Our blogs
- Adventures in Wonderland by Richard Wintle
- Athene Donald's Blog by Athene Donald
- Blogging by Candlelight by Erika Cule
- Confessions by Richard P Grant
- Deep Thoughts and Silliness by Bob O'Hara
- Mind the Gap by Jenny Rohn
- Nicola Spaldin's Blog by Nicola Spaldin
- No Comment by Steve Caplan
- Not ranting – honestly by Austin Elliott
- Reciprocal Space by Stephen Curry
- The End of the Pier Show by Henry Gee
- Trading Knowledge by Frank Norman
- The Occam's Typewriter Irregulars by Guest Bloggers
OT Cloud
- academia
- Apparitions
- book review
- Books
- Canada
- career
- careers
- Communicating Science
- communication
- Cromer
- Domestic bliss
- Domesticrox
- education
- Equality
- Gardening
- Guest posts
- humor
- Lablit
- Music
- nature
- Nostalgia
- Open Access
- personal
- Photography
- photos
- Politicrox
- Politics
- Research
- science
- Science & Politics
- Science-fiction
- Science Culture
- Science Funding
- Science Is Vital
- Scientific Life
- Silliness
- staring into the abyss
- students
- technology
- The profession of science
- travel
- Uncategorized
- Women in science
- Writing
- Writing & Reading
Author Archives: Athene Donald
Moving On from a Victorian Ideal
I’ve recently been reading How the Victorians took us to the Moon by Iwan Rhys Morus. It’s an interesting book, but what particularly struck me was the Epilogue, which has reflections on how the Victorian way of doing science in … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in Amanda Solloway, incentives, lone genius, Research, reward, Science Culture
Comments Off on Moving On from a Victorian Ideal
What (and How) Should We Teach our Children?
In the world of social media and ChatGPT, a post-Covid world and a world where climate change and war put everything and everyone under new strains and worse, what should our students – at school or university – be taught … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in broad and balanced, curriculum, Curriculum for Excellence, education, Simon Margison
Comments Off on What (and How) Should We Teach our Children?
Hunstanton Sand
I’ve just started reading a book called The Spirit of Enquiry by Susannah Gibson, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, an interesting society of which I was once a committee member (as well as a prize-winner). I … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in Adam Sedgwick, Chladni's plate, Communicating Science, lectures, standing waves
Comments Off on Hunstanton Sand
Transferable Skills and Career Paths
I am honoured to have been invited to give the Gareth Roberts Lecture in Durham next month (in the Physics Department), following a long line of distinguished speakers. To be honest, I did not know that he had been associated … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in careers, Civil Service, Policy, Sir Gareth Roberts, Transferable skills
Comments Off on Transferable Skills and Career Paths
New Year, New You
We all know New Year’s resolutions tend to last no longer than the first week or two, but it does no harm to reflect at this time of year what might improve body and soul as well as output and … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in Churchill College, exercise, muscles, Science Culture
Comments Off on New Year, New You
Being Exceptional
One of the books I read over Christmas was the 2023 book by Kate Zernike, The Exceptions. It is a story about that committed band of sixteen female scientists at MIT, led by Nancy Hopkins, who built up the evidence … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in Kate Zernike, MIT, Nancy Hopkins, Science Culture, Women in science
Comments Off on Being Exceptional
Not Being in the In-Crowd
Recently I was preparing a talk about work scientists may do that is not simply research and it has provoked me to think about when I fell into doing policy work, or at least moving out of the lab itself. … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in Food Physics, grant panels, maternity leave, Research, Science Culture, Women in science
Comments Off on Not Being in the In-Crowd
Skills and Post-16 Education
In his Anniversary Day address to the Royal Society’s Fellowship last week, the President, Adrian Smith, drew attention to the state of our education system, recognizing that the Prime Minister’s intent to “reform the education system to include some form … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in Augar Review, Dave Phoenix, education, Further Education, Kelly Vere, T Levels
Comments Off on Skills and Post-16 Education
Conversations in Amazing Libraries
Remarkably, I have been in three magnificent rooms of books in the last week, starting off with the Wren Library in Cambridge’s Trinity College. The first photo (which I admit I have taken from Diane Coyle’s Bluesky feed) gives an … Continue reading Continue reading
Posted in Communicating Science, Diane Coyle, Mary Somerville, Royal Institution, Tabitha Goldstaub, Women in science, Wren Library
Comments Off on Conversations in Amazing Libraries
