Journeys in the Dead Season, Background

	Albert Einstein Born in 1879. Graduated in 1900 as a teacher of mathematics and physics. Famously worked in the Bern Patent Office, 1902 to 1909. Awarded a doctorate from Zurich University in 1905. In the same year published three papers, the second of which proposed what today is known as the special theory of relativity. The General Theory of Relativity was published in 1915. British eclipse expeditions of 1919 confirmed his theories. Received Nobel Prize in 1921. Strove towards a single unified theory of physics that put him at odds with many quantum theorists. Died in 1955.
	Robert Fitzroy Born 1805. Captain of Darwin's Beagle. Went on to be the head of the British Meteorological Department. Highly criticised for his 'vulgar and fallacious' methods of prediction. His Dutch counterpart, Christoph Buys, noted 'we must remember that anyone who has to forecast the weather, if he does it earnestly and conscientiously, is in great danger of going off his head through nervous excitement'. Fitzroy took his own life in 1865.
	Percival Lowell Born in 1855. Graduated from Harvard in 1876 with a distinction in mathematics. Devoted much of his career to the study of Mars, and in particular the mapping of the Martian canals as drawn by Giovanni Schiaparelli, director of the Milan Observatory. Lowell published his views in three books: Mars (1895), Mars and Its Canals (1906), and Mars As the Abode of Life (1908). His works include a detailed description of what he termed the 'non-natural features' of the planet's surface, including canals and oases. Lowell died in 1916, convinced of his discoveries.
	Lewis Fry Richardson Born in 1881. Graduated from Cambridge with first class degree in the Natural Science Tripos, 1903. Worked at National Physical Laboratory 1903-4, 1907-9; National Peat Industries 1906-7; and Meteorological Office 1913-16. Famous for his method of weather forecasting, using differential equations, published as Weather Prediction by Numerical Process (1922). Attempted a mathematical analysis of war, again using differential equations. A lifelong Quaker, Richardson died in 1953.
	Karl Schwarzchild Born in 1873. A child prodigy, he had published a paper on planetary orbits by the time he was 16. From 1901 to 1909 he was a professor at Göttingen. From 1909 to 1914 worked at the Potsdam Astrophysical Observatory. While at the Russia Front in 1915, wrote two papers on relativity and quantum theory. Undertook pioneering work on the concept of Black Holes. Died in 1916 of a 'rare metabolic disorder'.

		Joseph John Thomson Born in 1856. Cavendish Professor of Experimental Physics at Cambridge from 1884 to 1918. His work on cathode rays in the first years of the twentieth century, culminating in the publication of Conduction of Electricity through Gases in 1903, led to the discovery of the electron. Went on to publish numerous other works in the field of atomic theory. Died in 1940.
		2/5 Leicestershire Regiment, 177th Brigade, 59th Division (Territorial Force) Britain has a long tradition of voluntary service. In 1908 these local volunteer associations were reorganised into the Territorial Force. The 59th (2nd North Midland) Division was formed in early 1915.
		Piltdown Man 'One of the most famous frauds in scientific history'. For exhaustive information on this fascinating story, see Piltdown Man, the Bogus Bone Caper by Richard Harter.
		Leicestershire and Rutland Journeys in the Dead Season takes places in the two UK Midland counties of Leicestershire and Rutland.