Monthly Archives: November 2021

For my mother

Posted on 30 November 2021 by Stephen

Black masked, weighed down by grey grief, We carried you into the church To be wrung out of our sodden farewells. But you had already gone. It was a slow journey to that sombre altar. In the last years the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Launch

Posted on 26 November 2021 by Henry Gee

My latest book A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth has now come out in the US and Canada. Actually, it came out 17 days ago, and it’s available from St Martin’s Press and the proverbial All Good Bookstores, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Did Humphry Davy suffer from Impostor Syndrome?

Posted on 25 November 2021 by Athene Donald

When I think of Humphry Davy, I think of a scientist, someone who became a star attraction during the early days of the Royal Institution and inventor of the eponymous Davy Lamp (although at the time others accused him of … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Alice Jenkins, History of Science, Humphry Davy, Jan Golinski, Richard Holmes, Science Culture, Zooniverse | Comments Off on Did Humphry Davy suffer from Impostor Syndrome?

A Reckoning with Huxley’s Legacy

Posted on 23 November 2021 by Stephen

Recognition and Redistribution for Imperial College’s Community This is a guest post by my former colleague, Dr Rahma (Red) Elmahdi, in which she lays our her reaction to the Imperial College History Report, and in particular the recommendation to rename the Huxley … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Why p-values should be interpreted as more than p-values

Posted on 22 November 2021 by Bob O'H

Last week some of us published a paper trying to improve the way p-values are interpreted by suggesting this be done on a more continuous scale (here’s another link to the paper: hopefully one will go to a readable version). … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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It’s out! Today’s Curiosity is Tomorrow’s Cure

Posted on 21 November 2021 by Steve Caplan

Today’s Curiosity is Tomorrow’s Cure: The Case for Basic Biomedical Research is now officially published and available from Routledge/Taylor & Francis/CRC Press on their website, from Amazon and all the regular book sellers, including Barnes & Nobles, Waterstones, etc. I’m … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in angiogenesis, antibodies, basic research, DNA, education, genetic code, genetic engineering, GFP, great discoveries, penicillin, proteins, Research, RNA, science, science history, stem cells, ubiquitin | Comments Off on It’s out! Today’s Curiosity is Tomorrow’s Cure

The Huxley Question

Posted on 19 November 2021 by Stephen

Writing in The Observer a couple of weeks ago, Kenan Malik cast a sceptical eye over a report published by the history group at Imperial College that had been asked to reflect on “the current understanding and reception of the … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Skills, FE and Levelling Up

Posted on 17 November 2021 by Athene Donald

As we await various key Government papers – specifically the long-awaited response to the Augar Report and the Levelling Up White paper – the news is full of labour shortages. Whereas delivering some of Augar’s recommendations about funding for FE … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Augar Review, BTECs, careers, education, productivity, Science Funding, T Levels, technicians | Comments Off on Skills, FE and Levelling Up

Corner Office

Posted on 6 November 2021 by Steve Caplan

As a child, one of the most humiliating punishments at (elementary) school was being banished “to the corner” for bad behavior. Something to be avoided at all costs. But as an adult, I have learned that there are advantages to … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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