\tI do enjoy this kind of challenge \u2014 though it takes a good deal of preparation \u2014 and sought to make the story accessible to a general audience by giving an account not only of the scientific results but also of our travails in the laboratory and<\/em> in our search for funding. Having recently completed the biography of Thomas Henry Huxley<\/a>, who has a strong connection with the College, I also wanted to weave some of my late-found admiration for that great 19th century scientist into the tapestry.<\/p>\n \t \tThanks to the College’s burgeoning audio-visual department, you too can attend the lecture. A video was recorded and last weekend I spent a few hours inter-cutting the slides that I showed on the night, hoping to make the package a bit more digestible.<\/p>\n \tIt does go on just a wee bit (I couldn’t help warming to my theme!) so I have few illusions about people sitting through the whole lot. There’s an introduction by the rector and I get started at about 8:20 with an historical introduction, mostly devoted to Huxley. The description of foot-and-mouth disease and the virus that causes it begins at 17:00 and I finally start on describing the work that we have done at about 34:30. These times are min:sec, not hr:min!<\/p>\n \tAnyway… for those who may<\/em> be interested, you can catch the video within your browser on my web-site<\/a>. Alternatively, the College* also has a web-page on the lecture<\/a> that provides a RealPlayer version. Or, and I am inexplicably and disporportionately chuffed by this, you can even download it via iTunes<\/a>!<\/p>\n \tYou wouldn’t think from the video that I had to take myself outside and walk around the block in the fresh air just before the lecture to steady my nerves. Speaking to the public is much<\/em> harder than speaking to other scientists – but also much more fun, once you get going.<\/p>\n \t <\/p>\n *For reasons that I’m afraid don’t properly understand, the College versions have a slighlty squashed aspect ratio. However, this has the advantage of making me look a bit thinner!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last month I gave a talk to a group of Imperial College Alumni, all of whom had made a generous donation to the university and still take an interest in what goes on there. An interest keen enough to drag … Continue reading ![\"I](\"http:\/\/farm3.static.flickr.com\/2607\/4104887849_d5a339e2a3.jpg\")
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\niLecture to Alumni.<\/em><\/p>\n
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