Bruce County Museum and Cultural Centre (BCM&CC) in Southampton had special visitors on Sunday, May 27th when Neil Turok, Executive Director of the Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics and his wife Dr. Corinne Squire paid a visit.
The couple decided to take a trip to Southampton where they also toured Chantry Island and paddled down the Saugeen River the day before their Museum stop.
From Wikipedia:
“Neil TurokĀ was born inĀ Johannesburg,Ā South Africa, to Mary (Butcher) and Latvian-bornĀ Ben Turok, who were activists in theĀ anti-apartheid movementĀ and theĀ African National Congress. After graduating fromĀ Churchill College, Cambridge, Turok gained his doctorate fromĀ Imperial College, London, under the supervision ofĀ Professor David Olive, one of the inventors ofĀ superstring theory. After a postdoctoral post at Santa Barbara, he was an associate scientist atĀ Fermilab, Chicago. In 1992 he was awarded theĀ Maxwell medalĀ of theĀ Institute of PhysicsĀ for his contributions to theoretical physics. In 1994 he was appointed Professor of Physics atĀ Princeton University, then held theĀ Chair of Mathematical Physics at the University of Cambridgestarting in 1997. He was appointed Director of theĀ Perimeter InstituteĀ in 2008Ā … withĀ Stephen Hawking, he later developed the so-called Hawking-TurokĀ instantonĀ solutions which, according to the no-boundary proposal of Hawking andĀ James Hartle, can describe the birth of anĀ inflationary universe. “
Mike Sterling of Southampton, an avidĀ volunteerĀ at the Museum, author, lecturer and mathematician, took the couple on a complete tour of the Museum explaining the many facets and exhibits that are housed there.
Following an inside tour of the Museum and the H.M.S. General Hunter replica ship exhibit, they moved outside to explore the grounds with its variety of exhibits.
The first stop was theĀ double Helix structureĀ that was built by Sterling and a group of volunteers.Ā The structure was created from the anchor chain of a shipwreck found on the shore of Lake Huron.
Next, was theĀ Stokes Bay LighthouseĀ that wasĀ movedĀ from its original location on the Bruce Peninsula to Southampton to save it from demolition inĀ 2009.Ā After spending the winter in the Saugeen Shores Town works yard, the Lighthouse was moved by crane to the (BCM&CC), where Sterling completed the restoration of the structure that included, creating a base, removing paint and re-painting the 4,000 cedar shingles and the installation of a light.
Turok said,Ā “What a delightful place Southampton is, we will definitely be returning.”
