Seven days in science - 22 October 2010

The life of fossil hunter Mary Anning will be celebrated in a Local Heroes event at Lyme Regis Museum this weekend (23-24 October).

Watch the BBC slide-show on Mary Anning narrated by Tracy Chevalier.

As part of the upcoming Manchester Science Festival (23-31 October), MoSI are hosting a range of activities and events, including the Unsung Local Heroes of Manchester exhibition.

Nick Lane’s Life Ascending rose to the top of the judges favourite science books list to win the Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize for 2010 on Thursday (21 October). In Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution, Nick Lane charts the history of life on Earth by describing the ten greatest inventions of life, based on their historical impact, their importance in living organisms and their iconic power.

Chancellor George Osborne unveiled details of the Spending Review on Wednesday (20 October), announcing that the UK’s science budget will be frozen in cash terms. For full details on the Spending Review visit www.hm-treasury.gov.uk.

The two day discussion meeting Biological diversity in a changing world takes place at the Society next Wednesday and Thursday (27-28 October). Drawing insights from organisms ranging from microbes to mammals this meeting will show why a deeper understanding of temporal turnover in ecological communities in essential in coping with the changes that the natural world will experience over the next 50 years.

In celebration of the upcoming anniversary, the Society’s entire journal archive (from 1665 to the present) is free to view until 30 November, visit royalsocietypublishing.org/journals.