BAA / RMetS Joint Meeting, 2004 November 27
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BAA / RMetS Joint Meeting, 2004 November 27
held at The Geological Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1
Tom Boles, President
Ron Johnson, Nick Hewitt and Nick James, Secretaries
Opening the Meeting, Mr Jonathan Shanklin welcomed members to this innovative joint venture between the British Astronomical Association (BAA) and the Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS). As organiser of the day's talks, he hoped they would prove interesting, and invited members to give him feedback; short questionnaires were provided for this purpose. It was explained that the morning session would be chaired by Mr Tom Boles, President of the BAA. Prof Chris Collier, President of RMetS, would preside over the afternoon session, whilst Dr Brian Marsden would chair the George Alcock Memorial Lecture. Mr Shanklin then handed over to the morning's chair.
With apologies to those members of RMetS for whom it was not relevant, Mr Boles requested five minutes for BAA business. This was the second meeting of the 115th session of the Association, and Dr Hewitt was invited to read the minutes of the first, which were duly accepted and signed. The 24 new members proposed at the previous meeting were also accepted and declared elected, subject to ratification at the Meeting of Council later in the day. Mr Nick James, papers secretary, announced that one new paper had been approved to appear in the Journal, also subject to Council's acceptance:
The Mean Density of the Earth, by Prof David Hughes.
The next Ordinary Meeting would be held on December 18 in the newly refurbished English Heritage Lecture Theatre, formerly the Scientific Societies' Lecture Theatre, at 14:30, but would be preceded by the Christmas Lunch at 13:00, for which places were still available. The Christmas Lecture would this year be delivered by Prof David Hughes, entitled Comets, and their Exploration by Spacecraft. There being no further business, Mr Boles introduced the first speaker, Dr John Mason, a founder of the South Downs Planetarium, former BAA President, and frequent contributor to the Sky at Night.