The Ocean Princess' ship track for the 2012 "Land of the Midnight Sun" cruise

This web site describes science and technology lectures prepared for various Princess cruises. It will describe lectures that have been given and lectures being prepared for future cruises. Dr. Ray and his Lovely Assistant aim to inform while entertaining in the areas of science (particularly the Earth sciences) and technology (particularly computer science).

At least one talk (usually the first) on each cruise is specific to the ship's itinerary. These talks connect large scale geophysical processes with the scenery and undersea features along the ship track. For example, the role of plate tectonics in shaping islands in the Caribbean or the role of glaciers in creating the fjords of Scandinavia and Greenland.

Other lectures are of more general interest. These include talks on specific earthquakes (e.g., the 2004 Sumatra earthquake and tsunami), earthquakes in specific regions (the Central US), earthquake prediction, and earthquakes in antiquity. Still other lectures are more light hearted such as talks on earthquake conspiracies and bad science in disaster movies.

No matter what the topic, comments and questions are always encouraged, both after the lectures and almost any other time on board. Hopefully, this tradition will continue on this web site. If you're interested, please create a login for yourself and take part in discussions on-line before or after cruises (or just any time).