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Literary, philosophical and scientific
Feb. 1st, 2007 11:20 amWe were at the Lit & Phil two nights running this week. Tuesday was the launch of Ann Cleeves's Hidden Depths, a real party to celebrate not only a new book but also the success of Ann's previous book, Raven Black, which won the Duncan Lawrie Dagger for best crime novel of last year. It was also a "Welcome home!" party, to say how pleased everyone is that Ann has finally achieved her ambition of moving back to the north east.
Last night was completely different: Phil Gates lecturing on problems of scientific communication. We know Phil slightly - he's a friend of a friend - and enjoy his contributions to the Guardian's Country Diary, not only because they often feature locations in Weardale! A recent feature about the country diarists introduced him:
Although we have met socially, I hadn't previously heard Phil lecture - unless you count an organised walk round the Browney valley, then threatened by Durham's Western Bypass sceme, on which he spoke about some of the things to be seen. Last night was a more conventional lecture, PowerPoint presentation and all. It identified different areas of scientific communication - with other scientists, with children, with the press - and concluded that there was room for improvement in all of them. This gave a rather disjointed impression, but plenty of ideas, and we left the Lit & Phil full of "Yes, but what about...?" ideas.
Of which the one I wish I'd thought of in time to ask a question is, "What part can SF play in getting people interested in science?"
Last night was completely different: Phil Gates lecturing on problems of scientific communication. We know Phil slightly - he's a friend of a friend - and enjoy his contributions to the Guardian's Country Diary, not only because they often feature locations in Weardale! A recent feature about the country diarists introduced him:
Gates is one diarist who stands out in the team photograph; he has a black eyepatch as a result of an accident when he was 13. He had an artificial eye but it used to pop out if he sneezed during lectures. When it finally fell into a stream in Hamsterley forest, where he was investigating micro-life among small, round, whiteish pebbles, he didn't bother to hunt for it but adopted the patch instead.- which is an entertaining way of putting it.
Although we have met socially, I hadn't previously heard Phil lecture - unless you count an organised walk round the Browney valley, then threatened by Durham's Western Bypass sceme, on which he spoke about some of the things to be seen. Last night was a more conventional lecture, PowerPoint presentation and all. It identified different areas of scientific communication - with other scientists, with children, with the press - and concluded that there was room for improvement in all of them. This gave a rather disjointed impression, but plenty of ideas, and we left the Lit & Phil full of "Yes, but what about...?" ideas.
Of which the one I wish I'd thought of in time to ask a question is, "What part can SF play in getting people interested in science?"
