Category Archives: Communicating Science

Uncertain Times

Posted on July 21, 2020 by Athene Donald

We live currently in a world of great and sometimes terrifying strangeness, where the rules and customs by which we have lived for so long have been turned upside down. Some people may be focussing on whether they need to … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Science, Education | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Uncertain Times

Thinking about Your Workload

Posted on January 10, 2020 by Athene Donald

The first time I was asked to serve on a research council (standing) committee, when a young(ish) researcher, I did not seek my head of department’s position. I informed him, since it happened we worked closely together, but it did … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Science, Science Culture | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Writing, Creativity and Grief

Posted on May 28, 2018 by Athene Donald

What acts are best to provoke creativity? Some poets – from Samuel Taylor Coleridge to Dylan Thomas – seem to have felt that drug- or alcohol- induced hazes may be effective, but I don’t think many scientists would recommend that … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Science | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Will Biography be a Lost Art?

Posted on April 15, 2018 by Athene Donald

As a young postdoc I arrived, fairly literally penniless in the USA in October 1977. I had flown with the forerunner of today’s low-cost airlines, Freddie Laker, on his new invention of ‘standby’ fares. You turned up on the day … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Science, Science Culture | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Nothing’s Wasted

Posted on February 26, 2018 by Athene Donald

No doubt the majority of my readers are far more familiar with TEDx talks than I am, and have watched many more than I have. They are a notion that has floated past me occasionally. I have been asked to … Continue reading →

Posted in Communicating Science | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Nothing’s Wasted