Science education for all

Back in 1976, science teacher turned sociologist Michael D Young suggested science education sorts people into three types: pure scientists, applied scientists and failures. The final group, he went on, would forever feel at a distance from science, alienated by the experience. Arguably, this view is a tad gloomy and simplistic (not to mention, outdated?) … Continue reading »

The beauty of a grazed knee

You might have heard the poem Lamia by John Keats, which includes the lines: “Philosophy will clip an Angel’s wings, Conquer all mysteries by rule and line, Empty the haunted air, and gnomed mine. Unweave a rainbow…”. Richard Dawkins takes this to task in a book, Unweaving the Rainbow. In the introduction, he argues Newton’s … Continue reading »

Saying no to intolerance

Last week, I found myself pulled into a load of email exchanges on the  topic of John Beddington (UK’s Chief Scientific Adviser). I thought I might as well turn this correspondence into a blogpost. Why all this talk? If you missed it, Research Fortnight ran a story repeating remarks Beddington had made to a meeting … Continue reading »

Do we need a “people’s panel” for science?

Do we need a “people’s panel” for science? This was the question posed at a Science Wise/ Dana Centre event last week entitled Whose Science? I didn’t like it much. It’s just too neat, too restrictive, too easily manipulated and too easily ignored. It decries the complexity, the detail and simple serendipity that brings a … Continue reading »

The ‘institutional’ discrimination of science

Pic: male and female door handles at UCL’s Medwar building (old anatomy building) The Guardian asked me what I thought about a paper published in PNAS last week on the causes of women’s under-representation in science. This was my response. For a more detailed overview of the paper, head to Gwyneth Dickey Zakaib’s piece in … Continue reading »

Happy Birthday UCL

I took this photo in the middle of all the anti-fees protests at the end of last term: a bit of graffiti on the door of the UCL History Department states “no entry to the poor”. I’m posting it because UCL is 185 years old today. Walking around the campus earlier, there didn’t seem to … Continue reading »

Having a chat about science policy

There’s a lovely bit in the Guardian Science podcast this week about some research that’s been done on the laboratory of molecular biology at Cambridge (the one that’s produced more Nobel Prizes than the whole of France). This lab has a very open culture, where people leave their doors opening and routinely drinking tea together. … Continue reading »