Author Archives: Stephen

Response to the Free Speech Union’s article on my letter to the Royal Society

Posted on February 18, 2025 by Stephen

The Free Speech Union (FSU) has published an article about my open letter to the Royal Society regarding the evident contraventions of its code of conduct by one of their Fellows, Elon Musk FRS. Unfortunately, Frederick Attenborough’s piece contains errors, … Continue reading →

Posted in Science & Politics | 1 Comment

An open letter to the President of the Royal Society – time to stand up for your values

Posted on February 11, 2025 by Stephen

Update (17:00 03 Mar): all members of the UK or international scientific community were invited to indicate their support by signing the letter. The opportunity to do so closed at 17:00 UK time on 03 March. The final tally of … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | 51 Comments

Trump, DEI and Culture – what’s the vibe shift?

Posted on January 20, 2025 by Stephen

There is an air of defeatism in progressive circles today, the day Donald Trump will be sworn in for a second term as President of the United States of America. Some of the reasons behind this sense of frustration and … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Comments Off on Trump, DEI and Culture – what’s the vibe shift?

Books of 2024 – a disappointing year

Posted on December 31, 2024 by Stephen

With a handful of notable exceptions, my book reading in the past year has not been an altogether happy experience. I worked my way through 18 titles in all, work being the operative verb in many cases. That low tally … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review | 3 Comments

Photos of 2024

Posted on December 30, 2024 by Stephen

As is my habit my favourite photographs from the year just past can now be found on an album on Flickr. There are sixty-three in all, selected from a total of about 1800 which is quite a drop from my … Continue reading →

Posted in Photography | 2 Comments

Compose yourself

Posted on November 23, 2024 by Stephen

Apologies, this will be obvious to some, but I have seen enough so-so images on social media to convince me there are others who could post much better pictures if they took just a little bit more care. Smartphone cameras … Continue reading →

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Leaving Imperial

Posted on October 31, 2024 by Stephen

Today is my last day at Imperial College London. It marks the completion of exactly 29 years as a member of staff. I joined Imperial as a young lecturer in Physics on 1st November 1995 and have travelled a long … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Scientific Life | 10 Comments

Abandon the REF?

Posted on October 10, 2024 by Stephen

On Tuesday evening I was asked by Research Professional News for my views on a new report from think tank UKDayOne, which is calling for the abolition of the Research Excellence Framework, unlovingly known as the REF. The report is … Continue reading →

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Can scientific productivity be optimized?

Posted on September 26, 2024 by Stephen

  This is a repost of an article that was originally published on the Research on Research Institute website. Comments welcome!  It is a truth universally acknowledged that scientists who take greater risks are more likely to make important discoveries. … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | 1 Comment

On the Freedom of Misunderstanding of Speech

Posted on January 31, 2024 by Stephen

“The Ruffian” is great title for Ian Leslie’s Substack given his predilection for roughing up lazy thinking. I first came across him as the author of “Conflicted”, an excellent book about how to disagree constructively, a practice he frequently deploys … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality Diversity & Inclusion, Science & Art, Science culture, Scientific Life | 4 Comments

Books of 2023

Posted on January 1, 2024 by Stephen

A combination of life’s distractions, ill discipline and slow reading mean that I have only managed to finish 11 books this year. I am almost embarrassed to admit to such a paltry tally. There are people who can rip through … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review | Comments Off on Books of 2023

Photos of 2023

Posted on December 30, 2023 by Stephen

I took over 2800 photos in 2023. Actually, I took a lot more because we went on safari in the summer and I have worked hard to cull as many shots that I could from that trip. Even so, that … Continue reading →

Posted in Photography | 2 Comments