Robert Lomas

Robert Lomas is a British writer and business studies academic. He writes primarily about the history of Freemasonry as well as the Neolithic period, ancient engineering and archaeoastronomy. Lomas regularly lectures at the Orkney International Science Festival. cite book|url=http://www.turningthesolomonkey.com/?s=foreword|title=Turning The Solomon Key|author=Lomas, Robert (forward by Katherine Neville)|month=September | year=2006|publisher=Fair Winds Press|isbn=1592332293]

Background

Lomas gained a First Class Honours degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Salford before being awarded a Ph.D. for his research into solid state physics and crystalline structures. [Lomas, R. (1972) Electrical and Structural Properties of Some Evaporated Semiconducting Films, PhD Thesis, Univ of Salford]

While Lomas' chief areas of research is on the subject of Freemasonry, he also lectures on science. According to his website, Lomas is a regular supporter of the Orkney International Science Festival having lectured there, chaired sessions and taken part in the schools support sessions over a period of eight years. He also writes on the Neolithic period and archaeoastronomy, ancient mysteries, stone monuments and megaliths, and on both astronomical and astrological data.

In April 2007 Lomas was invited to deliver the Wednesday evening Public Lecture at Gresham College. [ Gresham College Public Lecture Series http://www.gresham.ac.uk/event.asp?PageId=45&EventId=589] , a private institute which exists to offer free lectures to the public. He was asked to speak about his historical research into part played by Sir Robert Moray in founding of the Royal Society, which held its first meeting at Gresham College in 1660. [ The Royal Society - The role of Gresham College http://www.royalsociety.ac.uk/page.asp?tip=1&id=1060]

Whilst writing "The Book Of Hiram" and as part of his on-going research into the cultural origin of scientific ideas, Lomas established an electronic database of Masonic materialcite web|url=http://www.bradford.ac.uk/webofhiram/|title=The Web of Hiram|publisher=University of Bradford: J.B.Priestley Library Special Collection] , as part of the University of Bradford's Special Collections Library. [ Bradford University Special Collections http://www.brad.ac.uk/library/special/] Lomas has also made available an online version of William Preston's "Illustrations of Masonry".

In the past, Lomas has worked on electronic weapons systems and emergency services command and control systems. cite web|url=http://www.amheath.com/authors/author.html?_a=author.show&id=111|publisher=A.M.Heath & Company Ltd.|author=Bill Hamilton|title=Robert Lomas Profile] He currently lectures on Information Systems at the University of Bradford's School of Management, one of the UK's leading business schools.cite web|url=http://www.manag.brad.ac.uk/people/people.php?name=ralomas|publisher=Bradford University School of Management|title=Dr Bob Lomas, Lecturer in Technological Management]

Controversy

Lomas's theories about the origins of Freemasonry have caused controversy among Masonic historians. The romantic nature of his writings are reminiscent of other famous masonic authors such as the late J. S. Ward and Arthur Edward Waite. The Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon is particularly critical of Lomas's work, as is Quatuor Coronati Lodge (The lodge of research attached to the United Grand Lodge of England), dubbing it "pseudo-history" and even "fiction". On the other hand, many Masons find Lomas's work interesting and worthy of further study. For example, the Grand Lodge of Queensland, Australia asked him to write a history of Freemasonry for its Masonic Training Module. [Lomas, R (2002)A Brief History of Freemasonry. Produced as a contribution to the Masonic Training Programme of the Grand Lodge of Queensland]

Inspiration of fictional work

According to an interview with Martin Faulks of Lewis Masonic, it is thought by some freemasons that Lomas might be the inspiration for the character of Dr. Robert Langdon, in Dan Brown's thriller, "The Da Vinci Code". cite news|url=http://turningthehiramkey.robertlomas.com/?s=interviews&i=2|title=From Darkness to Light: An Interview with Brother Martin Faulks of Lewis Masonic|author=Gower, Peter|work=The Ashlar]

Works

Writing Alone

*"Turning the Templar Key: The Secret Legacy of the Knights Templar and the Origins of Freemasonry".Fair Winds Press(October 25, 2007).ISBN 978-1592332793"Turning the Templar Key: The Secret Legacy of the Knights Templar and the Origins of Freemasonry".Lewis Masonic(October 13, 2007).ISBN 978-0853182863
*"Turning the Solomon Key: George Washington,the Bright Morning Star and the Secrets of Masonic Astrology".Fair Winds Press (September 1, 2006).ISBN 978-1592332298
*"The Secrets of Freemasonry: A Suppressed Tradition Revealed".Constable and Robinson (May 4, 2006).ISBN 978-1845293123
*"Turning The Hiram Key: Making Darkness Visible".Lewis Masonic (April 1, 2005).ISBN 978-0853182399
*"Freemasonry and the Birth of Modern Science".Fair Winds Press (March 2003).ISBN 978-1592330119
*"The Invisible College: The Royal Society, Freemasonry and the Birth of Modern Science".Headline Book Publishing (January 7, 2002).ISBN 978-0747239697
*"The Man Who Invented The Twentieth Century: Nikola Tesla, Forgotten Genius of Electricity".Headline Book Publishing (January 1999).ISBN 978-0747275886

With Geoffrey Lancaster

*"Forecasting for Sales and Materials Management".Palgrave Macmillan (April 29, 1985).ISBN 978-0333365830

With Christopher Knight

*"The Book Of Hiram: Freemasonry, Venus and the Secret Key to the Life of Jesus".Element Books Ltd. (January 25, 2004).ISBN 978-0007174683
*"Uriel's Machine: The Ancient Origins of Science".Century (June 10,1999).ISBN 978-0712680073
*"The Holy Grail", part of "Mysteries Of The Ancient World: The Mysteries of the Ancient World Explored and Explained", June 1998. ISBN 0-297-82433-3
*"The Second Messiah: Templars, The Turin Shroud and the Great Secret of Freemasonry", April 1997 ISBN 0-7126-7719-4
*"The Hiram Key: Pharaohs, Freemasons and the Discovery of the Secret Scrolls of Jesus".Century, London (1996).ASIN B000VZPSSS ISBN 0-72126-8579-0

ee also

*Freemasonry
*Rosslyn Chapel
*Christianity
*Lewis Masonic
*Uriel's machine

References

External links

* [http://www.robertlomas.com/ Robert Lomas' official website]
* [http://www.knight-lomas.com/ Knight & Lomas official partnership website]
* [http://www.bradford.ac.uk/webofhiram/ The Web of Hiram]
* [http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/texts/reviews/hiram_key.html Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon Article on "The Hiram Key"]