Prominent physicist visits hometown

A prominent Australian physicist who worked for decades to detect the existence of gravitational waves returned to his hometown to share his passion for physics last week.

Physicist David Blair, who is a UWA professor and director of the Australian International Gravitational Resource Centre in Gingin, visited his former primary and high school on Friday after a public lecture at UWA Albany on Thursday.

Professor Blair grew up on a farm in Torbay and attended Mt Lockyer Primary School and Albany Senior High School before moving to Perth.

His fascination with science was sparked when he was in Year 6 and he spent 44 years trying to observe ripples in the fabric of space and time, called gravitational waves, before their groundbreaking discovery in February.

Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves as part of his theory of relativity 100 years ago.

Professor Blair said he thoroughly enjoyed his time in Albany, particularly making Einstein’s work accessible to students.

“Most people think all this stuff that Einstein predicted is too complicated for them to understand,” he said.

Professor Blair said his interactive “space-time simulator”, which used a sheet of lycra and golf balls, was a hit with students.

His public lecture was also well-received.

“I love it there down in Albany so it was really good to go back,” he said.

Mt Lockyer Primary School deputy principal Steven Faulkner said students were thrilled by the visit.

“The students thought it was great that a famous scientist had once been at the school and listened intently to everything he was saying,” he said.