The Friends of the Library present their first ‘In Conversation’ author event of 2026 with Dr Roderick Hill in conversation with his wife Monica Hill about his books 'Chasing Solar Eclipses: A Comprehensive Guide' and 'Space to Live: The Search for an Alternative Home for Humanity.'

Dr Rod Hill is a retired CSIRO Chief Research Scientist and Group Executive and a former Pro Vice Chancellor for Industry Engagement and Commercialisation at Monash University. He has PhD and DSc degrees from the University of Adelaide in crystallography, crystal chemistry and mineralogy. He has published more than 110 research papers in the international literature in the primary areas of crystal structure systematics and chemical bonding in silicate minerals and energy storage materials, and more recently on X-ray and neutron diffraction data collection and crystal structure refinement. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy and Technological Science and Engineering, the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, and the Mineralogical Society of America. The mineral “Hillite” was named after him in 2003.

He has had a lifelong passion for astronomy, has built two 6” Newtonian telescopes and has written two books on “chasing” total solar eclipses, of which he and his wife Monica have now seen 13. He is also the author of two research papers in refereed astronomical journals and numerous articles in popular astronomy magazines and the Bulletin of the Astronomical Society of SA. While in CSIRO he looked after the Australian Telescope National Facility, including the famous Parkes radio “dish”.

Dr Hill will be in conversation with Monica Hill, Teacher and Counselling Psychologist.

Space to Live discusses the origins of life on Earth, and the complex, intricate and rare combination of factors that have allowed it to survive and prosper over the past four billion years. It examines the search for, and likelihood of, the existence of simple and complex intelligent life forms elsewhere, as well as the history of space flight, and the huge advances in propulsion and life-support technology that will be required for humans to survive long-distance space flight within and outside the Solar System in search of an alternative home.

Doors open at 5.30 pm and you are invited to participate in a 'meet, mix and mingle' small group discussion; the event starts at 6.00 pm.

Light refreshments available on arrival.

All proceeds support the Library.

Contact the host of Author in Conversation: Dr Rod Hill on Chasing Solar Eclipses.