2015 - 01/2015 Meeting

Page Created: 07/16/14. Last Updated: 02/06/15.

JASON KENDALL

Links:

.....http://www.moonbeam.net/InwoodAstronomy/jasonkendall.shtml

.....http://www.wpunj.edu/cosh/departments/physics/faculty/Kendall.dot

MEETING SUMMARY:

Meeting Date: January 10, 2015.

Meeting Site: Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church.

Official Attendance: 44,

Meeting Program: Talk by Astronomy / Physics Professor on The Big Bang.

Notes:

The Meeting Recap continues after the Newsletter Account

NEWSLETTER ACCOUNT:

The following account is reprinted with permission from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2015 Philip J De Parto:

The January 10, 2015 General Meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County was held at the Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church in Upper Saddle River. The group had its largest turnout since the April 2002 meeting which featured comic book legend Denny O'Neil. Posting the event on numerous science- and astronomy- related sites led to a large number of newcomers.

More than half the room were first timers. This had the potential for the event to be very impersonal since there are lots of strangers and doubling the normal turnout poses all sorts of logistical difficulties, but this meeting went surprisingly smoothly. Our thanks to everyone who helped with the set up, clean up or simply said hello to someone new.

We actually had four science programs over the course of the evening. Our speaker had incorrectly posted that his talk would start at 7:30 PM on one site, and there were about 8 people who arrived early to be there. Fortunately, our guest was also early, so he held an impromptu talk about black holes before the official starting time. There was also the formal talk on The Big Bang, the informal Q & A about all things astronomical during the meeting break, and the post-meeting discussion in the hallway while clean up was going on in the main room.

We actually had four pre meeting events happening at the same time. We ran episodes of HARVEY BIRDMAN, ATTORNEY-AT-LAW in one area, Barry Weinberger had his Ice Nine discussion of science fiction news in another, our free-for-the-taking book tables were in a third, while the talk about Black Holes was held at center court.

Professor Jason Kendell was our speaker. Mr Kendall is an Associate Professor of Physics at William Paterson University. Our guest is a Science Explainer for the American Museum of Natural History and a past Ambassador for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Professor Kendall is a Board Member of the Amateur Astronomy Association of New York and speaks at observatories, planetariums and schools in the tri-state area and beyond.

This write up continues on the 01/2015 Meeting Page at www.sfabc.org.