I, Science - Issue 3 (Winter 2005/06)

I, science Guardian Student Media Awards 2005 Best Magazine Nominee

The Imperial College Science Magazine

I, science Issue 2 Summer 2005

A science magazine for Imperial College

Science and Religion Robert Winston’s Story of God ‘Syked’ about Science

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Issue 3 Winter 2005 Editor-in-chief Mun Keat Looi Section Editors Imperial Features Letitia Hughes Helen Thomson External Features Amber Bauer Stella Papadopoulou Interviews Chris Miles Lilian Anekwe News and Events David Brill Laura Middleton Opinion Duncan McMillan Daniela de Angel Reviews Alex Antonov Helen Morant Web Editor Laura Goodall Graphics and Layout Amber Bauer Alex Antonov Stella Papadopoulou Liv Hov-Clayton Meera Senthilingam Laura Middleton Nikki Manomaiudom Elizabeth Connor Advertising Manager Viviane Li Contributors Kerri Smith Alex Johnson Dominique Driver João Medeiros Becky Coe Michael Marshall Jonathan Black Francesca Young Katherine Nightingale Greg Foot Illustrations Katherine Antoniw I, Science is produced and published in association with Felix, the student newspaper of Imperial College Felix Newspaper Beit Quad Prince Consort Road London SW7 2BB Tel: 020 7594 8072 Email: felix@imperial.ac.uk Registered newspaper ISSN 1040-0711 Copyright © Felix 2005 Printed by St Ives Roche Ltd., Victoria Business Park, Roche, St. Austell, Cornwall PL26 8LX

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From the Editor S

CIENCE, LIGHT of our lives, fire of our minds. Science seeks to explain our existence and purpose, but in doing so strays into the territory of religion. So the conflict began. You know the story: two households, both alike in dignity...

Here at I, Science we see little difference between the frying pan and the fire. The row over Intelligent Design theory has reignited the debate on both sides of the Atlantic. Google, the new ultimate source of knowledge, finds an astonishing 118 million hits for the term “science and religion”. Is there a place for science in religion, or religion in science?

There is plenty of opinion at the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine: the Rector, Sir Richard Sykes (p18), the Chaplain Andrew Willson (p25), Professor Lord Robert Winston (p10) and the Reverend Sir John Polkinghorne (p12). Of course, we take the opportunity to wax lyrical ourselves (p25).

Permit me my two cents worth. Professor Sir Richard Dawkins, one of the major voices in the debate, spoke at Imperial recently.

Professor Dawkins once said that science is not a religion because it “is free of the main vice of religion…faith”. But not everyone understands the many facets of science. Yet a good proportion of the public trust in the logic of scientific reasoning. “But science is different!” I hear you cry. Everyone thinks they know what science is. Everyone thinks they know what religion is too. Neither should be masquerading as the other. Science may not be a religion, but it is nevertheless something people believe in.

Having stoked the fire, I leave you to discuss.

Mun-Keat Looi P.S. Congratulations to I,Science writer Zoe Corbyn, named runner-up in the Best Student Features Writer at the 2005 Guardian Student Media Awards. This very magazine was nominated in the Best Student Magazine category. Kudos to everyone involved. We didn’t win, but there’s always next year.

I,Science is your student science magazine. We need your comments, suggestions and contributions. If you like to write for I,Science please contact us at i.science@imperial.ac.uk

FRONT COVER ART

by Andrew Carnie

Image: Disperse, 2002 © Andrew Carnie Courtesy of SciCult, London ‘Disperse’ was produced for ‘Hygiene – the art of public health’ at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London. It explores ideas around ‘removal’ and thoughts about the departure of the human body at death, looking at processes by which the body might be physically ‘dispersed’: be rendered back to atomic particles.

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Issue 3 Winter 2005

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10 24 Features

Interviews

8 Use it or lose It

10 The Story of Bob

Get out your GCSE French books ’cause knowing a second language might keep you sane in your old age.

13 Where are all the women?

Helena Cronin says women can’t do science.

Helen Richens disagrees.

14 A Christmas treat

The history of the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures.

15 SciArt

It’s science, but it’s also art. It’s messing with our minds!

18 Boy or Girl

The ethical issues surrounding sex selection in the UK.

21 Nanotechnology

Nanobots: tiny, little, wee things. Is the iPod Nano actually small enough to qualify for the word ‘nano’? How about the iPod Wee?

22 Dancing to a different tune

It’s Einstein – expressed through dance!

Whatever next? Darwin, the opera?

24 I want my freedom!

Smoking: the big public health issue. Tell me, if nicotine gum is so great, why aren’t we all chewing it?

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Robert Winston on the science and religion debate.

12 Cousins under the skin

The Rev John Polkinghorne on the latest episode of Family Guy. Or maybe science and religion.

16 Moving in the right direction

The Rector, Sir Richard Sykes, talks bacteria, science education and Intelligent Design.

19 Popularising Palaeontology

Professor Richard Fortey on Trilobites, the Natural History Museum and Marilyn Monroe.

20 Surely you’re joking Mr Isham

What exactly is theoretical physics? I can’t tell you, but Professor Chris Isham can.

Regulars

4-6 News and Events All the latest from Imperial and around the world.

25-27 Opinions Everyone likes to wax lyrical, whatever that means.

28-30 Reviews

Books! Television! Exhibitions! Oh my!

31 One more thing...

Psst. You’ll never guess what so-and-so said.

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NEWS & EVENTS

OPINION

INTERVIEWS

REVIEWS

Imperial News Lack of sex can lead to extinction

OCTOBER: Imperial’s Dr Edward Draper and colleagues have developed a new laser imaging technique which can more fully assess the strength of bones. It could help detect the likelihood of future osteoporosis in young women.

Dr Draper said “Traditionally, the only way to predict bone strength has been through Xrays, but these can only measure part of the bone’s strength. Using this new technique we can get a more complete measurement, allowing us to predict better the risk of fractures as a result of osteoporosis.”

X-rays can be used to measure bone mineral density, which only accounts for part of the bone’s strength. The new Raman spectroscopic technique allows scientists to measure the collagen, which also affects bone strength by eliminating the spectral components of overlying tissues.

Dr Draper hopes the technique will develop into a national screening programme used

by GPs. “By identifying the risk of any problems developing early enough, this could not only make an enormous difference to the health of individuals, but could help the NHS by negating the need for more extreme and costly interventions later”.

New TB test: faster, cheaper and easier NOVEMBER: A standard test for TB takes three to four weeks and costs £17-£23.

However, a new test has been developed which takes just one week and costs only £1 to perform.

The new test, called MODS (Microscopic Observation Drug Susceptible Assay), does not require extensive training to perform and its speed and low cost mean it could be of massive benefit across the world.

“TB is a major cause of mortality in the developing world, and eradicating it has been made difficult through a lack of inexpensive diagnosis equipment which can be deployed quickly and easily. The MODS test provides a simple solution to this,” said Professor Jon Friedland of Imperial College, who was involved with developing the test.

The MODS test won first place in the Best Innovation to Improve Global Healthcare category at the Medical Futures Innovation Awards. The award was given to Dr. David Moore, also from Imperial College.

Untitled © Nick Veasey

Give the doc a bone

Student binge drinking reaches new lows

We want your brain SEPTEMBER: Fed up of having a brain you barely use? Want someone to benefit from it after you die?

Dr. Kirstin Goldring of Imperial College has called for more people to donate their brains to medical research, suggesting that: “Your brain could play a vital role in helping develop better drug treatments or even cures for diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.”

Brain for sale, only slightly used

NOVEMBER: Asexual organisms can reproduce rapidly and initially prosper ahead of their sexually active relatives. But new research suggests that these benefits may be confined to the short term.

The work was carried out on the P. marneffei fungus, which is dangerous to people with weakened immune systems, such as AIDS patients. The researchers found that although spores were able to travel far and wide, they were unable to adapt to new environments.

Without sex, there is no mixing of genes and therefore no adaptation.

One of the authors, Dr Bill Hanage, concluded: “While becoming asexual may provide short term advantages to a species, in the long term they are likely to end up in evolution’s ultimate dustbin : extinction.”

Readers should note that this work was done on fungus, and humans should not be worried about facing extinction if they are currently experiencing a “dry spell”.

How brainy is your phone?

SEPTEMBER: Your mobile phone could one day have the memory size similar to a desktop computer thanks to a microchip that mimics the functioning of the brain.

Lead researcher Russell Cowburn, Professor of Nanotechnology at Imperial’s Department of Physics, explains: “The new video mobile phones are very popular, but they desperately need more memory so that people can take longer videos and store them. This technology has the potential to transform mobiles into fully functioning video cameras, in addition to a range of other applications.”

This new nanotech microchip enables large amounts of data to be stored in small volumes by using a complex interconnected network of nanowires, with computing functions and decisions performed at the nodes, in similar function to neurons and axons in the brain.

The team is now working with commercial partners to develop the technology.

New phone unable to write dissertations

Meanwhile, staff and students at Imperial have been busy... ...Imperial physicist Prof Donal Bradley wins prize for outstanding research in flat panel displays... Dr David Moore wins Innovation in Healthcare award for cheap and rapid tuberculosis test... Two Imperial students, Paul Bilokon and Ian Pong, win Science, Engineering and Technology Students of the Year... Researchers from Imperial receive $28.8 million grant to tackle TB and malaria in developing countries... Dr Simon Barnes wins entrepreneurship category of 2005 Business Week European Case Awards... Profs Gordon Conway and Peter Knight receive knighthoods...

Prof Chris Toumazou receives award for his contribution to education...

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REVIEWS

INTERVIEWS

OPINION

NEWS & EVENTS

Other News The Tao of brain science

Scientists create Danger Mouse

NOVEMBER: The Dalai Lama was the unusual keynote speaker at the annual Society for Neuroscience’s conference in Washington last week. The society hoped the talk would help their members to think more deeply about their role in a broader social context.

More than 500 of the society’s members signed a petition to stop his speech, arguing that it would blur the distinction between science and religion, but the charismatic Buddhist sage charmed thousands of attendees with a talk on his preference for scientific inquiry over religious dogma.

The Dalai Lama’s presence prompted a focus on meditation research, which some scientists believe is controversial.

Researchers presented findings on the topic at the meeting. Sara Lazar, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School, found that areas of the brain associated with attention and sensory processing were thicker in meditators than in non-meditators.

Other research presented at the conference found that the intensity of certain brain impulses, associated with activities such as attention and learning, increased with a type of meditation geared at generating loving compassion towards mankind.

So are the researchers now shifting their focus to develop a surgical technique to eliminate jealousy and hatred from the human mind? His Holiness joked that he’d be the first to sign up for it if they could.

NOVEMBER: Mice are not normally renowned for their boldness. Geneticists, however, appear to have created a fearless mouse by knocking out a single gene.

Unlike puny lab rats, these super-mice are seemingly indifferent to electrical shocks and, in a slap in the face to Pavlov and his dogs, even ignored a tone associated with the shocks. Normal mice, when conditioned in this way, become frozen with fear upon hearing the tone. The mice also showed an unusual willingness to explore wide open spaces in a new environment, areas where normal mice would fear to tread.

Fear stems from a part of the brain called the amygdala. Researchers led by Gleb Shumyatsky of Rutgers University, New Jersey, knocked out a gene called stathmin which regulates the development of structural molecules in nerve cells. Stathmin is predominantly expressed in the amygdala, and without it, neurones do not form normal connections with one another and memory of fear is affected.

“Understanding the molecules that regulate fear would allow us to characterize the basic mechanisms of memory formation,” said Shumyatsky.

Rumours that the mice are planning a daring revolt against their captors have not been confirmed.

The Dalai Lama as neuroscientist

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T-Rex: not so scary after all

Ju-grass-ic Park NOVEMBER: Years of bad publicity have finally reached an end for dinosaurs.

Fossilised dung has revealed the surprising fact that some dinosaurs actually ate grass, not people on toilets as many have now come to believe.

The team, led by Caroline Strömberg, a palaeobotanist at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, collected 65 million-yearold droppings from the Deccan Traps of central India. The aim was to investigate the diet of titanosaurs, a group that includes Diplodocus.

Subsequent investigation found microscopic silica structures, characteristic of grass remnants. Grass was previously not thought to have existed until some ten million years after the dinosaurs, but it now appears that they did indeed coexist.

“It was very unexpected,” says Strömberg.

“We will have to rewrite our understanding of [grass] evolution … we may have to add grass to the dioramas of dinosaurs we see in museums.”

Paul Barrett of the Natural History Museum, London, added: “It’s not good dinner party conversation to say you work on fossilized dinosaur turds, but they are the best way to find out what dinosaurs ate.”

Opinion is divided as to whether the Spielberg movies would have been more or less exciting had the dinosaurs refused fresh meat in favour of some tasty turf.

You looking at me?

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NEWS & EVENTS

OPINION

INTERVIEWS

REVIEWS

Events Global Catastrophes: A Punter’s Guide Stella Papadopoulou

Will bird flu take over the world?

R.I. not afraid to talk risks | Amber Bauer OCTOBER: With all the headlines shouting about a potential bird flu pandemic, the media and government’s roles in assessing and interpreting risk have come under intense scrutiny. Accordingly, a panel at the Royal Institution of Great Britain led a discussion concerning this issue, focusing mostly on the current handling of bird flu.

The panel was composed of Bill Durodié, professor at Cranfield University; Elliot Morley MP, Minister of State for Climate Change and Environment; Mary Riddell, a columnist for The Observer; and Matthew Wright, a Channel 5 presenter. Sheena McDonald, an award-winning broadcast journalist and presenter, chaired the discussion.

Most of the panel agreed that both the media and the government had probably exaggerated the risk of bird flu. It was pointed out that there was no guarantee that the virus would mutate to become capable of person-to-person infection.

“I’m more worried about dying in a car crash to tell you the truth,” Wright said.

Morley was quick to point out, however, that as a government official you have to “think the unthinkable” in order to protect the people. The government has to pay attention to the ‘what-ifs’ – making contingency plans and informing the public of the danger – because, as shown with BSE, there is more danger in not taking the risk seriously enough.

The lack of substantial facts surrounding the possible bird flu pandemic has caused a problem in the media, according to Riddell.

There is really no “objective truth” to report.

Most of the stories are based on guesswork.

Thus, according to Durodié, the government, the media and the public have been lured into “worse case speculation”, the majority of debates centring on vaccines and government preparedness.

There was no consensus reached on how risk should be communicated by both the media and the government, although Riddell said that in her experience, “The greater the fuss, the smaller the risk – eventually.”

Art, just beyond the visible| Elizabeth Connor NOVEMBER: If you were on the fifth floor of Imperial’s Sherfield building in mid-November, you may have stumbled into a peaceful enclave of Spanish mountain solitude. The walls of the Blyth Art Gallery were adorned with the enchantingly lucid tones of Andrew Machon’s infrared photography. The exhibition, “Just Beyond the Visible”, gave a glimpse into the strange world of infrared. A stream of warm light surged from a vine-laden Spanish window on the far wall, a translucent snail hung precariously by a thread of slime to the right, wheel barrows, chairs mountains, vases, trees – all familiar objects but aglow with an eerie foreign light.

Andrew, the photographer, is a scientist and an artist, with a PhD in Biochemistry and an MA in Psychosynthesis (a type of counselling). He has worked for almost

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twenty years as a change specialist, manager and leader. In 2001, in search of a simpler life he bought a house in a mountain village in Andalucia, Spain where most of the photos for the exhibition were taken. Andrew feels that art and science are intimately linked. “Maybe art and science grow from the same seed – the vital inquiry to discover and express who we essentially are as human beings”.

Next exhibition Slow Forming Artists Claudia Sarnthein, Yukako Shibata and Amy Woolley Until 15 December 2005 Blyth Gallery, Level 5, Sherfield building

NOVEMBER: Rising seas, violent earthquakes, monstrous lava emerging from a crack in the earth’s crust, colliding asteroids and acute climate changes were highlights of The Annual Science Lecture at the Natural History Museum by Professor Bill McGuire, head of the Benfield Hazard Research Centre at University College London (UCL).

The fragility of our planet has never been so apparent. Last year we surfaced blearyeyed from the Christmas festivities to the first news of the Indian Ocean tsunami, one of the greatest natural catastrophes of modern times. This year, the US was crippled by one of the most costly natural catastrophes ever, Hurricane Katrina. “In the aftermath of Katrina, the city of New Orleans looked like a scene from a post-apocalyptic Hollywood film,” said Professor McGuire.

On average, according to the Professor, about 50 volcanic eruptions, 100 earthquakes, 40 to 50 tropical storms and a dozen tornadoes occur during a single year. In the last 12 months alone natural disasters yielded a death toll of 400,000 and $2 trillion worth of damage costs.

How likely are we to experience events like this during our lifetime? “They are all much more likely than winning the jackpot on the UK National Lottery, which is around 14 million to 1,” pointed out Professor McGuire.

Odds include an asteroid impact at 8,750 to 1; an ocean-wide mega-tsunami due to an ocean island or submarine landslide (most likely at La Palma in the Canary Islands) at 143 to 1; a climate-altering volcanic eruption at 14 to 1 and a staggering 3 to 1 for an earthquake (probably in Tokyo), with worldwide economic effects. However, “Disaster prediction is an imprecise science,” reassured Professor McGuire.

The lecture closed with a picture of McGuire’s son Fraser under a hot and inviting sun. The Professor expressed his hope that “this lecture will help allay, at least partly, our fears about global natural catastrophes.”

Annual science lecture: a heated debate

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If we haven’t, maybe we should.

Every 19 minutes someone finds a job through New Scientist. Look out for New Scientist’s Graduate Careers Specials in May and October.

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FEATURES

Use It or Lose It:

How speaking in tongues helps you keep your marbles Learning a foreign language might help you in business or on holiday, but recent studies have shown that it might also help protect against age-related mental deterioration. Kerri Smith looks at how learning languages affects the brain.

T

HE SMELL of coffee and freshly baked baguettes permeates the Parisian morning, where locals and tourists alike sit at spindly-legged pavement tables munching croissants and watching the world pass by. An Englishman attempts his order in slow, deliberate French, the unfamiliar tones sticking to his tongue as he tries them out, while at the next table two elderly local gentlemen continue a raucous and emphatic dialogue about the latest political storm-ina-teacup, their conversation overflowing with colloquialisms and peppered with gallic shrugs.

Although most of us would jump at the chance to speak another language fluently enough to understand what the two gentlemen were discussing so passionately, there is a tendency to get stuck at the level of the halting Englishman, stumbling through his phrasebook to procure a café au lait.

But no matter how inspired we may be to book those evening classes, whether by the romantic sounds of French when whispered, or the emphatic tone of the choicest Spanish phrases, the chances are that many of us will remain firmly monolingual - quietly jealous of those who can switch effortlessly between tongues, those who have had bilingual upbringings, and those who have picked up a second language later in life.

For all of us experiencing this kind of frustration, a reason for our struggle has finally been pinned down. It does not promise a miracle cure, but it does go some way to explaining just why it’s so difficult to learn another language as an adult. I have always been convinced that my own lack of authentic accent and frustrating forgetfulness with phrases was a result of my laziness and lack of practice. I’ve recently hit upon a better excuse: my brain, as a monolingual, might actually be structured differently from those belonging to bilingual folks.

Last year, a team of researchers led by Dr. Andrea Mechelli at the Institute of Neurology, University College London discovered that acquiring a second language boosts the density of grey matter in a certain part of the brain called the left inferior parietal region. “The structure of the human brain is altered by the experience of learning a second language”, explains Dr. Mechelli.

What is more, the degree of change in this area increases with your proficiecy at a second language, just as muscle size

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and strength increases when you exercise.

Mechelli and his team conclude that the earlier you start learning, and the longer you have to practise, the larger the amount of grey matter you will build – less mind over matter than mind from it.

Keeping the brain speaking in tongues might even guard against the biggest scourges of growing older – devastating afflictions like Alzheimer’s disease and senile dementia. The increase in grey matter (our information-

finding the genes that programme language into this part of our brains? Could keen linguists have gene therapy to enhance their linguistic aptitude? Or will companies who need top-notch linguists start to headhunt people, quite literally, by investing in a brain scanner and only interviewing those with abnormally well-developed brains? I can hear the director schmoozing an interviewee now: “My dear, what an impressive left inferior parietal area you have…”.

© Katherine Antoniw processing brain tissue) observed in bilingual people might be responsible for the protection offered by speaking two languages against the inevitable decline in mental processing ability with aging. Research by Ellen Bialystok at York University, Toronto, suggests that being bilingual can attenuate the negative effects of aging, which include a deterioration of faculties such as working memory. Bialystok compared middle-aged and older adults. Half the participants were Canadian and spoke only English, and the other half were from India and spoke both Tamil and English fluently. “It appears…that bilingualism helps offset age-related losses” she says, adding that “the bilingual advantage is greater for older people”.

So speaking in tongues should mean you can worry less about losing your marbles on the slippery slope to senior status. But what does it mean that scientists have pinpointed the brain region responsible? Are we close to

We needn’t start worrying about these visions quite yet. What is emphasised in these studies is that any structural differences between a bilingual and a monolingual brain are a result of experience, not of any genetic dissimilarity. It’s not a case of winning the genetic lottery so much as getting the right experience at the right time. And the earlier you get this experience, the better your prospects.

Exercise your brain with languages as you would your body with a daily jog through the park, or a few lengths of the local pool, and you may end up better at staving off the ravages of an ever-increasing vintage.

Admittedly, those who have been ‘exercising’ their grey matter since childhood still outstrip latecomers to language-learning. But at least for me and my French, it turns out, all is not lost. It’s just a small matter of time, effort, and befriending some francophones…et voilà! ■

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FEATURES

FACULTY OF MEDICINE, KENNEDY INSTITUTE OF RHEUMATOLOGY

PhD STUDENTSHIPS at The Kennedy

Kerri Smith

The Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology carries out research into the basic science and disease mechanisms of rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, supported by a substantial core grant from the Arthritis Research Campaign (arc). The Kennedy is based in well-equipped laboratories on the Charing Cross campus of Imperial College London. The studentships are available from the 1st October 206. Applications invited from UK or EU nationals who are recent graduates or final year undergraduates and have or expect to obtain a first or upper second class honours degree (or equivalent). The stipend for each studentship will be £16,000 per annum.

Kerri’s article “FOXhunting” won first prize in the 2005 New Scientist/Wellcome Trust Science Essay Competition. She talks to Laura Goodall about how she did it.

Project 1 ‘‘The molecular mechanism of collagenase triple helicase” Supervisor: Professor Hideaki Nagase Contact: h.nagase@imperial.ac.uk

How did you decide what to write about in your essay?

The essay competition was for postgraduate students to write about the work they were doing, so I just used my research project for my MSc in Neuroscience and wrote a shorter version of it.

Project 3 “Role of basic fibroblast growth factor and chondrocyte modulators in preventing progression of experimental osteoarthritis” Supervisors: Dr Tonia Vincent, Dr Richard Williams & Professor Jeremy Saklatvala Contact: t.vincent@imperial.ac.uk

What made you enter the competition?

The prizes! I knew that the two week media placement with New Scientist would really be a great experience in science writing.

How long did it take to write?

I just wrote it over a weekend, I think. I only found out about the competition pretty close to the deadline but luckily, I already had my research as a framework and so it was much quicker than starting from scratch.

Did you choose a particular style of writing for the competition?

I tried to get the reader’s interest by relating my topic to them and using light humour to make it more enjoyable to read. I also had a look at the style of New Scientist articles and tried to keep my writing at the same level as them.

What did you want the readers to get from the article?

During my project, I enjoyed reading the papers more than doing the lab work and loved finding out about our relationship to apes through language, so I really wanted to express my enthusiasm about this to the readers.

How did you feel when you found out that you had won?

Completely shocked! The Wellcome Trust didn’t phone me when they were supposed to announce the winners so I just assumed that someone else had won. But then they called a week later completely out of the blue!

What effect does winning the competition have on you now?

I had to make a winner’s speech to some big science writers and editors, so itís great that those people know my name now and it’s a foot in the door for me. Winning also justified my career choice as a science writer and has helped me to become more confident in myself.

You can read Kerri’s article in New Scientist (8 Oct 2005, p.55) or access it online at the Wellcome Trust’s website (http://www. wellcome.ac.uk/doc_WTX027280.html). If you would like to have a go at entering a science writing competition, Oxford University currently has one open until 27th Jan 2006. See http://www.ox.ac. uk/publicrelations/nsw/writing.shtml

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Project 2 “Temporal and spatial regulation metalloproteinase during cell invasion.”

Supervisor: Dr Yoshi Itoh Contact: y.itoh@imperial.ac.uk

of

cell

surface

Project 4 “Modulators of bystander-activated T cell effector function.”

Supervisor: Professor Fionula Brennan Contact: f.brennan@imperial.ac.uk Project 5 “Regulation of inflammatory gene expression by MAP kinase phosphatase enzymes” Supervisor: Dr Andy Clark Contact: andy.clark@imperial.ac.uk Project 6 “From injury to arthritis; proteomics of inflammatory signalling in articular cartilage” Supervisors: Dr Robin Wait & Professor Jeremy Saklatvala Contact: r.wait@imperial.ac.uk Project 7 “Investigating the genetic basis of IL-10 inhibition of tumour necrosis factor” Supervisors: Dr Lynn Williams & Professor Brian Foxwell Contact: lynn.williams@imperial.ac.uk For more details see our website http://www1.imperial.ac.uk/medicine/about/divisions/ kennedy/studentships Applications consisting of a Curriculum Vitae and the details of two referees should be sent to Helen Bull, Divisional Administrator, Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, 1 Aspenlea Road, London W6 8LH or to h.bull@imperial.ac.uk

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NEWS & EVENTS

OPINION

INTERVIEWS

REVIEWS

The Story of Bob

David Brill and Helen Morant met Professor Lord Robert Winston to discuss science, religion and his new book, The Story of God.

I

T’S LUCKY that the reception area of Hammersmith Hospital has very comfortable sofas. We were kept waiting there for an hour. We then found out that the hour we had been promised could only be half that due to a later engagement with the BBC. Our opening question was described as “very bad”, and a later one dismissed as something every journalist asks. It is a testament to the charm and reassuring manner of Lord Robert Winston that not one of these offences registered any damage. The ease with which he spoke left us feeling that we could have covered virtually any subject and not run out of interesting material. We concentrated on the relationship between science and religion, beginning with the existence of God. “Each of us will have a different notion of what we mean by God, even if we’re atheists.

I do believe that humans have a divine spirit which is not explicable in purely evolutionary terms, although I do think that there is possibly a genetic basis for much religiosity and spirituality … I think that if you’re asking

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me if I believe in something irrational and inexplicable that may contribute to us then yes, I do. But if you’re asking me whether I believe that there’s a white coated, bearded figure, up there in the clouds who dictates what’s going to happen to me when I walk out of this building and will stop a brick falling from the scaffolding, I don’t believe that, no.”

“I do believe that humans have a divine spirit which is not explicable in evolutionary terms” Lord Winston does not shy away from discussing some deep ideas about science and the world around us: “It seems to me that as we discover more and more about the universe we understand less and less about the universe. And I think that what’s interesting about biologists is that they tend to be so narrow that they arrogantly think

that they can explain the world - but it’s only their world. As physics develops, on the other hand, it uncovers more and more irrational, inexplicable and unbelievable things which make up the universe we’re in. And I find it interesting that for that reason, “belief ” is probably more common amongst physicists than it is amongst biologists. And I think that physicists are actually a bit more humble, to see the moment we look at the universe and realise that we probably will never explain it.

I think biology will become like that too. I think that biology, far from getting more and more explicable, will become less explicable.”

“I’ve always thought science isn’t that objective, a lot of the time. It should be objective but it isn’t. Religion isn’t objective either, of course.” But should religion be objective? “No. Because they’re different systems, they’re different ways of looking at the natural world. Science, of course, has to test by experiment. Theologians on the whole do not test things. They try to but generally their tests are inadequate and by our standards they are very imperfect.”

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REVIEWS “The fallacy of some clerics, Muslim and Catholic for example, explaining the tsunami in terms of God destroying something which was evil or wrong, or trying to give a message to the world (or indeed the same for the earthquake in Pakistan) is to my mind completely irrational. I don’t think you explain the irrationalities of nature by the irrationalities of providence.”

“I take issue with the fundementalist Christians who take the literal word of the Bible as absolute truth and nothing can be changed” When asked whether religion is ever misused, Lord Winston is remarkably frank with his answer: “I think that’s something I say in great detail in the book. I’m interested in fundamentalism and I argue that both religion and science are, to my mind, essentially about uncertainty. We do science because we are uncertain about what we are going to find. We don’t really understand the natural world, but our genetic imperative is inquisitive, so we want to try and understand it. I think that what we do in science is try to underpin our uncertainties, and that’s exactly what religion does. It’s also essentially about uncertainty, and humans are very bad at dealing with uncertainty. So, consequently, religions often offer certainty, and so does science. And I think that science and religion, when they become certain are at their most dangerous.”

“I argue that both religion and science are, to my mind, essentially about uncertainty” “I take issue with the fundamentalist Christians (and there are a few fundamentalist Jews who are admittedly of the same thought proces) who take the literal word of the Bible as absolute truth and nothing can be changed. What’s bizarre about those people living in Kentucky is that they think the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon were formed at the time of Noah’s flood, and that God put the fossils there to confuse men.

They claim that this is what they get from the absolute literal word of the text. Why that is so inconsistent with any kind of rationalist behaviour is of course that they read the text, which is imperfectly translated from Greek, which in turn was imperfectly translated from the Hebrew. At least they should read the original Hebrew manuscript. Now unless you go back to the original texts you cannot understand them. It isn’t actually possible to do it - you get completely the wrong view of what the phrase is about … I think fundamentalism of that sort is flawed and dangerous.”

The religious aspect of Lord Winston’s life also affects his work on a practical level: “Whatever I believe - I certainly don’t believe I’m going to be punished if I don’t keep to the

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Sabbath for example - I don’t generally work on religious festivals, so-called holidays, and I don’t work on Saturdays.

I think actually that frees me up for work because having one day of the week when you don’t do any work is a hugely healthy thing. I think it’s been a saving grace - it’s a great institution, actually.”

INTERVIEWS

OPINION

NEWS & EVENTS

Lord Winston on…

Richard Dawkins: “Lovely man, one of the best science writers of our time. Deeply religious in his approach to evolution” John Polkinghorne: “Delightful man…..much more spiritual than me”

Writing this book has taken Magdi Yacoub: “He’s a workaholic” Lord Winston on something of a personal journey. “I think it His iMac Powerbook G4: “PCs are changed my views about both for inadequate people” science and religion. I think I became somewhat more Sunday Trading: “I’m not sure it’s sceptical of both and about my really healthy” own religion too.” Some critics have suggested that in writing this book he is dealing with an I,Science: “It’s a better science area outside his expertise. But glossy than New Scientist” he strongly refutes this idea: “I think that is such a conceit, actually. It’s a really arrogant thing to say that of somebody else, because of course we all have the ability to look at the whole world, not just narrow bits of it. I don’t set myself up as an expert in the book - I say that I’m coming at it from a fairly particular perspective.”

As well as tackling his critics, he showed a willingness to make bold predictions: “I think that we will find out that we can’t always predict how genes are going to express, and we may even find out that genes aren’t the only unit of inheritance.” Our interview concluded with a walk to BBC Television Centre for another interview with Radio Five Live. Ignoring the occasional glances from passers-by, we spoke at length about a wide range of subjects from Jewish ethics and teachings to the atheism of Richard Dawkins. Whatever the critics may have to say about Lord Winston, it doesn’t take long in his company to realise the immense depth of his knowledge on religion, science and, well, just about everything. An hour in reception was a small price to pay. And they were damn comfy sofas. ■

Robert Winston’s book “The Story of God” is reviewed on page 28.

Win a copy of the Story of God I,Science has a signed copy of Professor Lord Robert Winston’s new book to give away.

For the chance to get your hands on this lovely prize, tell us which is better: Science or Religion.

Send us your answer in 25 words or less. The best answer gets the book.

Answers marked “Story of Bob” to: i.science@imperial.ac.uk by 7th January 2006.

I, science 11 25/11/05 5:17:04 am

NEWS & EVENTS

OPINION

INTERVIEWS

REVIEWS

Cousins under the skin According to the Rev Dr John Polkinghorne, the search for truth is common to religion and science.

Duncan McMillan speaks to the respected theologian and physicist to find out more.

I

’M A SUCKER for nice people. So it’s a pity Rev Dr John Polkinghorne wasn’t a less likeable man, because then I would have had more cause to disagree with him.

The Reverend has written over twenty books to date. Roughly coinciding with the release of his latest one, Exploring Reality: The intertwining of Science and Religion, he addressed a large and diverse Imperial College crowd on the subject of “friendship between science and religion”.

The Reverend’s talk was about the “crossover between the questions and answers that science gives and the questions and answers that religion gives.” He has spent the past 20 years exploring this area.

Reverend Polkinghorne is more qualified than most to claim to know what lies on either side of that oft-disputed border. Fellow of the Royal Society, Professor John Polkinghorne resigned his chair in Mathematical Physics in 1979. Two years later plain Dr. John Polkinghorne could add ‘Rev’ to the front of his title, and in 1997 was able to add KBE to the end of it.

“Physicists are impressed with the wonderful order of the world. Biologists see a more ambiguous and messy slice of reality.”

To many, such a career move might seem utterly unexpected, but there has been a minor tradition of physicists and mathematicians who have tended towards the spiritual with Einstein, pioneering cosmologist/priest Georges Lemaitre and (Polkinghorne’s own teacher at Cambridge) Paul Dirac, amongst others. I asked him, later that week, if he thought it was a coincidence that there were so many prominent religious physicists.

“No, it’s not a coincidence. Physicists are impressed with the wonderful order of

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the world. [whereas] Biologists see a more ambiguous and messy slice of reality.”

It is those slices to which the Rev refers in his book - ‘Exploring reality: The intertwining of science and religion’. He describes taking “slices of reality” from the sciences, human nature, religious encounters and Christian thinking; but, he cautions: “The great temptation for everybody is to take your own particular ‘slice’ and try to make it the whole story.” By this reckoning the biologists have been making their own messy slices the whole story, as they “are in a pretty triumphalist mood at the moment; [but they will] come out the other side.”.

Had any one of those six universal constants been even slightly different, the universe would not look even vaguely like it does and life would have been an impossibility. One way around the sheer improbability of this universe having come about is to posit that there is instead an infinity of other universes, each of which is run according to a slightly different set of rules – the ‘multiverse’ theory. According to the Reverend choosing between that and God as a way of explaining our miraculous universe is “...six of one and half a dozen of the other. But it seems to me that the multiverse only does one piece of explanatory work... it is ontologically prodigal, a meta-scientific speculation.” To him, God has more explanatory power, and he takes this divine involvement further: “The world seems shot through with the science of mind. I suggest that at least it’s a hypothesis worth thinking about, that this is because the mind of the Creator lies behind it. That, to me, is the most intellectually satisfying explanation of why science is possible.”

But does this mind imply design? Yes and no. Regarding the hot topic of ‘Intelligent Design’ and Michael Behe’s assertion that ‘irreducible complexity’ can only be explained by ID, Polkinghorne says: “To ask the question “Is there irreducible complexity at the molecular level?” is actually a scientific question. Behe asked an entirely sensible

question, [but] I don’t think Michael Behe has the answer... I don’t think they’re good listeners.” The Darwinists aren’t completely blameless, however: “Francis Crick has an agenda too. People like Dawkins and Crick on the one hand and the Creationists on the other deserve each other.”

“God had made creatures that could make themselves. This is a more fitting form of creation, instead of a divine puppet theatre.”

Instead Polkinghorne stands somewhere in-between those warring camps, believing that “God had made creatures that could make themselves. [This is] a more fitting form of creation, instead of a divine puppet theatre.”

Rev Polkinghorne describes himself as a “bottom-up” thinker. I wondered if he ever finds himself thinking top-down, of starting with general beliefs and working down.

“Everybody has to think a bit top-down. It’s a question as to what initiates your thoughts.

Some people begin knowing certain general, self-evident principles about the world which tend to end up being neither general, nor self-evident.”

The Reverend’s approach is to “look at the world with the eye of science and... with the eye of religion or theology”. After talking with him you can’t help wondering if you shouldn’t see it this way too. Maybe it is possible, as he puts it, to have “binocular vision”, but in the end, I fear, we’d all end up cross-eyed.

There is too much unsaid in Polkinghorne’s argument to convince me that science and religion can ever be bedfellows, but I don’t think that either is any the worse for having him around. ■

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FEATURES

Where are all the Women?

Do men have an evolutionary advantage in the world of Science? Helen Richens investigates.

W

ANDER INTO parts of the underbelly of Imperial College and you will be forgiven for thinking that you have stumbled upon some men-only club. Women comprise close to half of the staff and student body in biology, whereas in other disciplines, such as electrical and mechanical engineering, the proportion of women is a lot lower. So is evolution the cause of this imbalance?

That’s the argument voiced by evolutionary biologist Dr Helena Cronin, from LSE. “Men, on average, have an advantage in certain quantitative and spatial abilities – particularly intuitive mechanics and “3-D thinking”- that are key for engineering and maths,” explains Dr Cronin. “These skills enable you to do science and make you a better scientist.

“The claim that ‘male’ skills are the ones which are vital to science has proved controversial” So are these skills more attributed to men?

It is a commonly held view – go into the Wellcome Wing at the Science Museum or onto the BBC Human Body and Mind web pages and you can test which ‘brain sex’ you are by your ability to solve spatial and visualisation problems.

One female mechanical engineer spoke of how she initially found certain modules in her degree difficult: “At first I found it really hard to do spatial and rotational problems.

The boys could just see it straight away but I really struggled and it took a long time to get it. But once I got it, that was it, I never lost it.”

Dr Charlotte Williams, a chemistry lecturer at Imperial, does not think that men necessarily have more of a grasp in this area.

“I teach a course in molecular symmetry and 3-D visualisation and I can definitely refute the notion that men are innately more talented in this area – some are, plenty aren’t.”

Irrespective of how difficult, or not, women find these skills, they do appear to be attracted to different scientific disciplines than men.

“Often the chemical, environmental, and bioengineering departments are 50% women. I do not believe these fields are easier than electrical or mechanical engineering, just of more interest to women,” says Dr Sandra Shefelbine, a lecturer in bioengineering.

“Women work and think differently than men. [They] are more likely to collaborate, seek advice, and attack a problem from many viewpoints.”

It has been continually emphasised, however, that this different approach does

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not affect women’s capability to do science, and in some cases enhances it. What has proved most controversial is the claim by Dr Cronin that ‘male’ skills are the ones which are vital to science. “[Dr Cronin] assumes that science is all about 3-D visualisation and aggressive competition” states Dr Williams. “The idea that science is done by one person sitting alone, competitively pondering the meaning of machinery is just wrong. The very best science is done by those with huge creativity, if I would have emotionally distanced myself imagination and inspiration and the ability more from my children (a feat that is easily done by most men but comes more difficult to work successfully with their teams” Dr Cronin claims that the women for women - I call it the “mum” feeling),” says scientists at Imperial “are extremely one female engineering lecturer at Imperial. fortunate that they are at the high end of This difference between men and women is the skills distribution curve. They already voiced by Dr Cronin: “Women’s disposition have the skills that enable them to do science differs to men when they have children. and are fortunate enough to add to that the Women become less interested in their job, skills associated with females.” Does singling men often become more interested. They do successful women out as being ‘lucky’ solve their bit by working more.”

That women can succeed in science is not matters? In both sexes there is a distribution of skills and ways of thinking. How easy is it under question. The view that men have evolved skills which give them an advantage to distinguish which approach is best?

Science, in itself, judges merit solely on the over women in science only stands firm if basis of research output. But therein lies a you believe in a single approach to science. problem. “The years of early independent Skills such as spatial awareness and 3-D research critical for establishing a reputation visualisation can be taught and developed in as a promising group leader, publishing good women. Yet these are by no means the only research papers in high impact journals, skills which are needed to become a good coincides with the period in a woman’s life scientist. Innovation and flexibility, coupled when she is biologically programmed to turn with incredible motivation, are also essential her mind and body to child-bearing and to long term success in science. ■ nurturing,” says Dr Jane Saffell, a molecular cell biologist.

Taking time off to have children can make it very difficult for women to get back into research. “The reduction in publications that will inevitably result from having children will leave them at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to gaining permanent positions (e.g. lectureships) and research funding,” explains Dr Saffell.

Women may be equally able as men to be good scientists, but they might not get the opportunity to produce the only accepted evidence of this ability – a good publication record.

This issue is heightened by compromises women may make between home and work once they have children. “Having three children has slowed [my] career progress which would not have happened Susan Greenfield, the lioness of science.

I, science 13 25/11/05 7:39:40 am

FEATURES

A Christmas Treat The Christmas Lectures are the Royal Institution’s flagship event, attracting top scientists to share their expertise and enthusiasm. Alex Johnson goes back in time to unfold the chain-reaction of events that marked the birth of the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures.

“Be fit to compare to a candle; that you may, like it, shine as lights to those about you; that, in all your actions, you may justify the beauty of the taper by making your deeds honorable and effectual in the discharge of your duty to your fellow men” - Michael Faraday in “The Chemical History of a Candle”, Juvenile Lecture of 1848 and 1860

I

T IS December 1848. An excited hum and an air of great anticipation fill the lecture theatre of the Royal Institution on Albemarle Street. Gentlemen exchange pleasantries, ladies gossip, the youngsters fidget. Two ageing professors converse intently. A lawyer, red-faced after his lunchtime tipple, laughs too loudly; the earl in the front row frowns disapprovingly before resuming his discussion with the philosopher by his side. Gradually, the noise subsides. Children are given final whispered warnings to behave. A doctor puts on his spectacles. There is a rustle as the ladies readjust their skirts. All attention fixes upon the character on the stage. Michael Faraday is casting his eye around the room, waiting to begin his first Christmas Lecture on ‘The Chemical History of a Candle.’

The exclusive audience in all its finery is a far cry from the vision in the minds of the distinguished gentlemen who founded the Royal Institution half a century earlier.

They had pictured a society that would not only establish a scene for research but also form a centre for educating all social classes in the practical applications of science.

They had even gone so far as to construct an outside staircase, to allow labourers to reach their gallery seats without distressing

The Faraday Theatre has served as the home of the Christmas Lectures since their inception in 1847.

Image courtesy of the Royal Institution.

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the gentry in the foyer. This noble plan was short-lived. The bourgeoisie caught a bloody whiff of revolution from France and feared that educating the lower classes would give them the power to rebel. To avoid trouble, the Royal Institution’s architect quietly demolished his outside staircase. Instead, the elegant building on Albemarle Street became a philosophical club where only the wealthy, eminent or learned could enjoy stimulating conversation and the finest tea and coffee.

The Royal Institution’s greatest attraction, however, was its lectures. In the early nineteenth century visual entertainment was limited. Panoramas and other cinematic spectacles were yet to come and impractical printing technology limited the illustration of books. However, theatrical performances were mistrusted by many for dangerously arousing the passions. Lectures provided a respectable alternative to the theatre, though still promising a visual element, and, often, the chance to see some celebrity du jour.

Nonetheless, the parallels between dramatic performances and lectures were realised and exploited, not least in the theatre of the Royal Institution. Humphry Davy had impressed the crowds from the beginning with polished oratory, accompanied by

sensational demonstrations. Admittedly there were occasions when he mismanaged his displays; one attempt to demonstrate the effects of inhaling nitrous oxide descended into anarchy when the unfortunate volunteer, a Mr Underwood, lost control until the breathing bag was forcefully removed.

Such events were mercifully rare, and the Royal Institution maintained its refined and respectable reputation.

Despite its popularity, the institution did not avoid the financial trouble that plagued many nineteenth-century London societies.

By 1825, the members decided it was time for a review of the lecture programme. One of the new features was a set of Twenty two Lectures on Natural Philosophy suited to a Juvenile Auditory, during the Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide recesses. The chosen lecturer was John Millington, Professor of Mechanics at the institution. He was a well-known character, and therefore a safe choice, although his lecturing style was rather dull; his emigration to Australia in 1830 due to financial trouble suggests he did not pull huge crowds. Still, the new lecture course must have enjoyed modest success, as it was repeated the following year, albeit in a revised format. Instead of one long course, two six-lecture courses were offered, one at Christmas and one at Easter. The Easter course was poorly attended and not repeated; it seemed the secret to success was to offer the lectures as an additional Christmas season entertainment, to join the numerous exhibitions, operas, pantomimes, and concerts.

At this time Christmas celebrations were changing. In the eighteenth century, hospitality was widely extended to friends and the community. By the early nineteenth century, it became more common to observe the festival within a smaller family unit so there was a great demand for suitable events. Few could be more appropriate for a respectable family than an enlightening lecture on simple principles of natural philosophy. So although the lectures were advertised as ‘suited to a Juvenile Auditory,’ their appeal extended beyond the juveniles with boys and girls of all ages attending, accompanied by their parents. Everyone was equally entertained.

Over Christmas 1827, Michael Faraday delivered his first series of Juvenile Lectures.

He quickly became heavily involved in the programme, delivering nineteen out of thirty-four courses between 1827 and 1861.

He was the first to deliver his explainations of everyday phenomena in a lecturing style that was accessible to the younger members of his audience. So genuine and irresistible was his enthusiasm that his friend, Lady Pollock, remarked: “One could fancy that he had never seen the experiments before, and that he was about to clap his hands with boyish glee at the unexpected result!”

His legacy was impressive. Nowadays, millions tuning into the Christmas Lectures from their living rooms can join the audience packed into the Royal Institution’s theatre.

Faraday’s 1848 audience might have frowned upon the intrusion. Yet, it seems a fitting tribute to the Royal Institution’s founders and to Faraday himself that these events continue to inspire and entertain so many through the wonders of science. ■

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FEATURES

Twins by Andrew Carnie,

chemist and artist, zoologist and psychologist.

At a first glance this photographic image appears to be two foetuses. Take a closer look; it is in fact two portions of bacon carefully organised.

This piece was part of a series based on scientific specimens, playing with aesthetic ambiguities. What is real? what is scientific? How much can you take out of an object before it becomes another one.

SciArt

Fusing science, art and imagination Daniela de Angel

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T MIGHT seem awkward to find science and art blending into a single realm. It is thought by many that science is brilliantly objective and art a delightfully subjective representation. Is SciArt then a passion for facts blending into a passion for artistic expression? SciArt has as many meanings as there are SciArtists.

Imagination is usually attributed to artists. However, who hasn’t encountered a lecturer, supervisor or colleague enormously ingenious and passionate about their field?

The amount of imagination in science is utterly underrated.

For those who claim that science and technology are too dull, that they are a threat to nature and only an impersonal version of it, SciArt resolves this conflict.

Science describes nature, and nature is art; therefore SciArt is the perfect description of

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nature’s creative, inventive and imaginative magnificence. Talented scientists passionate about their field inspire you and make you see art in science.

As bizarre as it seems, artistic representations of science are extraordinarily common throughout history. A good example is Leonardo Da Vinci and his famous painting Proportions of Man (aka Vitruvian Man) - the logo for our own Imperial Union bar. This great thinker did not discriminate between art and science.

The connection between science and art has proved a useful tool for overcoming our limited senses and visualising strange worlds. Concepts of microscopic scales, human anatomy, complex technology, tricky conceptual representations, even alien environments like asteroids or a remote period of geological time, are often shaped

by artists’ representations.

SciArt is a project for scientists interested in creating new forms of expression, artists inspired by scientific research, or anyone up for a rather stimulating challenge.

If you feel compelled, then let the images speak for themselves and share the splendour of your own view of the scientific world.

The Wellcome Trust provides a unique opportunity for scientists and artists to research in collaboration through SciArt projects. It offers £500,000 a year to support and encourage innovative arts projects investigating many aspects of science, its social contexts and emotional implications.

Applications are available online at www.wellcome.ac.uk/sciart Images: courtesy of SciCult.

I, science 15 25/11/05 5:27:14 am

NEWS & EVENTS

OPINION

INTERVIEWS

REVIEWS

‘Moving in the right direction’ Chris Miles talks to Sir Richard Sykes, Rector of Imperial College, about his corporate past, Imperial’s future and encouraging more students into science.

T

HE PROSPECT of meeting the Rector filled me with a sense of trepidation and an unwillingness to venture into the unknown. Sir Richard’s reputation for being forceful and ‘imperialistic’ can be considerably off-putting, especially when combined with the intimidating modern interiors of the Faculty Building. Stereotypes aside, few would disagree that the Rector’s time at the helm has resulted in significant changes to the college’s direction; our recent position as the leading University in Europe for Technology is testament to that.

Famed for his chairmanship of GlaxoSmithKline before taking on Imperial, Sir Richard started his pharmaceutical career in 1972 as head of Glaxo’s Antibiotic Research Unit. “I studied Microbiology at university and got involved in drug resistance mechanisms in the late 1960s, when a lot of drug resistance was being seen against antibiotics. The pharmaceutical industry was quite interested in that and so I became involved with Glaxo.”

The Rector is arguably best known in the drugs world for leading the introduction of

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the stomach acid inhibiting drug, Ranitidine.

However, his leading personal achievement as far as pharmaceuticals are concerned was introducing a new group of antibiotics, the monobactams.

“Inevitably, you’ll always get drugs that are going to be resistant... therefore you’ve got to use antibiotics sensibly” When confronted by the “all bacteria which cause disease will be resistant to all antibiotics by 2015” views of Ulster University’s Professor McGavoc, Sir Richard explains: “every time you put selection pressure on a population, you get a response.”

Leaning back into his chair, he astutely retorts “Inevitably, you’ll always get some bugs that are going to be resistant; that’s evolution, it’s going to happen, so therefore you’ve got to use antibiotics sensibly.”

“We’re always at war with bacteria and always will be. If you remember HG Wells’s story, The War of the Worlds, it wasn’t the bloody machine guns that killed the people from Mars, it was the bugs because they had no immune systems.”

Asked to draw similarities between managing GlaxoSmithKline and leading Imperial, he replies “If you’ve got good people, if you’ve got smart, intelligent and creative people and you look after them and provide the right environment in which they’ll operate, then it’s no different to whether you’re in a university or in a business. People are the key to success.”

“I’d get a liver, I’d get an eye, I’d get this, I’d get that and I’d go to school and cut it up.”

Nevertheless, exactly which groups of students the Rector defines as smart is another matter entirely. Referring to some institutions as ‘third rate’ back in 2004 and his comment which sparked much controversy, “a penny spent here [Imperial] is a hell of a lot better than a penny spent at Luton for the economy,” Sir Richard remains adamant that Imperial should excel as far as student funding is concerned. “It’s more expensive to teach bright kids than it is to teach those people, because bright kids are a challenge,” he says.

I couldn’t resist questioning the Rector’s well publicised views on university tuition fees, although unlike the majority of students I don’t instinctively flinch whenever the mention of increasing tuition fees arises. As the man himself believes, the money’s got to come from somewhere. “If we charge the full economic costs of going on the course then we can obviously give a lot of that money to people who can’t afford it,” says Sir Richard.

It soon becomes clear that the Rector is an ardent admirer of America’s university system, not limited to the financial aspects but also the opportunity to transfer skills and ‘upgrade’ universities.

“If you can come out of school in America not having done too well for all sorts of reasons, you can then go to a community college, you can then do well and go to Harvard if you’re smart enough.”

In spite of this, encouraging the study of science in university is no easy task. When I suggested a few proposals to encourage interest in science at school, such as using multimedia in classrooms, he clearly acknowledges that there is no quick fix and that we have some fundamental issues which need dealing with first. Referring to his own school days compared to the ‘environment’ of today, I get the feeling Sir Richard isn’t impressed with the ways in which teachers convey science: “Even in the junior school people would take you out for nature walks, they’d explain new things, show you things.

They themselves, the teachers, took a great interest.” How a current science teacher might respond to this is best left to the imagination!

One of Sir Richard’s extra-curricular school activities (my words, not his!) was collecting items for dissection at the butchers, “As I went to grammar school, one of the things

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REVIEWS

INTERVIEWS

OPINION

NEWS & EVENTS

I’d do twice a week would be to call in at the butchers, I’d get a liver, I’d get an eye, I’d get this, I’d get that and I’d go to school and cut it up.” Make from that as you will but for the Daily Mail readers amongst you, who think the only things kids cut up these days are the teachers, it’s interesting to compare enthusiasm rates amongst youngsters, and especially science teacher recruitment between the current day and when the Rector was growing up. Sir Richard also isn’t someone who likes to criticise people such as Lord Robert Winston who try to popularise science, “I mean it’s very important that you put it across to the public in way that they can understand it and it does get complicated”.

To start get the public to interact with science and seeing beyond the equations and textbooks might be a significant step forward in encouraging future study.

Since the theme of this issue centres around religion, I decided to ask whether Sir Richard has views on intelligent design, or for the less buzz-word savvy people amongst us, creationism. “They now call it intelligent design so some states are actually encouraging schools to talk about intelligent design along with evolution. I mean, in my opinion, it’s absolute nonsense. It’s just another way of imposing religion on to what is scientific understanding and theory.” The Rector agrees with Richard Dawkins in the sense that there are a lot more science based controversies we could challenge children with, instead of proverbially teaching stork theory in a sex education class.

Steering back towards Imperial, my final questions were geared around the failed merger proposal with UCL and what the future holds for the college. Expecting the Rector to still be supportive of such a merger, I was surprised to learn his power of hindsight when questioned about possible redundancies. “On reflection, I think the damage you might inflict in the process of getting from A to B isn’t actually worth it.”

He did, however, reiterate the college’s desire to withdraw from the University of London as soon as possible, “I think students come to Imperial College because they now want to be part of the College, so we will be taking that to council in December and then progressing from there.”

“Intelligent design... it’s just another way of imposing religion on to what is scientific understanding and theory” As the interview drew to a close, I reassessed my feelings of apprehension and realised that they were, for the most part, ill-founded. Certainly a man who isn’t afraid to speak his mind, I found myself actually starting to like the Rector, something which probably shouldn’t be uttered within a 2 mile radius of the Student Union. “We’re certainly moving in the right direction. There is no other institution in the world like it,” he says.

His friends describe him as a man who gets results; well, it’s half term and his report card is looking pretty good to me. ■

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25/11/05 5:34:00 am

FEATURES

Boy or girl?

News of a US study, launched to investigate the social effects of allowing parents to choose the sex of their child, has re-focused attention on the contentious issues surrounding sex selection. Dominique Driver delves into the UK government’s current policy on the use of reproductive technologies, and asks how the public in the UK feels about sex selection.

S

ANDRA CARSON and her team needed nine years to gain approval from their review board at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. The study will be made possible by a technique known as Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD).

PGD involves extracting the DNA of a single cell of an eight-cell stage embryo created by In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) for determining the sex as well as checking for genetic abnormalities. After result evaluation, the ‘desired’ embryos can then be implanted into the mother’s uterus. At least fifty couples are currently lined up to take part in the trial, but only those who already have a child of the opposite sex will be enrolled, a practice known as ‘family balancing’.

“By allowing sex selection for social purposes we are no longer valuing children for who they are” The use of PGD for sex selection is legal in the US, though, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) have openly stated their opposition to using PGD in this way.

Across the Atlantic, at the UK front, social sex selection is currently banned and the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (HFEA) who regulate the all reproductive technology will only licence PGD for serious medical conditions.

Yet not everyone is in agreement over the HFEA’s decision to invoke the precautionary principle when it comes to reproductive technology. Earlier this year, after reviewing the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Act, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee tentatively recommended that the ban should be withdrawn. The committee contended that there was little evidence to support the HFEA’s position: “It concerns us that the potential for harm is often quoted without

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recourse to a growing body of evidence of its absence…the bonus should be on those who oppose sex selection for social reasons using PGD to show harm from its use.”

Although the committee recognised that the majority of the British public are currently against sex selection, they concluded that: “on balance we find no adequate justification for prohibiting the use of sex selection for family balancing”. However they steered clear of recommending the more controversial uses of sex selection, such as in helping rebuild a family that has suffered the loss of a child, or to support economic, cultural or social preferences for one gender over the other.

These are often considered more problematic because of the possible psychological effects on the families, the view that these practices may be sexually discriminating, and the potential they have to skew the gender ratio in certain communities.

Together with social and demographic considerations, social sex selection raised an array of ethical concerns. Some fear that by allowing sex selection for social purposes we are no longer valuing children for who they are, and may be leaving the door open to the selection of further non-medical traits, creating so-called ‘designer babies’.

Dr Rony Duncan, Researcher in the Medical Ethics Unit at Imperial College, believes that although there is an ethical distinction between sex selection for medical reasons and sex selection for social purposes, both are ethically acceptable. “Some people with two boys want a girl. Some people want a boy first. Others only want girls. People have had preferences about the sex of their children for centuries. We now simply have an accurate way of helping them”. He explains that in ethical terms the difference lies in the motivation for each, but argues that there is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to have a child of one sex over the other. “There is no evidence that having a preference for the sex of your child makes you a bad parent, or harms the future child. Parents should be able to choose the sex of their children, whether it’s to increase the chances of them having a healthy child or simply because they want to”.

However, while the current ban remains in place it will be impossible for UK researchers

to assemble conclusive evidence on the effects of social sex selection, something the US trial will hopefully go some way towards providing. Dr Peter Mills, Policy Development and Co-ordination Manager at the HFEA agrees that the US study may help to shed light on these issues: “Although the Authority has indicated that it does not regard sex selection by PGD for non-medical reasons as an appropriate use of reproductive technology and would therefore be unlikely to licence it in the UK, the results of any well-designed follow-up research may well advance some of the arguments around this contentious use of the technology”.

“People have had preferences about the sex of their children for centuries” Where does that leave us now? In response to the recommendations of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, the government issued a statement maintaining that: “The government has no plans to alter this position to allow sex selection other than for compelling medical reasons.” But as part of its review of the HFE Act, the government has also conducted a public consultation into whether sex selection should be permitted for family balancing purposes, the results of which should be available next year. Dr Mills of the HFEA insists that in the meantime: “The Authority will continue to keep emerging evidence and argument under review, including information about the risks associated with the techniques and about the consequences of their use.”

So should we be embracing this potential use of reproductive technology? The jury is still out, but if pressure from the government continues to grow, the HFEA may be forced to rethink its position, or provide compelling justification for standing by its current policy. The assertion that the bulk of the general public oppose social sex selection may simply not be enough. ■

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REVIEWS

INTERVIEWS

Popularising Palaeontology Duncan McMillan spoke to Professor Richard Fortey about trilobites, the Natural History museum and Marilyn Monroe.

I

T TAKES a flight of stairs, a lift, a short corridor, another flight of stairs and another corridor to reach Richard Fortey’s office from the Natural History Museum’s Earth Galleries. So it comes as a pleasant relief when you get there to find yourself in an airy office stuffed with the rocky remnants of a lifetime’s palaeontology, sitting at the centre of which, smiling warmly, is the man himself.

A doyen of the Natural History Museum’s academic arm, Fortey has found recognition from his peers in the shape of a Royal Society fellowship, the Zoological Society of London’s Frink Medal and the Geological Society’s Lyell Medal; yet the success of his popular science books makes it almost easy to forget that he is an active geologist and palaeontologist. Those books have variously covered the origin and development of life, the geological history of the Earth and the 300-million-year span of Fortey’s favourite fossils – trilobites – and have yielded two Aventis Prize and one Samuel Johnson Prize shortlistings and one award from Rockefeller University. But it seems the scope of his next book will be somewhat more modest and closer to home: “I’m planning to do a Natural History of the Natural History museum. It seems to me that nobody out there in the world at large really knows what goes on behind the scenes at the museum – by which I mean the research that goes on here. And the place is full, and has been full, of the most remarkable characters, people and stories.”

To Fortey, those stories are paramount: “The problem with some popular science books (and I name no names here) is that what they are really is the scientist writing a scientific paper and spicing it liberally with rather bad jokes. And this is the idea that this will somehow make it more accessible – I don’t think it is. Most readers actually relate to narrative… What a lot of people don’t realise, they tend to think that science is a sort of business conducted with white coats in labs. But the actual narrative of how the science is done is all too human. It involves individual biographies and rivalries – all the stuff of human life.”

However, it seems his enthusiasm for storytelling has to be put on hold; there’s a reason for the accumulation of years’ worth of findings in his office: “I’m at a stage where my actual retirement date is approaching, so I’m really desperately trying to finish things off that I’ve been starting. I’ve been for years working on trilobites from Wales that were discovered

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a few years ago, which I’d never got round to writing up… This is a new discovery of a fossil fauna of this kind, so it ought to be made note to the world. So that’s the last thing I sent off to press.”

“Some popular science books are really scientific papers with rather bad jokes”

Clearly the pressures on bringing a discovery to the attention of the world are somewhat less in the world of palaeontology – it turns out that those Welsh trilobites have been out of the ground for over ten years. If palaeontologists aren’t rushing for recognition, it may well be because so many have given their names in Latinized form to ancient species of plant and animal. As Fortey points out, you can’t name a new discovery after yourself, so it must be a measure of his standing that he has been immortalised in so many species of trilobite: “There are various others who have named things for me, so there are some Forteyiis around and there’s a genus called Forteyops, I think. It’s only a nomenclatorial [immortality], and it’s quite possible in a hundred and fifty years time, if the same rules of naming organisms still apply, that somebody’ll say “Who the hell’s Fortey?”

OPINION

NEWS & EVENTS

Richard Fortey is pretty confident that Marilyn Monroe will be remembered a century and a half hence, having named a trilobite with an hour-glass-shaped head after her. Since 1989 Fortey has been working, in part, on the development of diversity, focussing on the start of what is known as the ‘Cambrian explosion’ – the apparently sudden appearance of diverse new invertebrate species, petrified in the famous Burgess Shale of British Columbia. It is that curiously sudden flowering of life that has recently given ammunition to proponents of Intelligent Design seeking to undermine the Darwinian explanations for the development of life.

“There we have something that’s a genuine problem for the scientist. And I watched with interest how Creationists, and now Intelligent Designers, had done fancy footwork to kind of reposition themselves continuously.

The Cambrian explosion of course is much debated… Fossils do appear quite suddenly in variety, low in the Cambrian and yes, you cannot point to late Precambrian fossils and say “this was the ancestor of that.” But to make the claim that this means that there was some kind of guiding hand, or something, at that particular time, is sheer nonsense.”

This diversity has taken some fascinating forms, as Fortey demonstrates with a paper of his about a Devonian trilobite that featured tiny sunshades over each enormous eye. Such elegant evolution might incline the weak minded to resort to an un-named designer, but Fortey is conciliatory about religion: “…there is no necessary incompatibility between religion and science. That is, I know some very distinguished scientists who are also religious and the two seem to sit quite happily side-by-side.”

Fortey’s religion still seems to be the beloved trilobites around which his career has revolved. As he leads us out of the warren of offices he stops to show us a 2-cm long specimen with a sweeping, crescent-shaped head. There, staring back through hundreds of millions of years is a good enough reason for a career spent digging up the past and writing so wonderfully about it. ■

Richard Fortey and his favourite fossil, the Trilobite

I, science 19 25/11/05 5:48:20 am

NEWS & EVENTS

OPINION

INTERVIEWS

REVIEWS

Surely you’re joking Professor Isham?

Theoretical physicist Professor Christopher Isham believes there is a lot more to quantum reality than nonsense and a lot more to life than science.

João Medeiros meets the Dean.

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ROFESSOR CHRISTOPHER Isham receives me in the office which, 35 years ago, he visited weekly as a postgraduate student. He now occupies it as the recently appointed Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences (“They give me lunches and they give me dinners”, he says laughing).

Isham has been a theoretical physics professor at Imperial for more than twenty years. Hs research concerns quantum gravity; a highly speculative part of physics, which has provided work for scientists since Einstein’s time, when physicists first realised that the theory of gravity and quantum theory provided completely different views of the physical world.

The theory of gravity is built upon geometrical ideas, the token view being that space-time behaves like a fabric that becomes curved by the presence of mass. With it we can, in principle, explain the planetary orbits, the spread of galaxies and the expansion of

the universe.

On the other hand, quantum theory is the physics that takes hold at the atomic scale and below. The physics of materials and high energy particle accelerators all rely on quantum equations. However, quantum mechanics has no logic at all: particles pop up and disappear out of nothing, positions and energies are ruled by uncertainty. As Niels Bohr once put, “Anyone who thinks they can talk about quantum theory without feeling dizzy hasn’t yet understood the first word about it.” That’s what Isham is trying to change.

“One of my frustrations is that hardly any of my colleagues understands what I am doing”

© Meilin Sancho

Isham with fellow theoretical phycisist Stephen Hawking

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Reasoning that ultimately there should only be only one theory to explain the workings of the universe, physicists set out to find a larger theory that can encompass the two theories as mere perspectives for different situations. There have been as many ideas to solve the conundrum of quantum gravity as there are degrees of imagination, but progress has been slow. Some think that the fundamental particles are made up of strings of finite but indescribably small size, others that space is not a continuum but discrete, even that we live in two dimensions as holograms.

Physicists have ideas and do the calculations in the hope that a new perspective can put gravity and quantum theory together.

Isham’s approach is different. He has a keen inclination to ask what is, rather than what if. “I always found the notion of space and time very strange things. When

I was a student I used to go to concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and I would sit right at the back. I would look at the orchestra and found myself asking what it is between me and them? It’s this thing called space, but what actually is this thing?”

He worries that there is fair amount of naivety in the way physicists intend to represent the world.

“I noticed how passionate people can get about certain things. I also found out that the interpretation that people have of quantum theory seems to be reflecting in some way their actual personality in an unexpectedly deep way.”

His aim is to steer clear from any personal contexts and to build a theory with clear mathematical principles in order to avoid the usual bullshit factor spurred by wild imaginations. This leads Isham to the rather unique position of being as rigorous with maths as he is with the physics.

Over the last decade he has been applying a mathematical theory called topos theory to quantum mechanics. “In topos logic you can get statements which are partially true, which in normal logic doesn’t make any sense. When I realised this, I thought “My goodness, things can partly exist as well!

That’s certainly how quantum theory is like!”

Partial existence? Neither yes nor no? My face distorts into puzzlement. Yeah…maybe, I say. He then gives me his first paper on the subject, clearly expecting too much of me.

The difficulty of such matters is not overwhelming for me alone. “One of my frustrations is that hardly any of my colleagues understands what I am doing” We’re very bad at reading each others’ papers anyway and when it involves a completely new branch of mathematics it takes a long time to learn it so why bother? So people will only take the

“Partial existence?

Neither yes nor no?

My face distorts into puzzlement” time to read about this stuff if I come up with a truly spectacular application.”

These days, Isham seems to have become a maverick of all things metaphysical.

Philosophers call him a great thinker, theologians invite him to their conferences and theoretical physicists hail him as a unique influence. His main interest, although, is far more earthly. “What really counts is how you relate to other people, that’s by far the most important thing”, he says with sincerity while the last of the physicists’ stereotypes goes out of the window.

Aiming to quickly recover the scientist in him, I shoot: “So Professor Isham, what is a thing?”

“We can’t say what is a thing, but you can say what is not.”

“What is not?”

“Not what people think it is”.

Surely you must be joking Professor.

Isham? ■

Winter 2005

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FEATURES

Nanotechnology:

Making big waves in a tiny world In the expanse of London, Imperial and UCL are venturing into the smaller world of nanotechnology.

Lilian Anekwe visits the London Centre for Nanotechnology.

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ANOTECHNOLOGY STRIKES me as one of those scientific words that I ought to know the meaning of, but in fact, don’t. Intuitively the word makes me think of the technology of really small things, but I’m at a loss to provide a definition more insightful than this. In today’s world this problem is easily solved; a quick Google search reveals that nanotechnology is “The science and technology of building electronic circuits and devices, of less than 100 nanometres, from single atoms and molecules”. 100 nanometres; that’s less than a billionth of a metre, so I was right to think that it involved really small things. But how useful can experimentation into entities this small really be in the big wide world?

My initial reservations notwithstanding, nanotechnology is in fact booming. The interest in manipulating single atoms and molecules in order to give them newer and more useful properties began with a lecture given by the theoretical physicist Richard Feynman in 1959. Feynman predicted that there was nothing in the laws of physics that meant that manipulating individual atoms and molecules was impossible, but rather the only limit was the development of sufficiently dextrous tools.

“Most people don’t realise that nanotechnology is out there in a big way” Since then, nanotechnology has made remarkable progress and has spawned new branches of research in physics, chemistry and biology. Dr Abid Khan, the deputy director of The London Centre for Nanotechnology, is well placed to comment on the possibility of nanotechnology being the panacea to all of our futuristic society’s ills. The London Centre for Nanotechnology was created in 2002 at a cost of nearly £14m, and has a new £20m facility opening in January 2006. It aims to provide a “hub for a UK wide [nanotechnology] network”. As a joint, integrated venture between Imperial College London and University College London, the centre is rapidly developing a reputation as one of the world’s leading centres for nanotechnology research.

Amongst the state-of-the-art facilities offered at the centre is a ‘clean-room’; when working with nanoscale molecules, contamination by a single dust particle can spell disaster.

Dr Khan is keen to stress the spirit of mutual collaboration in which the London

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Centre for Nanotechnology was born, as the brainchild of Sir Richard Sykes and Sir Derek Roberts, the rectors of Imperial College and UCL, respectively. “The London Centre for Nanotechnology’s quite a novel beast”, explains Dr Khan. “It’s unique in that it is one of the few centres for nanotechnology in the world to unify teams across different disciplines – in medicine, chemistry, physics and engineering. Overall, there are more than 200 researchers involved across the two institutions”.

“The London Centre for Nanotechnology is quite a novel beast” As you would expect of a multi-million pound project that draws on the expertise of two of the country’s leading universities (including Imperial College’s own Professor Tim Jones, head of the Centre for Electronic Materials and Devices), there are exciting research applications in the pipeline. Dr Khan is clearly enthusiastic about the potential uses of the research currently underway at the LCN, not least because of the lucrative research grants the LCN has attracted, including a £2.3m award for a new type of transmission electron micrograph for use at Imperial – of which there are only around 10 in the world.

“Certain sites specialise in certain things”, Dr Khan explains. “For example, an important project currently going on at Imperial is the development of solar cells, backed by BP Solar. These are light, flexible solar cells made with nano-structured materials that can be used over much wider areas than current solar cells, which use more expensive semiconductor technology.

Theoretically, they could be made large enough to cover the roof of a house. On the other hand, at UCL, they are working on some of the fundamental mechanisms behind neurodegenerative disorders and detectors for disease”. In keeping with the cooperative spirit of the LCN there are further joint ventures underway, including the new Bio Nano Centre, where Imperial and UCL researchers will work together to build prototype products for the medical industry. The successful application of the fruits of nanotechnologists’ labours could be the solution to problems the majority of us haven’t even thought of yet.

Where will the LCN lead the nanotechnology industry in the future? “In the medium term, the major movement is going to be

in new materials processing in new types of optical devices and display screens, such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs)” explains Dr Khan. “But in the longer term, the major applications will be in medicine.

In fact, there are drugs with nano-structured delivery mechanisms that have gained US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approval, and others are currently in Phase III trials”. It is only a matter of time before we see the benefits of nanotechnology all around us then? “What most people don’t realise is that nanotechnology is already out there in a big way, it’s already worth billions of pounds. There are nanoparticles in pregnancy tests. Cars have nanostructures in the paintwork. Digital camera memories use nanotechnologies”. It seems even though we can’t see the technology, we can see its innovations all around us. ■

I, science 21 25/11/05 6:13:58 am

FEATURES

Dancing to a Different Tune

“We all dance to a mysterious tune intoned in the distance by an invisible player.”

-Albert Einstein Undoubtedly so. To commemorate the centenary of Einstein’s seminal papers the Institute of Physics commissioned an original piece of contemporary dance from the celebrated Rambert Dance Company. Becky Coe went to see the results of this effort, Constant Speed, and caught up with Ray Rivers, Professor of Theoretical Physics here at Imperial, who provided the dancers with background on the pioneering work of the eminent father of modern physics.

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T WAS with some sense of trepidation that I set off to see Rambert Dance Company’s Constant Speed – partly because I had to travel to the concrete capital that is Milton Keynes, but also because I was concerned that as a mere biologist the complexity of physics portrayed as dance would go over my head. I needn’t have worried as I was quickly assured that under no circumstances was this going to be a physics lecture. As Professor Ray Rivers explained: “It’s a celebration, a fanfare. If it’s a soup there’s a bit of Einstein in the herbs but the actual meat is in the choreography.”

In fact Constant Speed could be considered the antithesis of the average physics lecture: it is colourful, quirky, witty, sexy and, at

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© Ram Shergill

just 27 minutes long, over far too quickly.

It does not, thankfully, attempt to literally represent Einstein’s seminal papers but does make oblique references to some of the ideas through movement, set, costume and lighting. “You have to be very careful not to be too naff,” says Rivers. “Occasionally you see people in yellow suits pretending to be quarks, and it just makes you cringe. That’s not it!”

This is certainly not “Einstein: The Ballet.”

The references to physics are subtle and, without reading the program, could be missed entirely. However, a brief consideration of the inspiration for this piece leads to a greater insight, depth of understanding and ultimately, enjoyment.

The most dance-friendly of Einstein’s 1905 ideas was that of Brownian motion – often demonstrated to students by the apparently random motion of pollen grains suspended in water. The phenomena, originally identified by biologist Robert Brown, could only be understood when Einstein’s calculations established the existence of atoms and molecules: the pollen grains are jostled and moved by water molecules too small to be seen.

Rivers introduced the concept to the

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e

FEATURES

choreographer of Constant Speed, Mark Baldwin, with the use of a “bumble ball.” This is a battery-operated toy (originally designed for children but now promoted to dogs) resembling a brightly coloured landmine – its centre of gravity constantly shifts, causing it to mimic the erratic movement of a molecule

have benefited from the venture. Although Rambert did not take the project on as an exercise in publicity, it has reaped rewards from the attention surrounding Einstein Year.

Similarly, theatre-goers, who probably buy tickets based on the reputation of Rambert with little regard for the particular content

It’s a celebration, a fanfare. If it’s a soup there’s a bit of Einstein in the herbs but the actual meat is in the choreography. bombarded by unseen forces. Part of the final choreography incorporates the dancers’ improvisations based on playing with the bumble ball, Baldwin uses the randomness of the body movements to great effect.

Einstein’s revelation that light could act as packages of energy, photons, which behave like particles inspired another section of the dance. The energy of the photon depends on its colour, and we see weak, red men capering with strong, blue women – a comic aside which Rivers describes as “pure Mark.” This leads into the spectacular rainbow finale, which, complete with a two-tonne disco ball, flirts delightfully with the kitsch. Baldwin intended the disco ball to simultaneously suggests the cosmos and the concept that light arrives in packets. This was lost on me, but the random scattering of light and the dancers’ reflections was stunning.

The choreography is energetic, daring and at points even acrobatic; the physicality is irresistible. This is all set off by the music of Franz Lehar, a Viennese composer and a contemporary of Einstein. Baldwin had the fanciful idea of Einstein dreaming up his physics whilst listening to the pop music of his time.

Rivers comments that although the content of physics and dance are poles apart they share the same “intensity of individual visions and the quality which goes into the work – and the uncertainty as how to actually create something.” Similarly, in the programme notes, Baldwin comments that he has learnt that physicists can be charming and obsessive – just like artists.

The concepts of energy, space and time, so integral to Einstein’s ideas are also a common currency in dance. The energy is never lacking in Baldwin’s choreography, and Rivers feels this is why dance is a much more appropriate medium for representing physics than a static form of visual art. There might also be other similarities between physics and contemporary dance, like the necessity for a different mind set with which to view them. Physicists often understand things in mathematical equations, unintelligible to many outsiders; dance aficionados learn to read movements, rhythm and pace.

Perhaps this makes contemporary dance a sympathetic medium to portray physics as both are a bit misunderstood by the public at large.

In the case of Constant Speed, it certainly seems that both sides of the partnership

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of the program, are introduced to some potentially unfamiliar ideas. “It alerts them to the fact that this is Einstein Year and there is something called the Institute of Physics and if it gets just one or two other ideas over in a simple way, then that is marvellous.”

Rivers said.

So does Constant Speed work? I would

say as an exquisite piece of art that takes scientific ideas as its muse, it most definitely does. If however, you were anticipating a pedagogical work to furnish you with a deeper understanding of Einsteinian physics, you would be disappointed. Rivers declined to speculate on whether Einstein himself would have been impressed by Constant Speed, but I feel it might be a fitting tribute to a man who seemed to hold such a special place for the creative side of scientific thinking. Einstein said in an interview in 1929, “inspiration is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited, imagination encircles the world.”

If nothing else this collaboration between science and art exudes imagination and encourages it too. ■

© Ram Shergill Although there are many overt physics references in “Constant Speed”, many references are far less obvious, existing like a private joke between the physicists and dancers involved.

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FEATURES

I Want My Freedom!

Smoking: a right or a public health menace? The Government couldn’t decide.

Meera Senthilingam scrutinizes the issues.

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HOPPING CENTRES, museums, and cinemas… they’ve all done it! What have they done you say? They’ve all declared a vendetta on cigarettes and banned smoking on their premises. Pubs and bars are now to follow, stoking further debate nationwide.

Why pass a law to ban smoking? The sight and smell of smoke is a common occurrence to us students who venture out into London nightlife but do we really know what we are being exposed to? Every patron of bars and smoky restaurants is exposing themselves to passive smoke. This is the combination of side stream smoke, coming from the tip of a lit cigarette; and mainstream smoke, exhaled from a smoker.

“87% of Imperial students thought the ban should go ahead” Countries such as Ireland and Norway have already completely banned you lighting up in their workplaces, bars and restaurants.

Will England follow in these giant footsteps? England is planning to ban smoking in workplaces that serve food, therefore including all restaurants and many bars.

However, they are letting private members’ clubs decide for themselves. You may think this sounds more reasonable than a complete ban, but the British Medical Association (BMA) states that enforcing this partial ban will prove much harder than implementing a comprehensive ban over all communal areas.

To ban or not to ban…who actually cares about the outcome of this legislation? I took to the ‘streets’ of Imperial’s walkway

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to get your views on the matter.

87% of all the students I accosted said they thought the ban should go ahead, while 13% thought it was unnecessary. However, 90% of the people I stopped were non-smokers, which obviously biased my outcome.

To even out these stats I hit my local and asked the opinion of the patrons. In this environment 52% said they didn’t agree with the ban. Considering that 2/3 of these people were smokers, this is not as high as you would presume.

So what were the reasons justifying these opinions? The majority of non-smokers felt it was unfair for them to be subjected to smoke when it’s not a habit they have picked up. They felt it forced them into somebody else’s lifestyle.

I’m sure all girls have woken up after a big night to the lovely aroma of tobacco on their hair.

This stale odour after a night out was a main reason among nonsmokers.

The smokers on the other hand felt that passing such a law would be almost totalitarian.

They felt that too much in life is being regulated and the ban would remove freedom. Yet non-smokers could argue for their right to go out in a smokefree environment.

Whilst agreeing that it wasn’t fair to non-smokers, the smokers I met felt that divided areas within pubs and bars would be a better alternative allowing choice for both parties.

The problem with such divisions however, is that most bars that provide this have not installed adequate ventilation systems resulting in very little benefit.

Research here at Imperial College has shown that 700 people die every year from the effects of passive smoking and

at least one hospitality employee dies every day. This evidence is pretty conclusive, but hundreds of theories have been passed around on the health problems associated with passive smoking.

What are the real concerns for us to be aware of?

Tobacco smoke is made up of over 4000 chemical compounds and it is thought at least 60 of these are potentially carcinogenic. In the short-term, just thirty minutes exposure to passive smoke can reduce blood flow through the heart.

In the long-term, the Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health concluded that passive smoke was involved in many cases of lung cancer, heart disease and respiratory problems.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) as a class A carcinogen - in the same class as asbestos. We all know the fuss kicked up about asbestos, yet on

a daily basis we’re exposed to a substance deemed as hazardous.

The smoking campaigning group FOREST argue that the case against passive smoke has not been fully proven, but the evidence backing the concerns against passive smoking is continually increasing.

It must be noted that while only 59% of the Irish population supported the ban before it was introduced, over a year on 93% now back it. There is worry that trade in the hospitality industry will suffer, though in Ireland a small fall in trade was soon followed by a rise and stands at present with an overall loss of only 3%.

Bringing the issue into context, would a ban from smoking in the union bar result in a loss of revenue, a loss of student drinking? I think not.

So all this considered, maybe it’s time to follow the trend and clear the air. ■

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25/11/05 6:18:42 am

REVIEWS

INTERVIEWS

OPINION

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Science and Religion They’ve got no IDea Intelligent Design: just how intelligent is it? Michael Marshall finds out.

C

ONTROVERSY CONTINUES to rage in America over Intelligent Design (ID), an ‘alternative’ view of the theory of evolution. Evolutionary scientists across the globe are up in arms, claiming that ID isn’t even a theory. Are they right?

One of the problems with tackling such a contentious issue is that the debate has been polarised, over-strong claims are made on each side. The spokesmen for ID have complained repeatedly that their claims are being misrepresented as ‘creationism by any other name’.

ID, however, does not deny the advances of modern science. Several key figures in ID are working scientists, urging a reinterpretation of the evidence regarding evolution. So, here is their definition of ID, taken unadulterated from www.intelligentdesignnetwork.org “The theory of intelligent design (ID) holds that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause rather than an undirected process such as natural selection. ID is thus a scientific disagreement with the core claim of evolutionary theory that the apparent design of living systems is an illusion.”

In spite of this new wording we are back in familiar territory.

Historically, opponents of the theory of evolution have argued that complex features such as eyes could not have arisen by a mindless process such as natural selection. There must therefore have been a higher power, i.e. God, controlling how life developed.

ID’s proponents, however, are very keen not to bring the word ‘God’ into the discussion. They refer simply to the ‘Designer’, whose identity and nature is left unspecified. This smacks of re-branding, intended to give creationism more of a scientific feel.

“The Designer has not been observed or defined, and he certainly has not been studied” Let’s think it through. The Designer is required to be aware of the detailed circumstances of every life-form in the universe.

Conservatively, that’s 6 billion humans, all the rest of the mammals, all the rest of the vertebrates, all the invertebrates, plus the trillions of plants, fungi, bacteria, cyanobacteria and viruses. Furthermore, the Designer is supposed to be able to continually and precisely adjust all these life-forms at a genetic level, without any visible indications of this process, such as hands coming out of the sky, telekineticallycontrolled pipettes, or the like.

That is one hell of a supposition. Scientific theories are expected to use the fewest assumptions possible to explain a wide range of

Who’s the intelligent designer?

God, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

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observations. By introducing an all-powerful Designer, ID fails this basic test. Obviously, conventional evolution also relies on ‘assumptions’, like genes, mutations and changes in the environment; however, all of these have been observed, defined and studied in detail. The Designer has not been observed or defined, and he certainly has not been studied. It becomes clear why the American Association for the Advancement of Science claims that ID “has not been demonstrated to be a scientific theory”.

One wonders why, if there truly is an all-powerful Designer guiding the process of evolution, humans have an appendix. His machinations have created several species of dark-dwelling mammals with residual eyes that don’t work, birds that don’t go near water but nevertheless have webbed feet, and multitudinous unfortunate creatures that are manifestly ill-equipped to survive their environment.

I await an explanation with interest. ■

Religion has a place In November Rev Dr John Polkinghorne spoke at Imperial about ‘The Friendship of Science and Religion’. Andrew Willson explains why he invited him.

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HERE SEEMS to be an unnecessary gap between the areas of science and religion. Over my four years as Chaplain at Imperial I have had some great conversations about how science connects with religious practice and ideas. These conversations however have been with individuals rather than in public meetings. Where the connection has arisen in public debate it has been in meetings where the explicit agenda was the promotion of Christianity. In this instance the relationship between science and religion becomes a football to kick about in an inconclusive debate about the existence or otherwise of God. I was pleased when John proposed the title for his talk, ‘The Friendship of Science and Religion’. I wanted the talk and the following dialogue to address the wide area that exists between the extreme positions of fundamentalist secularists and fundamentalist Christians. Between these two extreme points of view there seemed to be a huge area for dialogue.

My view is that the supposed conflict between science and religion is a false binary opposition. Making sense of our lives and the world in which we live can not be reduced to the simplistic question: “Which is right, science or religion? You decide!”.

The over-simplifying seems to occur at the extreme end of both sides of the relationship. On the religious side there are Christians who, because of a false and fundamentalist view of their faith, fail to recognise that the Bible texts are not doing early 21st century science.

There are also those of an intensely secularist pro-science view who fail to look at the phenomenon of religion with the same kind of curiosity and dispassion that they use in science.

So between these extremes I felt that there was need for a good, academically sound and scientifically credible voice arguing the case that science and religion both look at the world but focus on different things, or are asking different questions.

Clearly John understands both religion and science from the inside. What he was able to describe with authority were the ways in which the two areas are both distinct and overlap. This is nuanced and un-dramatic stuff. However, it is this area that proved to be of such interest to over 200 people. This I guess is where the questions actually lie for those who are themselves aware of the questions that can be asked about the limitations and virtues of both science and religion. There seem to be opportunities for both science and religion to admit what they cannot answer; to admit the points at which the models are only models, or that the scriptural images and metaphors about God are just that – metaphors and images. Here lies the beginning of interesting dialogue. ■

I, science 25 25/11/05 6:34:01 am

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The Creativity Drain Science is being taught in a way that stifles creativity and the sciences are suffering as a result, argues Katherine Nightingale.

“Y

OU DROPPED science, I would guess, because it was doled out to you in spoonfuls of distilled boredom.”

The author David Lodge got to the root of the problem with science education in his recent novel Thinks. Is the way science is taught in our schools, and the way science is perceived in general, putting off creative young minds?

The number of students taking A Levels in science subjects is dropping. This has knock-on effects in the science departments of universities. Applications for degree courses in the physical sciences, along with maths and engineering, have fallen by as much as 30% in recent years.

Perhaps one of the problems facing the education of science is that science itself is so embedded in the facts. Its very purpose - to find out about the world - is often translated into a dull, fact-laden subject in the classroom. The parrot-fashion learning of chemical equations, for example, is not exactly stimulating. National Curriculum time constraints can make it hard to emphasise the investigative and pioneering aspects of science.

I don’t think I’ll ever forget the principle of evolution by natural selection, illustrated by my GCSE biology teacher roaming the classroom pretending to be one of the first fish to take a gasp of air, complete with slurping noises and a look of wide-eyed confusion.

Explaining the principles behind the science in just such a way would surely be more rewarding than the repetition of facts. Spoonfuls of distilled boredom my biology classes were not.

The objective nature of science can make it appear detached and dispassionate, an immediate turn-off for students who think of themselves as creative and want a connection with their subject.

I certainly remember feeling bewildered at having to write up science experiments in the passive voice. In trying to emphasise the objectivity of science, and laying down the guidelines for the experimental rigour that is undoubtedly the basis of ‘good science’, science education almost deceives its students. There is no talk of the motivations and passions of scientists, save the most famous historical figures. It seems strange that we can learn about Darwin and Einstein as humans, yet rarely do the same for contemporary scientists. This detachment from human activity dissuades some students from pursuing science further; many give it up for more humanities-based subjects at the first opportunity, subjects in which they perceive there to be more personal freedom and creativity.

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget my GCSE biology teacher roaming the classroom pretending to be one of the first fish to take a gasp of air, complete with slurping noises and a look of wide-eyed confusion” Yet there is a great deal of creativity in scientific research, it is simply rarely talked about. While the creative process itself is an important part of the arts and evidently impregnates the final product, in science the most important aspect is the end result. Science has created a culture for itself where emotion is frowned upon and any admittance of a creative, personal journey in the process of scientific research would undermine the final product.

There is no use in denying the personal and creative exertion a scientist can go through in order to gain results. Alan Lightman both a physicist and novelist - claims that the feeling of the creative moment in both scientific research and fiction writing is the same: “a stunning surprise joined with a feeling of rightness and inevitability”.

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“There is a great deal of creativity in scientific research, it is simply rarely talked about” It has been said that the ultimate aims of the artist and scientist are alike; both are trying to understand and represent for others the reality that lies beyond appearances and both have the ability to look at situations in a different way to an established norm.

Acknowledging the more creative aspects of scientific research could lead to a deeper understanding not only between science and the arts, but between science teachers and the scientists of the future.

Whether this could ever be addressed in our education system remains to be seen. ■

Humanities Graduate...

And Proud Should arts graduates stay away from the sciences? Jonathan Black (BA English Lit.) doesn’t think so.

I

F YOU’D LIKE to be a science communicator, I highly recommend English Literature as a course of study. Now don’t all leave at once.

It’s brilliant fun, and you get to spend the rest of your life bothered by the sense that everything happening to you you’ve read somewhere before. One downside, however, is that it tends to inspire some pretty beetled looks from scientists, especially when you tell them you want to write about science. My own science credentials are really not much: a bit of calculus, a bit of physics, and I got really irritated that a guy I was going out with in second year had Walt Whitman’s love poem to scientific ignorance When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer stuck to his door. Read it, it’s barge-rinse.

I don’t come with expert knowledge in a scientific field, but that’s not what you need to write about science for a general audience. The experts themselves are only experts in the small corners of their field.

A science writer needs to know who the expert is and why his or her findings are believed (or not) by others in science. That’s the same for everyone who communicates science, regardless of how much time they’ve spent at the business end of an Erlenmeyer flask. I’m not saying that I don’t need to go and find things out. Each day there’s more to get wrong about science than there was the day before, and I don’t want to get things wrong.

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I promise to do my homework. I will also put this, my first published piece of writing about science, in a handsome and heavy frame. If you’ve done some science that I get wrong then you, yes you, can come over and whack me with it. If my head is still vaguely spherical after a few years, hopefully you’ll agree I can carry on.

“All of us, humanities graduates, made fun of the hardline postmodernist view that knowledge is myth.

Then we went to the pub.”

But maybe I don’t want to get my facts right: it seems I may have other, darker purposes to my scribbling. The Guardian’s Ben Goldacre recently decided that once humanities graduates join the media they’re consumed with antiscientific thoughts. Oh yes: “…humanities graduates in the media, who suspect themselves to be intellectuals, desperately need to reinforce the idea that science is nonsense: because they’ve denied themselves access to the most significant developments in the history of western thought for 200 years, and secretly, deep down, they’re angry with themselves over that.” This potted bit of pop psychology isn’t true, but I do admire its resemblance to the origins of a comic book villain. Goldacre can dream up paintpot monsters to give you all nightmares if he likes, but what he’s saying bears no resemblance to the humanities graduates who are my friends. All of us made fun of the hardline postmodernist view that knowledge is myth. Then we went to the pub.

There are benefits to having humanities kids like me hanging out around science. The fact that artists, playwrights and others of the ilk

Will the lights stay on this winter?

Were they on in the first place? Despite political rhetoric on the strength of the UK’s Climate Change Programme, we still have a long way to go, argues Laura Middleton.

L

IKE MANY, I cringed when I heard Tony Blair’s backtrack speech to the G8 environment ministers last week. It was George W Jr. speaking when Blair said that the “blunt truth about the politics of climate change” was that no country wants to sacrifice its economy to meet the challenge and that focus needs to be on technology, not binding international targets and agreements.

Blair’s new focus on technology comes exactly when his own scientific adviser announced that UK is unlikely to meet its 2010 target of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 20%. He insists that the UK will catch up to reach its 2050 target of a 60% reduction but most policy research suggests the opposite.

Robust, measurable targets are exactly what we need - not just vague aspirations. The technology to reduce energy demand and supply, together with energy efficiency measures is already available.

If we launched a national wind, solar and combined heat and power (CHP) programme along with energy conservation measures we could really make a difference to the amount of carbon dioxide produced in 2010. The challenge is to provide regulations and enough economic incentives to persuade industry and households to take up these technologies on a mass scale.

“Too many senior officials just don’t believe that you can get energy this way,” said Jeremy Leggett of the solar power company Solarcentury. “They believe that you get it from building a big box and putting in it a nuclear reactor; it’s just the culture. “The government is

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have been inspired to talk about science is a sign of its success, not its failure. Some of their portrayals will be suspicious in intention or quality, and I’ll be around to spot the silly ones and applaud the truthful ones. If science is meant to be for everyone, that should include little old me - you’ll find the party’s better if not everyone brings the same thing. I’m sorry to be so goody-goody about all this, but trust an English grad. It worked out for the Montagues and the Capulets in the end, but it will be better to try and resolve things without quite so many of us taking, or talking, poison. ■

drip-feeding the renewables sector - barely keeping it alive,” It’s the UK’s fragmented policy and lack of joined up thinking that has resulted in us facing an enormous shortfall in electricity provision compared to other European countries such as Germany, which last year installed 100 times more solar capacity than the UK. Climate Change Science has never been more robust. There is widespread scientific consensus that C02 emissions from humans are increasing the earth’s average temperature and the debate has moved on to examine how society must respond. Science has developed state-of-the-art climate “scenarios” which look at how climate change impacts vary with different government policies.

These scenarios can also be used to see what mix of policies would be required to reach a 60% reduction in carbon emissions. Recent advances in economic computer modelling have demonstrated that we can have economic growth but at the same time reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Science provides clear pathways towards a clean, decarbonised, yet growing economy, but the call for leadership on climate change that Blair triumphantly advocated during the recent G8 meetings has not translated into real action. Recent research by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research points to how planned airport expansions would mean that by 2050 aviation would be responsible for 90% of all carbon emissions, yet the government still refuses to tax aviation fuel or curb expansion.

The UK Government structure is too weak to respond to climate change because its agencies are disjointed and do not communicate. Defra are primarily responsible for the UK Climate Change Programme (UKCCP), but the impacts of climate change go beyond Defra’s remit. This requires policy integration and consensus between DTI, DFT, the Treasury and the ODPM something which certainly won’t take place without clear targets.

Similarly the UKCCP, which mainly consists of the Energy Savings Trust and the Climate Change Levy, is itself disjointed and fragmented. The roles, responsibilities and pathways between funding bodies, strategies and research organisations are not clear.

Much of the liaison between Defra, the UKCCP and other research bodies is entirely ad-hoc and based-upon personal relationships.

There is little formal coordination or communication between the many bodies contributing to it. Government departments and the programme itself need an overarching, holistic framework to integrate information, avoid duplicating efforts and share knowledge. We need interdisciplinary government for an interdisciplinary problem. ■

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The divine idea

Katherine Nightingale finds there is less to God’s story than she had hoped.

The Story of God

by Robert Winston

BANTAM PRESS / ISBN 0-593-05493-8

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OBERT WINSTON is a brave man. He has written a book about the history of religion: from its beginnings in the minds of our prehistoric ancestors to its status in society today, threatened by science. Written from his perspective as a highly regarded scientist and a practising Jew, this work is unlikely to be entirely respected by either scientists or theologians.

The subject is undoubtedly compelling. It raises questions central to human existence and consciousness: now that we have science, do we need God? Why did we ever need God? What makes us seek not only an explanation of the world around us, but a why, something beyond perceptible human life? And how has this ‘religiosity’ survived?

“Winston poses the most important question and yet doesn’t tell us what he thinks the answer is”

Winston charts the history of religion, which he calls the “Divine Idea”, from the earliest civilisations to question what happened after death, through organised religion, to the present day. The prehistoric evidence he uses is understandably speculative and shaky, and though Winston recognises this himself, his arguments may still attract derision from his fellow scientists.

His arguments are occasionally muddled, especially the idea of a ‘gene for religion’. He describes candidate genes involved in the

Creepy-crawlies Greg Foot gets down and dirty with a few billion invertebrates.

Life in the Undergrowth

presented by David Attenborough

D

AVID ATTENBOROUGH returns to our screens with Life in the Undergrowth, a series probing deep into the lives of the invertebrates hidden underneath our feet.

At a preview hosted by the Royal Television Society, Mike Salisbury, the series producer, took an invited audience through some of the footage. I will never again look at the world in the same way. We saw a snail’s tentacle unravel with an eye opening from its end. We saw a springtail, a flea smaller than a full stop, keep itself moist using an inflatable grooming arm. We saw beetles re-packing their wings using what can only be described as expert origami.

Life in the Undergrowth films the often-neglected creepy-crawlies living in our hedgerows. The series is a visual feast: screens are filled with colourful shots of stunning organisms that have never before been exposed in this way. Minute cameras, accompanied by

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regulation of levels of different mood-controlling neurotransmitters in the brain, linking these to a sense of peace achieved in spirituality.

These genes could have been favoured by natural selection if they helped humans form cohesive societies based on religious codes.

However, Winston discounts this idea later, because cohesion within groups can be achieved by other means. “Religion does not seem to be produced by a specific part of our psychological makeup”. He makes no further mention of these genes yet describes more evidence for a genetic component to religion.

His discussion of the birth and development of modern science is engaging, and charts the complexities of science becoming a valid world-view alongside, and often in contention with, religion.

While traditional, organised religion is in decline, the personalised ‘supermarket of faiths’ and religion for ‘the here and now’ have become increasingly popular. It would seem that while science, deeply rooted in observation and experiment, is explaining more and more, the human mind cannot let go of the Divine Idea and continues to seek something more than science can give.

Winston says that science will never completely answer the questions behind human existence, yet he doesn’t offer an alternative. He suggests instead that the search for the meaning of life itself is sufficient meaning for man’s existence. He has posed possibly the most important question for humanity and yet doesn’t tell us what he thinks the answer is. Indeed, though there are many references to both his professional life and his Jewish faith, he never expresses an overt opinion. This is disappointing. He is in an almost unique position, effectively spanning both sides of the argument, but despite this denies us the personal journey promised in the tagline of his book.

The Story of God takes us through a narrative that anyone interested in human history will enjoy. The book explains many of the disputes between science and religion with style and clarity, yet the overall tone is descriptive rather than investigative. It is certainly illuminating about the issues surrounding the debates of science and religion. Perhaps Winston’s greatest skill is taking such a massive topic and presenting it in a digestible and entertaining way. He is never patronising and there is a sense that he is learning along with us. Yet the fact that this book has been written by a scientist may not work in its favour. Should scientists, religious or not, be embarking on this kind of study? There is no doubt that this will provoke further debate in the science versus religion battlefield.

As Winston himself concedes, “As a scientist writing about religion I will inevitably be venturing onto contested ground.” ■

their own lighting rigs, delve deep into insect’s nests. Time-lapse photography shows bee flight 4,000 times slower than the naked eye could see it. Tiny lenses, mounted on an automated miniature robot, march with an ant army during the invasion of a termite nest. In a welcome addition to the standard natural history programme format, the pioneering technology behind such pictures is presented in the final ten minutes of each programme.

The series is at the cusp of scientific and technical knowledge. It shows thermal imagery of insect antics that have never been seen before, recording even the tiny sounds produced by larvae that purposefully imitate red ants. This footage is being used to further research, and papers based on it have already appeared in Nature.

Life in ihe Undergrowth highlights not only the incredible beauty of the invertebrate world but also its importance: “If we and the rest of the back-boned animals were to disappear overnight, the rest of the world would get on pretty well. But if the invertebrates were to disappear, the land’s ecosystems would collapse.”

One memorable sequence sees Attenborough using a pin to point to a springtail, whilst the latest ‘deep focus’ technology enables us to see both Attenborough and the animal together without the use of digital trickery. Attenborough, however, is as brilliantly understated as ever, giving the tiny insect centre stage.

The series is a delight to watch, and it is difficult to describe in words how inspiring this footage is. Attenborough’s approachable style and infectious enthusiasm will absorb everyone into this fascinating miniature world found deep in our undergrowth. ■

Attenborough’s undergrowth Life in the Undergrowth is a five-part series produced by Mike Salisbury. Watch it on BBC1 Wednesdays at 9pm.

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Moth Surprise, Carlo Delli, Italy. (The Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition is organised by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife Magazine. The images are for one use only and must not be archived.)

Wild creatures

The Natural History Museum’s wildlife photograhy exhibiton is an annual treat.

Letitia Hughes picks out some gems.

A

S I STRUGGLED through the Natural History Museum, full of screaming toddlers and school children brandishing clipboards, the sanctuary of the Wildlife Photographer Exhibition came as a welcome release. I won’t bore you with the details of my visit here – I’ll leave you to visit yourself. In the meantime, here are some highlights to whet your appetite.

If you think this exhibition is just walls of arty, useless photographs of people’s pet bunny rabbits, you are wrong. The photos come from all over the world, from places as diverse as the depths of the ocean and the top of a volcano. The text accompanying each photo helps the viewer discover some of the science behind it. The Animal Behaviour category includes images of a Japanese macaque, selflessly acting as a snowplough to help the other macaques to get past the deep snow (Yukihiro Fukuda, Snow Trails) and a snake eagle eating a snake (José B Ruiz, The Snake Eagle Family). A particularly impressive photo had a swift diving behind a powerful waterfall to the ledge underneath, a difficult journey bearing in mind its small size (John Aitchison, Swift Dive). The photographer describes how in order to leave the ledge the swifts had to fly down behind the wall of water until they gained enough speed to punch through it. Penguins always amuse me and here they are even more laughable as they attempt surfing. (Andy Rouse, Surfing Gentoo).

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In the Animal Portraits category, the expressions of the animals really spoke for themselves. Take the Glare of the Great Owl who clearly did not want to be photographed (Scott W Sharkey), or the majestic gorilla sitting unperturbed in the torrential rain (Joe McDonald, Gorilla in the Rain), or even the comic genius of the Red Deer who had acquired a stylish bracken headdress after a fight with a rival (Danny Green, Red Deer headgear). The Composition and Form category showed a close-up of what at first glance appears to be a furry mammal’s eyes but is in fact a moth’s defensive markings (Carlo Delli, Moths Surprise). A final eye-catching image was found in the Wild Places category in a scene that looked like something out of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, with monochromatic frosted pines juxtaposed against a sunlit backdrop (Christophe SidamonPesson, Frosted Pines).

You can see all these images and more if you visit the exhibition. All the winners are displayed, as well as the runners-up and the highly commended entries. And if that is not enough, there is also a movie of winning and commended entries from the past twenty years of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award.

The overall winner was Manuel Presti’s Sky Chase, an action shot of a dynamic peregrine falcon attack among a myriad of starlings.

The blurriness of the image only accentuates the speed and power of nature. In his own words, it is “a stark dramatic picture of one of the world’s greatest natural spectacles”. But don’t take his word for it – see it for yourself and pick your own favourite. ■

The Wildlife Photographer Exhibition Visit the exhibition at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington until 23 April 2006.

Tickets are £6 and £3.50 (concs)

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Obsessive genius Liv Hov-Clayton learns about a woman whose achievements came at a price.

Obsessive Genius: The Inner World of Marie Curie

by Barbara Goldsmith

PHOENIX / ISBN 0-753-81899-X

M

ADAME CURIE made her mark on history as the woman who braved the fantastically male-dominated world of science to discover radioactivity, radium and polonium and win two Nobel prizes. The myths surrounding this legendary woman are certainly romantic: she overcame childhood adversity and Russian oppression in her native Poland, studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, met the love of her life and discovered radium in a rundown, draughty shack in a Paris backyard – a discovery which made her world-famous.

Barbara Goldsmith adds new details to this myth, while debunking others. The true story is richer, more complex, and much more scandalous. Madame Curie suffered bouts of deep depression throughout her life, and only intense work and study could distract her from them. As reflected in the book’s title, she possessed an extreme sense of purpose in her scientific work; to prove her point she often set out on exhausting scientific studies, which could take years, rather than directly confront her critics. This was probably a sensible approach since her womanhood only helped to diminish her credibility in the male-dominated scientific circles. Any credit she received for her work was hard won; when she was awarded the

Sex and suicide?

There’s more to mitochondria than Francesca Young realised.

Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life

by Nick Lane

OUP / ISBN 0-192-80481-2

A

DRAMATIC TITLE like this may lead biology fanatics to expect the secrets of the world to unfold before their eyes, while cynics would expect a big let down. The man on the street probably thinks this book belongs on the self-help shelves, not too far from Jilly Cooper’s latest romp. Nick Lane’s unusual history of mitochondria is something in between the first two and nothing of the last.

Mitochondria are those tiny things that use oxygen to create power, jammed inside living cells. But do they live up to the book’s title? Lane does a good job of convincing us that they do.

Mitochondria were once considered to be merely the nucleus’ backing singers, creating the power for it to do the ‘real’ work, but are now considered the key ingredients of the complex life we enjoy.

The remarkable evolutionary miracles that brought us here only happened because of the symbiotic relationship that developed between the freely living mitochondria and other cells.

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Nobel Prize, she was not even allowed onto the podium to receive it.

However, in the experience of her daughter Eve, her almost obsessive traits made her a very single-minded and cold mother with little understanding for pursuits other than scientific knowledge.

Goldsmith’s story of Madame Curie’s life is also an intriguing account of the scientific community a century ago. The pursuit of scientific discoveries with the fame, honour and vital funding that followed was a merciless, though surprisingly courteous race.

Scientists would lend each other vital pieces of equipment, chemicals or data, knowing well it might cost them the credit of a discovery.

Mass media hotly pursued any breakthrough, and Goldsmith gives astonishing accounts of the usages radium was put to, most notably as a beauty product, with the gruesome deaths that inevitably followed.

The fact that Madame Curie was a woman and a foreigner made her an object of particular interest for the media. Her fame helped secure important funding for her research, but also worked against her, particularly when a decade after the death of her beloved husband and research partner Pierre Curie, Marie had an affair with a married fellow scientist, Paul Langevin. The newspapers did not think twice about splashing this all over their front pages, and overnight her reputation tumbled from being an object of admiration to one of contempt. This is perhaps not so different from today, apart from the fact that her male counterparts were left in peace. Goldstein points out how Albert Einstein fathered a child out of wedlock without suffering similar consequences.

Goldstein’s book is easy to read, accounts of experiments and theory are intermingled with vivid descriptions of public hysteria, infighting and Marie Curies’ well-concealed emotional life. Goldstein draws parallels with the present by focusing on the dilemmas that big scientific discoveries bring. Most scientists, including Madame Curie, want their work to be only of benefit, but once “the genie is out of the bottle”, it is difficult to control, and compromises are made to attract further funding. Madame Curie’s daughter took her mother’s findings further by unwittingly discovering fission, which has brought about nuclear bombs as well as nuclear energy.

Barbara Goldstein reveals some surprisingly emotional, at times shocking, aspects of an apparently grey, single-minded scientist, brilliantly portraying the interactions of scientists a century ago. ■

Call me a university patriot (Lane studied biochemistry at Imperial College) but his enthusiasm for the subject is infectious, and it is as much his writing ability as the subject matter that turns this book into “popular” science.

The “Power, Sex, Suicide” part of the title is an excuse for Lane to describe the intricate workings of mitochondria. But the book is not all hardcore cellular biology and evolution. Lane tells the story of how theories about mitochondria evolved and the controversies that surrounded them, concluding with Peter Mitchell’s 1978 Nobel Prize winning discovery. Mitchell proposed that mitochondria carry within them the secret of aging and thus also that of postponing death. Even the most sullen arts student would find it difficult to deny that this makes for charged reading.

“Mitochondria might carry the secret of aging and of postponing death” However, amongst this praise, it is only fair to issue a warning.

Funfairs have signs saying, “please do not board this ride unless you are this tall”, posted on the most dramatic of rides. Mitochondria’s jacket should ideally warn, “please do not attempt to read this book unless you have a biology A-level”. And even if you do have one, it’s fairly hard going. Explanations of biological processes essential to understanding the text are given but sometimes not until much further on. Non-scientist readers could be left wondering if there was a salient point they have missed in their ignorance. And yet, so much detail is embedded in this eccentrically arranged history of mitochondria that even the most die-hard mitochondria enthusiast would be tempted to make a cup of tea.

Whether you are an A-level biologist or hardcore mitochondria enthusiast, this is a book worth reading. It might not be as useful as Men are from Venus, Women are from Mars in solving your troubles, but in return for your perseverance you’ll be rewarded with one of the most dynamic stories in biology. ■

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One more thing...

“Science is the record of dead religions” Oscar Wilde “In a certain sense, science is myth-making just as religion is” Karl Popper, philosopher

“The only way to reconcile science and religion is to set up something which is not science and something that is not religion” H L Mencken, journalist

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind” “I do not feel obliged to Albert Einstein

believe that the same God who endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect intended us to forgo their use” Galileo Galilei

MSc in Science Communication (FT/PT) MSc in Science Media Production (FT) MSc in Creative Non-Fiction Writing (FT/PT)

“Isn’t it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”

Douglas Adams, writer

These courses are designed to provide science and engineering graduates with the skills and knowledge to switch to media or writing careers.

Science Communication is a general preparation programme. Science Media Production is designed for those who want to go into television or radio, while Creative Non-Fiction Writing is for those aspiring to write serious non-fiction for popular audiences.

For more information contact Wynn Abbott, Science Communication Group Administrator, Room S508, Sherfield Building, Imperial College London SW7 2AZ, tel: 020 7594 8753, fax: 020 7594 8763, email: wynn.abbott@imperial.ac.uk web: www.imperial.ac.uk/ sciencecommunication

Closing date: 24 February 2006.

Valuing diversity and committed to equality of opportunity

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Issue 3 Winter 2005

http://www.union.ic.ac.uk/media/iscience/

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