?s home for many years and now in the care of the Association, is within easy reach, while an invited party will visit York, the birthplace of the Association, on Sept. 26-27. Preceding the meeting will be a geological excursion to East Anglia on Sept. 16-22, and those wishing to take part are requested to communicate with Mr. I. S. Double, University, Liverpool, as soon as possible.

British Industries Fair

THE British Industries Pair, 1931, to which brief reference was made in our last issue (p. 281), has exceeded its previous records in the total area occupied by the stands, in the number of exhibitors, and probably, also, so far as the evidence is available at the time of writing, in the number of overseas and home buyers, as well as of the general public, that have visited it. The integrated effort to demonstrate visually the extent, variety, and quality of the products of British industry required this year no less than four separated, but not unrelated, exhibitions: for the light industries, at Olympia, London; for the heavy industries, at Birmingham; for textiles, at the White City, London; and for artificial silk goods, at the Albert Hall, London. In the critical industrial period through which the country is now passing, the Fair was a remarkable and bold achievement, and tribute must be paid to the Department of Overseas Trade, to the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, and to the various trade and industrial organisations, as well as to individual firms, that co-operated in its organisation. Information is not yet available, but will be eagerly awaited, as to the business orders that have been received for British goods, as the direct result of the Fair.

News and Views

THE following sectional presidents have been appointed for the centenary meeting of the British Association, to be held in London on Sept. 23–30 next year, under the presidency of General Smuts: Section A (Mathematical and Physical Sciences), Sir J. J. Thompson; Section B (Chemistry), Sir Harold Hartley; Section C (Geology), Prof. J. W. Gregory; Section D (Zoology), Prof. E. B. Poulton; Section E (Geography), Sir Halford Mackinder; Section F (Economic Science and Statistics), Prof. E. Cannan; Section G (Engineering), Sir J. Alfred Ewing; Section H (Anthropology), Prof. A. R. Radcliffe-Brown; Section I (Physiology), Dr. H. H. Dale; Section J (Psychology), Dr. C. S. Myers: Section K (Botany), Prof. T. G. Hill; Section L (Educational Science), Sir Charles Grant Robertson; Section M (Agriculture), Sir John Russell. On Wednesday, Sept. 23, the ceremony of installing General Smuts as president of the Association, and a reception of delegates, will be held in the Albert Hall during a private view of the exhibition which is being arranged in connexion with the Faraday centenary celebrations, and will be open, for this occasion, to members of the British Association.

Current Topics and Events

THE Everest Expedition of 1924 reported to a joint meeting of the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club before a distinguished assembly in the Albert Hall on October 17. Earlier in the day a memorial service for Mallory and Irvine was held in St. Paul's Cathedral. Pioneers like Drake and Livingstone, these two perished, as did Scott and Shackleton, in an attempt to go one step beyond the bounds hitherto set to human endeavour, and their names in their simplest form will be treasured in the national memory. Both were Cheshire men, and the Bishop of Chester embodied the spirit of the impressive seivice under the famous Cathedral dome in an address which showed how the two mountaineers, now at rest in the most magnificent cenotaph in the world, were great climbers because they were great men full of courage, unselfishness and cheerfulness, men who had attained to great spiritual heights, men who had risked life itself in the service of others. Odell, who was in support, was climbing to Camp VI. on June 8 by a circuitous route. He discovered fossils in a band of limestone, and found himself enveloped in mist with clear sky above. By a mere chance he climbed a crag and emerged into a sudden temporary clearing of the mist to a vision of the summit ridge and peak of Everest. Far away on a snow slope near the base of the final pyramid he saw two figures climbing slowly towards their goal, one reaching out to help the other, then the mist fell again. The time was 12.50, and Mallory and Irvine were three hours late on their time schedule, yet they were pressing on. The chances are that they were speeding to the accomplishment of the little bit more which meant so much. Odell believes they got to the summit and were benighted on the return journey. Sic itur ad astra. The sure record stands that Mallory and Irvine climbed to 28,230 feet with the help of oxygen. On another attempt, Norton and Somervell reached 28,130 feet without oxygen, and this presages a future success by a similar effort which will probably be made in 1926. Other records were Odell's three ascents between 25,000 and 27,000 feet within a week, the carriage by six porters of loads to a height of 27,000 feet; men have slept well in camp at 26,800 feet. The upper half of Everest consists of slabby altered limestones, a 1000-feet thickness of sandstone and fossils has been found, and in 1924 persistent cold winds blew from the west with night temperatures which fell once to -220 F. At Camp IV., 23,000 feet, twice in June, the noon sun temperature was 1050 F., while the air temperature was only 290 F.

Church and Organ Music. The Albert Hall Organ

Church and Organ Music. The Albert Hall Organ

Cinema Film of the Total Eclipse of the Sun at Wallal, Australia, September 21, 1922

THERE have been in the past several proposals to take a cinema film of a total eclipse of the sun, jut the first real outcome of these proposals is the film now being shown at the Royal Albert Hall. The Dictufes illustrate the experiences and the work of the astronomers of the expedition, under Prof. W. W. Campbell, to Wallal, on the north-west coast of Australia, from the time they left Perth until after the eclipse. The journey to Broome was made on the S.S. Charon, and afterwards on the lugger owendoline, towed by a lighthouse tender, to Ninety Mile Beach. On account of the great rise and fall of the tides, the ship had to anchor five miles out, and the astronomers with all their baggage had to be landed in boats through the surf. The equipment was then transported on donkey waggons to the site selected for the camp, and in this work the aboriginal inhabitants of the country, both men and women, gave considerable assistance. The large amount of dust, which rose in clouds wherever there was any work being done, caused great inconvenience. Nevertheless a large camp was soon set up and the assembling of the instruments commenced. The process of erection of the tower telescope and of the equatorials and ccelostats, as well as the various rehearsals in changing plates and uncovering object-glasses, are well illustrated. The part of the film showing the solar corona is good, considering that it was taken with a cinema lens, but a better picture could easily be constructed from the negatives taken by the eclipse party.