The chemical history of a candle -

A formal 2005 Christmas season 'Friday Evening Discourse' at the Royal Institution, London, presented by Ian Russell.

It was humbling to be invited to present my own adaptation of a lecture series presented several times by Michael Farady in the early 19th Century, while standing in exactly the same place in the same room. I used Faraday's candle-related demonstrations to illustrate aspects of my work as a non-formal science communicator, presenting natural phenomena to young people in the form of interactive exhibits and science shows.

The Friday Evening Discourses were established by Michael Faraday in 1826. On one occasion, a terrified speaker ran away and Faraday himself had to step in with an impromptu presentation. Subsequently, until fairly recently, speakers were actually locked in an adjacent room for 30 minutes before the show started. (It seems that this room had ancient cartoons emphasising the danger of starting the Discourse with `Ladies and Gentlemen' ... In one of these cartoons, the speaker commits this solecism: the President is startled, a woman faints, and a footman comes forward to grab the speaker!)

The doors at either side of the hallowed demonstration bench are flung open when the ancient balcony clock goes 'ping' at 8pm. The quaking speaker enters through one door while the President of the RI goes in through the other. Following a strictly observed tradition, the speaker must plunge straight into the science with no preliminarly remarks whatsoever and stop when the balcony clock 'pings' again an hour later. It was the most terrifying speaking engagement I've ever faced. Until I managed to get the first laugh. Then it was downhill all the way to enthusiastic audience participation in the countdown to my final explosion...

The images and text projected on the large screen above me are unfortunately not visible in this film. I hope to show an edited version, including my accompanying slides, here soon.