Seven days in science - 4 February 2010

A new collection of science themed poems are on display in London’s Tube carriages to commemorate 350th anniversary of the Royal Society. The poets chosen were William Blake, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Anne Stevenson, David Morley, Miroslav Holub and Jamie McKendricks. For more details and full versions of the poems please go to royalsociety.org and tfl.gov.uk.

A special issue of Philosophical Transactions A was published to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society. Covering topics from a range of physical sciences, the whole issue is available online now.

Next week

Sir Paul Nurse FRS will give a lecture at the Royal Society on Monday about the great ideas of biology. Focussing on gene theory, the theory of evolution by natural selection and the proposal that the cell is the fundamental unit of all life, he will discuss how these great ideas have influenced and changed the way we think of science today. 

On Tuesday, Paul will talk on the same topic at ThinkTank, Birmingham Science museum. He will also lead a day of DNA themed activities.

Professor Marcus du Sautoy, University of Oxford, will give The Michael Faraday Prize Lecture on Wednesday. Through the work of artists like Borges and Dali, Messiaen and Laban, Professor du Sautoy’s lecture The Secret Mathematicians will explore the hidden mathematical ideas that underpin their creative output, but will also reveal that the work of the mathematician is sometimes no less driven by strong aesthetic values.