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| Views expressed at RSE events do not necessarily represent those of the RSE, nor of its Fellows |
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Monday 19 December 2005 at 6.00pm
Edinburgh Lecture - Inside Surgery from Without: Therapeutic Interventions from Images
Sir Alfred Cuschieri FRSE, Director, Institute of Medical Science and Technology, Universities of Dundee and St Andrews, Professor of Surgery, Scuola Superiore Di Studi Universitari E Di Perfezionamento S. Anna, Pisa |
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World-leading pioneer of keyhole surgery Sir Alfred Cuschieri, described a new approach designed to reduce trauma and consequently aid convalescence in surgical patients. He considered the evolution of the technology that enables even major operations for cancer to be carried out non-invasively, and highlighted the problems inherent to the new minimal access surgery (MAS). Sir Alfred also examined computer enhanced MAS and discussed the prospects for minimal access therapy (MAT) - a holistic approach embracing surgery, radiology and flexible endoscopy.
Image courtesy of Professor Sir Alfred Cuschieri FRSE
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Tuesday 13 December 2005 at 7.30pm. Elgin Academy, Elgin
Public Lecture - Forensic Anthropology: The Bare Bones Science
Professor Sue Black, OBE, FRSE. University of Dundee
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Within the last ten years the global profile of forensic anthropology has altered dramatically, following the demand for practitioners to assist in overseas work including mass disasters, mass graves, human rights abuses and war crimes. Such expertise was invaluable in identifying victims of the Boxing Day 2004 Tsunami & Hurricane Katrina. However the science has also become increasingly important in assisting UK police forces and investigative authorities with ongoing cases and cold case reviews. Professor Sue Black OBE from the University of Dundee talked about the relevance of the science of forensic anthropology to judicial investigations both within the UK and overseas, illustrating her presentation with examples of cases where the discipline has played a major role in the investigation of crime. Sue regularly appears on TV and the radio, including the recent BBC Horizon programme Tsunami – Naming the Dead. |
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Thursday 1 December 2005 at 6.00pm
Discussion Forum - Earth, Wind, Fire and Water: Tsunami
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The Boxing Day 2004 Tsunami highlighted the increasing vulnerability of people across the World, to the impact of natural disasters. More than 50 countries suffered the deaths of their nationals, some 300,000 in total, with economic losses measured in billions. But much of the science and technology required to mitigate the impacts already exists. For the Developing World (most risk) the solution lies in the integration of hard science with the social sciences and NGO experience to ensure its take-up locally. The forum provided opportunities to explore the integration process across disaster scenarios.
Image © Microsoft |
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| Click here to read report of meeting |
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Friday 18 November 2005. Full Day. At University of Strathclyde.
Joint Conference with Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic - Nanomedicines of the Future |
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The meeting represented a singular opportunity that enabled leading experts, researchers and commentators from Scotland and the Czech Republic to come together to; discuss and learn about recent advances in this rapidly changing area; establish international ties; and explore avenues for future exchange and collaboration. Both The Royal Society of Edinburgh and The Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic see the meeting as a welcome occasion for the development of long-term ties and an important vehicle for generating collaborative initiatives. |
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Distinguished speakers from Scotland and the Czech Republic addressed strategically important topics and explored emerging areas of mutual scientific and technical interest. The meeting offered an exceptional platform to discuss current developments and to chart future directions. Specific themes covered included advances in self-assembly and nanomedicine fabrication, nanomedicines and the cell and nanomedicines for cancer. Click here to read report |
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Wednesday 16 November 2005
Conference - Creation of Wealth
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For the last ten years growth in the Scottish economy has continued to fall below the rate for the UK as a whole. Manufactured exports are down and new business start ups remain among the lowest of UK regions. What can be done to remedy this situation and create a vibrant and successful Scottish economy for the future? Supported by Bank of Scotland.
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| Click here to read full report of Wealth Creation Conference (pdf) |
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Monday 7 November 2005 at 5.30pm.
Environmental Choices Lecture - Composite Individuality : A Gaian View
Dr Lynn Margulis, University of Massachusetts
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Animals, plants and other life forms visible to the unaided eye are composites; they evolved as communities of bacteria that integrated to become individuals. Independence of any “individual” from the rest of the biosphere is equivalent to its death. From the Gaian viewpoint, where the Earth’s reactive atmosphere and surface sediments are regulated by the activities of over 30 million different life forms, the environment is the body. We deceptive and disputatious late-comer human primates (as all others, victims of our evolutionary history) are entirely dispensable to planet Earth. We are destined, even if we modify our behaviour, to the fate common to other “plague mammals”: extinction.
Image courtesy Dr Lynn Margulis
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Monday 31 October 2005 at 5.30pm
Clifford Paterson Lecture - Optical Science in the Fast Lane
Professor Wilson Sibbett CBE FRS FRSE, Chair of the Scottish Science Advisory Committee (SSAC) and Chief Adviser on Science to the Scottish Executive |
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Some lasers produce optical impulses that last just a few billionths of a microsecond. They allow us to watch simple molecules disintegrate into constituent atoms or take snapshots of light travelling through biological tissue. Such lasers can also micro-machine materials such as titanium for use as clinical implants, or reshape human tissue for corrective surgery, e.g. in the eye. Wilson Sibbett introduced some of the concepts that have enabled the development of practical ultrafast lasers, together with a range of applications that range from basic chemistry to weapons decommissioning.
Image courtesy of Run Deep Ltd |
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Monday 17 October 2005 at 5.30pm. The Royal Museum, (Lothian Street entrance), Edinburgh
Wednesday 19 October 2005 at 6.15pm. The Bute Hall, University of Glasgow.
Caledonian Research Foundation Prize Lecture - Once There was a Golden Age How We Judge Television: Then and Now
Joan Bakewell CBE
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It is easily said nowadays that “television has dumbed down.” The sentiment is one of regret and nostalgia for a so-called golden age. But how golden was it? Joan Bakewell’s career spanned those golden decades, and she examined what television was really like then, and why and how our perceptions of television’s value have shifted. Her message was one of hope mixed with regret.
Image courtesy of Knight Ayton Management |
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| Click here for Transcript of Joan Bakewell Lecture (PDF File) |
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Monday 3 October 2005 at 5.30pm
Lecture - Who You Are or Where You Are? Social and Spatial Patterning of Health
Professor Sally J Macintyre OBE PhD FMedSci FRSE, Director, MRC Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow
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In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries public heath activities were directed towards damaging aspects of the physical environment (polluted air and water, unsanitary housing etc). From the mid twentieth century, with the increasing importance of chronic diseases, more public health attention was given to individuals’ behaviours and lifestyles, and more recently to aspects of the social environment such as social capital. This lecture discussed how individual and environmental factors, and interactions between them, might influence patterns of population health.
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Monday 19 September 2005
Presidential Address - The Lisbon Earthquake: 250 Years On and Counting
Lord Sutherland of Houndwood KT FBA PRSE
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On 1 November 1755, Lisbon was devastated by a major earthquake. The damage to life, limb and property was massive and immediate. Thirty thousand people died. The damage to Europe’s dominant philosophical and theological foundations was less immediately dramatic, but in the long term was deeply corrosive. Intellectual tectonic plates began to move and now a quarter of a millennium later we are still experiencing the after-shock. Or at least some of us are. |
| Click here to read summary of Lisbon Earthquake Lecture |
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Monday 5 September 2005
BP Prize Lecture - Russia’s Fallen Heroes: Men’s Experiences of Post-Soviet Change
Dr Rebecca Kay, Department of Central and Eastern European Studies, University of Glasgow
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In recent years there has been increasing concern about the apparently overwhelmingly negative impacts of socio-economic change on Russian men. Alarming increases in premature death, widespread alcohol abuse, involvement in violent crime, domestic violence and abandonment of the family have all been interpreted as evidence of men’s inability to adapt positively to the demands of post-Soviet society. Based on ethnographic research conducted with men in provincial areas of Russia this lecture paints a rather different picture of men’s lives and the many examples of everyday ‘heroism’ which this project revealed. |
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| Click here to read full transcript (PDF) |
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Friday 2 September 2005 at the Scottish Parliament
Attracting, Retaining and Recognising Scotland's Research Talent
The Royal Society of Edinburgh in partnership with Scotland's Futures Forum
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Our nation is world-renowned for its pioneering legacy of invention and innovation. Research and
technological advances in areas such as medicine, agriculture and communications have transformed the lives of millions. Scotland’s expertise in R&D and the enterprising spirit of many
researchers and entrepreneurs have made a major contribution to our economy. With increasing
international competition, it is essential that we continue to produce and attract top people. We have
particular opportunities in the medical sciences, the physical sciences, in engineering, and we need
to link all of these together. Collaboration must be key to Scotland’s future prosperity and so we
were delighted that The Royal Society of Edinburgh and Scotland’s Futures Forum were able to work
in partnership on this event which took place in The Scottish Parliament on September 2. |
| Click here to view full report |
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Friday 5 August 2005
Discussion Forum - Artificial Intelligence: In your Life Today.
Professor Aaron Sloman, Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science, The University of Birmingham
Professor Wolfgang Wahlster, Director and CEO of the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence DFKI, Saarbruecken, Germany and Professor of Computer Science at Saarland University, Germany
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Science fiction books and recent movies focus on intelligent robots, but Artificial Intelligence covers a much broader scope: we study human and artificial minds, aiming to produce intelligent computing systems which have a direct, beneficial impact on the lives of countless people. How do we build systems which can undertake intelligent activities? Where are these systems, and how can they change lives for the better? |
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Monday 11 July 2005 at 6pm.
Lecture - Climate Change: Apocalyptic, Much ado about Nothing or Cause for Concern
Professor John Mitchell OBE FRS, Chief Scientist, Met Office
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Attitudes to human induced climate change range from believing that future changes will be small and easily manageable by technology to fears that we have only a few years to act to save the planet. The lecture included a description of the science behind human induced climate change and indicated what is well-founded and where the
main uncertainties lie, in an attempt to put the issue into perspective. |
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Thursday 30 June 2005 - Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh Quincentenary Congress . Co-sponsored by the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Held at EICC.
Surgery; Lessons from the Aviation Industry. Transferring aviation psychology research on safety to surgery.
Chairs:
Professor Rhona Flin ( University of Aberdeen)
Mr Simon Paterson-Brown (RCSE)
Speakers:
Dr Judith Orasanu (aviation psychologist, NASA Ames)
Pilots’ Judgements and Management of Risks
Mr Michael Woldring (aviation psychologist, Eurocontrol, Paris)
Organisational and Operator Errors in the Uberling Air Disaster (Click here to view Powerpoint slides - PDF File)
Dr Sandy Mitchell (747 pilot and consultant anaesthetist; IFALPA)
Human Error in Aviation (Click here to view Powerpoint slides - PDF File )
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| Aviation workplaces, such as flight decks and air traffic control centres are very different environments from hospital operating theatres, yet from a psychological perspective, the behaviours required to maintain safety and maximise performance are strikingly similar. One of the symposia at the Quincentennial Congress of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (organised on behalf of the Royal Society of Edinburgh) illustrated aspects of aviation research and practice that had potential applications for reducing errors in surgery. Thirty years ago, the aviation industry realised that many accidents were not primarily due to technical failures or poor flying skills, instead both human error and organisational factors were the prime causes of aircraft losses. Consequently, resources were directed at gaining good diagnostic data on when and why errors occurred and what could be done to trap them or minimise their effects. Three eminent aviation specialists took part: Dr Judith Orasanu, an aviation psychologist from NASA Ames in California, Michael Woldring, a human factors specialist from Eurocontrol (air traffic safety) in Paris and Captain Sandy Mitchell, a 747 pilot and consultant anaesthetist. |
Orasanu outlined data gathering techniques used in aviation psychology, such as cockpit voice recordings, simulator experiments, surveys/ interviews and accident analysis. She showed that pilots’ decision errors were a major causal factor in modern aviation accidents, although these were often accompanied by secondary errors when the other pilot failed to monitor and / or challenge the action. One particular decision failure was a ‘plan- continuation’ error, when pilots were reluctant to deviate from their plan, even though the situational risk had increased. This became more likely when they were to close to completing the flight. She had also examined pilots’ perceptions of different types of risk – showing that co-pilots were particularly concerned with professional (career) risk, as well as other threats; possibly explaining their reluctance to challenge captains’ errors. Woldring presented a detailed analysis of the Uberlingen accident when a cargo jet and a passenger jet (carrying Russian children) collided mid-air. He revealed not only the complexity of decisions facing the pilots (who had contradictory advice from the controller and the electronic traffic warning system on the aircraft) but also how the degraded working conditions of the controller on duty created a fatal set of error enforcing conditions. This had raised many organisational questions in relation to air traffic safety management that were now being addressed. Mitchell showed how this kind of research and accident analysis data were fed into a range of practical techniques used by the airlines to monitor and manage safety. Nowadays this includes routine safety audits based on flight deck observations and the regular tracking of flight technical performance. With very few accidents to analyse, he emphasised the importance of collecting incident and near miss data through mandatory, as well as confidential, reporting systems - the latter allowing much deeper data capture than the anonymous systems. The presentations will be made available to Fellows on the RSE website. Research at Aberdeen University is now applying aviation psychology methods to study surgeons’ non-technical skills (see www.abdn.ac.uk/iprc/NOTSS).
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Monday 13 June 2005 at 5.30pm
Lecture - How Safe are Vaccinations?
Professor Harry Burns,
Director of Public Health for Glasgow NHS Board |
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In 1796, Edward Jenner described his success in preventing smallpox by the inoculation of live infectious material taken from people infected with cowpox. Since then, the process of immunisation has been the subject of episodic controversy. Although acknowledged to be one of the most beneficial public health interventions ever, and a significant contributor to increased life expectancy during the 20th century, some have called in to question methods of immunisation. The role of a Public Health Physician is to examine risks, benefits and concerns, and seek to develop a consensus that protects individuals from infectious diseases and aim to eradicate these diseases from the population.
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Wednesday 1 June 2005 at 6pm
Discussion Forum - The Ethics of War
Professor Richard Sorabji CBE FBA, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Kings College, London
Professor John Kelsay, Richard L. Rubenstein Professor of Religion and Department Chair, Florida State University
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Professor Sorabji: Regime change substitutes one power for another and this does not necessarily benefit the regime’s subjects. If change were truly for their benefit, it would be a massive, altruistic, and expensive job of protection and nation building, such as is currently proving so difficult in Kosovo. In Iraq, no such attempt was ever intended.
Professor Kelsay: Do the benefits of regime change outweigh the burdens? Whilst critics of current policy argue that the U.S. and its allies lackthe authority to carry it out,classical Muslim authorities conditionally supported it. Although contemporary Muslim discussion concurs to an extent, there are significant differences - not least where the “helping hand” of a non-Islamic state is involved. |
| Click here to read summary of The Ethics of War |
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Friday 20 May 2005 at 2pm. Rowett Research Institute, Greenburn Road, Bucksburn, Aberdeen.
Scottish Agriculture & Biological Research Institute Joint Lecture - New Concept of Food Quality: Beyond Safety and Sensory Properties
Professor Ricardo Uauy, Professor of Public Health Nutrition, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
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Traditional definitions of food quality include safety for human consumption, sensory properties (visual aspect, taste, smell) and the nutritive value in terms of providing essential nutrients. Present epidemiological profiles for most countries indicate that these criteria are clearly insufficient in addressing the epidemic of nutrition related chronic diseases (obesity, diabetes,
cardiovascular disease and diet related cancers). Thus a new definition of food quality that includes the concept of dietary patterns and key nutrients to promote health at all stages of the life course is needed.
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Monday 9 May 2005 at 5.30pm
Gunning Victoria Jubilee Prize Lecture - Energy : A Challenge for Materials Chemistry
Professor Peter G Bruce FRSE, Professor of Chemistry, University of St Andrews
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Global warming and the finite nature of fossil fuels conspire to present one of the greatest threats to humanity in the 21st Century. Such issues resonate in Scotland because of the significance our energy industry has for the Scottish economy. To address the problem of global warming whilst maintaining and improving our standard of living, we must develop new methods of generating electrical energy. Scotland is well placed in this regard to become a major producer of clean energy. We have an abundance of wind and waves. However, clean energy generation places a far greater demand on energy storage than is the case at present. The wind does not blow according to demand. Transport accounts for some 30% of carbon dioxide emissions. The most promising solution lies with hybrid electric vehicles, in which a petrol or diesel engine is combined with a battery.
To address the challenges of energy storage for transport and static applications it is essential to develop new rechargeable batteries; especially those based on lithium because of the large amount of energy such batteries store per unit weight and volume compared with alternative techniques. Following discussion of the above issues, the Lecture will concentrate on the essential role that materials chemistry has to play in the discovery, synthesis and understanding of innovative new materials. Such materials must possess new properties or combinations of properties that make them suitable for use as electrodes and electrolytes in rechargeable lithium batteries with enhanced performance.
Each of the three essential components of a lithium battery were considered, the negative and positive electrodes and the electrolyte. Graphite is used currently as the negative electrode but has a number of disadvantages. A new generation of nanomaterials comprising nanotubes or nanowires fashioned from a unique form of titanium dioxide have been discovered. Their synthesis is cheap, the materials are safe and they can store a large amount of charge. They offer an attractive alternative to graphite for a number of important applications. The positive electrode used in most rechargeable lithium batteries is based on cobalt. By carrying out fundamental materials chemistry it has been possible to prepare a new generation of manganese based oxides that are cheaper, safer, less toxic and can store more charge than the currently used LiCoO 2 electrodes. Finally, replacement of the non-aqueous liquid electrolyte, which suffers from problems of flammability, leakage, etc., with a solid electrolyte has been a key goal in this field for a number of years. Some 30 years of effort have failed to deliver solid polymer electrolytes with the necessary conductivity at room temperature. A new direction in the search for ionic conductivity in the solid state based on crystalline polymers was discussed.
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| Click here to read draft transcript (PDF 63KB) |
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Monday 4 April 2005 at 5.30pm
Lecture - The Robot in your Head
Professor Noel Sharkey FIEE FBCS, Professor of Computer Science, EPSRC Senior Media Fellow, University of Sheffield
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A lively walk through the history of robots and their relationship to animals. The audience heard about the automata of the ancients (280 BC- ) and how they gradually developed into the robots of the 20th century. Following clips of Noel’s favourite robots in the movies, he examined the stark reality of the development of real robots today illustrated by his public projects and museum exhibitions. Since the 17th century, the idea has become increasingly strong that we humans and other animals are mere machines or automata. But do you believe it? Are you a robot? |
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| Friday 11 March 2005 at 5.30pm
Lecture - Engineering and the Creative Arts : A New Frontier? (Joint Lecture with the Royal Academy of Engineering). Part of National Science Week.
Dr Robert Hawley CBE FREng FRSE
 Image courtesy of Gateshead Council
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Is there a "Two Cultures" gap between engineering and the creative arts? Do engineers understand the contribution they make to the arts and do those in the arts understand the contribution made by engineering? The so-called creative industries are the critical battlegrounds for the wealth-creating society. Engineering has a key role to play and there is much to be gained from strengthening the communication bridge between the two disciplines. This Lecture briefly explored the relationship between engineering and some areas of the arts, in the hope of starting off a process leading to a greater mutual understanding between the two disciplines. |
| Click here for full report (PDF File 1.2MB) |
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Tuesday 8 March 2005 at 7.00pm. Dingwall Academy
Public Lecture - Earthquakes at Home and Abroad
Ms Alice Walker, British Geological Survey
image courtesy of BGS
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Earthquakes occur everywhere in the world, although most are along the edges of the great plates that make up the Earth’s outer skin and which move at about the speed our fingernails grow. The UK is not immune from earthquakes - it has around 200 each year! The largest onshore earthquake in the last 140 years occurred in North Wales in 1984. It was felt over much of the UK, and caused damage as far away as Liverpool, 120 km from its epicentre. Our biggest earthquake in Scotland was smaller and was centred in Argyle, near Loch Awe in 1880. Scottish earthquakes are still continuing; most recently a small one in June 2003 near Aberfoyle. |
| Click here to read lecture summary. |
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Monday 7 March 2005 at 5.30pm
Gannochy Trust Innovation Award Prize Lecture
Dr Ian Underwood FRSE, Director of Strategic Marketing, MicroEmissive Displays Ltd
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Over twenty years of research and innovation, which have led to the creation in Scotland of a world record-breaking technology, was recognised in October 2004 when DrUnderwood was named winner of the Gannochy Trust Innovation Award of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The coveted title went to Dr Underwood in recognition of the contribution he has made throughout his career to the development of ground-breaking optical and display devices here in Scotland. The ultra-miniature television quality displays made by MicroEmissive Displays (MED) Ltd., the Edinburgh-based firm he co-founded, are likely to improve many everyday household display devices as well as being a market enabler for hands-free and wearable headset displays. |
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Friday 25 February 2005 at 5.30pm
ECRR Peter Wilson Lecture - To Clone or Not to Clone? (Joint ECRR/IoB/RSE Lecture)
Professor Ian Wilmut OBE FRS FRSE, Principal Investigator, BBSRC, Roslin Institute
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Biological research has revolutionised agriculture and medicine and still has more to offer. The production of offspring by transfer of the nucleus from a somatic cell of an adult to an enucleated secondary oocyte created significant new opportunities. Somatic cell cloning helped to show that mammalian development is far more plastic than had been imagined. Present methods of nuclear transfer are very inefficient with a success rate of only 0-5%. Improvements will depend upon understanding the molecular mechanisms involved and developing intervention techniques. During this research period, each society should seek to make informed judgements as to which applications are acceptable. |
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Wednesday 23 February 2005 Full Day
Conference - Europe’s Hidden Coral Worlds |
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While the habitats created by cold-water coral species have been known since Linnaean times, it is only recently that the process underlying their formation and growth have been investigated. The EU projects ACES, ECOMOUND and GEOMOUND have brought together marine scientists from across Europe at a time when human exploitation of the European continental margin is increasing. These interdisciplinary studies are producing a better understanding of these environments that will help in the future conservation of long-lived and diverse ecosystems. |
| Click here for full Report (PDF 312KB) |
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Friday 21 January 2005 at 6pm
Lecture - The Health and Psyche of the Scottish Nation (In association with the Edinburgh Lectures Partnership)
Professor Roland Jung, Chief Scientist, Scottish Executive
Dr James Robson, National Team Medical Co-ordinator, Scottish Rugby Union
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Sport and exercise play an ever-increasing role in the health of both the individual and the population at large, whether actively participating or simply observing the achievements of others. So, how has obesity become the most important nutritional problem of the new millennium? What impact does obesity have on health? How can we prevent this rising tide of obesity which if not countered could reverse the increased longevity achieved in the last three decades by improvements in health? |
Click here to view Professor Jung's presentation
(ADOBE PDF File 3.9MB. This file will open in a new window) |
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Monday 17 January 2005 at 6pm
Discussion forum - … but Cuckoos don’t nest, do they? Neurosurgery for Mental Disorder in the 21st Century
Professor Keith Matthews, Head of Psychiatry & Behavioural Science, University of Dundee
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Direct surgical modification of brain function has been explored as a potential treatment for a range of neurological and, more controversially, psychiatric disorders. Recent advances in clinical neuroscience have supported a revival of interest in such therapeutic approaches. Given its infamous history, how can ‘psychosurgery’ proceed in the 21st century? |
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| Click here for summary of lecture |
Last Updated
13 February, 2008
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