Author Archives: Stephen

The past, The future and The Guardian

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Stephen

This week I got to visit a part of London that is for me a hallowed place – the offices of The Guardian newspaper. I was participating in a workshop for the people who had been short-listed for the Wellcome … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Science & Media | Tagged , , , | 31 Comments

Careering out of control

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Stephen

As Jenny mentioned this morning, I have a post on the Science is Vital campaign on science careers on the Times Eureka blog today. For those of you without a subscription, the text is reproduced here: The business of science … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Science & Politics | Tagged , | Comments Off on Careering out of control

Meet me on a Monday

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Stephen

This is shameless, shameless self-promotion but I was interviewed back in May by Carl Carruthers for his Meet a Scientist Monday podcast, which has gone live today. The interview was long enough ago for me — being of advanced years … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Fun, Protein Crystallography, Science | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Perusing the Papers

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Stephen

Last night, having rounded off a busy week with a day of manual labour helping to repair my mother-in-law’s kitchen floor, I retired to bed early with the newspaper. Saturday’s Guardian, if you want to know. It was delightful. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Scientific Life | Tagged | 12 Comments

I’m a Scientist – making the film

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Stephen

Today sees the release of my new film: I’m a Scientist. It’s about scientists. Please take a look either here, or on the web-site that I have created specially for it*. The film was a long time coming. I had … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Fun, Science, Science & Media, Scientific Life | Tagged , , | 45 Comments

Is Massively Collaborative Scientific Publishing Possible?

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Stephen

The job of a newspaper columnist is to agitate and George Monbiot did exactly that last week with a furious rant in The Guardian about academic publishers. It may have been an odd choice for most of his readers but … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Open Access, Science, Scientific Life | Tagged , | 113 Comments

Coming Soon

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Stephen

Today sees the release of the new trailer of my latest and most ambitious film project. In doing so I am following the sound advice of Richard Hamming and forcing my own hand. With the trailer now on public view, I will … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Fun, Scientific Life | Tagged , , | 18 Comments

Science, it’s a bloody marvel

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Stephen

Michael Brooks has scratched beneath the glossy surface of science to write a revealing and thoroughly entertaining book about its practitioners. By cutting so close to the scientific bone that it spills blood, his “Free Radicals” departs violently from the … Continue reading →

Posted in History of Science, Science & Politics, Scientific Life | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Rhythms of Life

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Stephen

Some say April is the cruellest month but I found July to be more punishing. You might think that, for university staff like myself, July would bring respite from the tiresome enslavement of exam and project marking that fills all … Continue reading →

Posted in Scientific Life | Tagged , | 15 Comments

Plague-arism

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Stephen

Plagiarism is pernicious and pervasive. You can’t seem to get away from it because so many people are getting away with it. As a university teacher I have long been aware of so-called essay-writing services that tout their wares to … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching | Tagged , | 79 Comments

Bono a hypocrite? Good.

Posted on July 2, 2011 by Stephen

Last Friday night as I watched U2 play Glastonbury on TV, the stream of hatred on Twitter was relentless. A torrent of unforgettable ire. I’ve long known that Bono and his band excite very mixed reactions, but this seemed to … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | Tagged , , , , | 67 Comments

Numb or Numbered? Part 2.

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Stephen

Back in April — it seems so long ago now — I wrote about the problems created in university life science courses by the relatively low uptake of maths by the student intake. It provoked a very long and thoughtful … Continue reading →

Posted in Maths, Science, Science & Politics | Tagged , , | 22 Comments