The debate is over – it’s happening. Climate change is real. But what will it mean? What are the challenges? What do we need to do? And who should be doing it? To tackle the looming crisis, 21st Century engineers will be required to re-engineer existing infrastructure and provide first-time infrastructure at a global scale. And simultaneously reduce carbon emissions by up to 80%. So now is the time…for an engineering renaissance, for a golden era of engineering to take us safely through the rest of this century and beyond.

Addressing human-induced climate change, the loss of biodiversity and natural resources (eg, water and soils) requires developing appropriate policies (national, regional and international), choosing appropriate technologies (current and future), getting the price right (eliminating harmful subsidies, internalising externalities, and valuing ecosystem services), and understanding behaviour (individual and public and private sector). It essential to recognise the interactions between climate change and biodiversity and natural resources in order to develop policies that are mutually re-inforcing (i.e., win-win).

Martin Wolf will be well known to all as a highly respected commentator on economic and financial matters in the Financial Times and other elements of the media.

The meeting was chaired by Ken Lyall, Walter Scott and Partners (and David Hume Institute Trustee).

Popular accounts of the development of Darwin’s thinking usually begin with an ignorant young man boarding HMS Beagle. This is far from the truth. In Cambridge he fell under the influence of John Henslow, Professor of Botany. Henslow pursued active research concerning the experimental determination of the nature of species. He approached this through a detailed analysis of variation in natural populations, the study of monstrosity to elucidate development, and the application of hybridisation to establish species limits. Henslow transmitted this approach to his favoured student Darwin, whose plant samples from the Beagle voyage directly reflect his teaching.

Henry Dunant proposed that war should become more humane, but we live in a world increasingly governed by a law of war. In the words of Hersch Lauterpacht, can we not build a law of peace to govern relations between states and peoples? Human solidarity is the fundamental ethic which must underlay our endeavours, from science and the arts to economics and policy-making. In a call for a new International Humanitarian Order, I co-chaired in the 1980s the UN Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues (ICIHI) which issued a report entitled “Winning the Human Race?”.It outlined some of our most pressing existential concerns: poverty, militarization, famine, desertification, and terrorism. Yet over 20 years on, universal wisdom has not overcome material pressures.

The bicentenary of the births of Darwin and Lincoln last February (2009) was backlit by the inauguration of President Obama, three weeks previously: the ideas about race and society that Darwin and Lincoln worked with are thrown into historical relief in the light of Obama's election. In their different ways Darwin and Lincoln changed history by affirming the need to believe in change: Obama has changed history by affirming the possibility of change that Darwin and Lincoln would have struggled to believe in.

Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were born on the same day in the same year: 12 February 1809.

The 200th anniversary celebrations on both sides of the Atlantic remind us that the American President and the British zoologist jointly helped to shape the modern world.

Questioning established hierachies of nature, race and class, their legacy of civil and scientific liberalism still holds radical potential today.

The one-day conference explored connections and conflicts between Darwin’s and Lincoln’s work including the origins of their thinking in Enlightenment discussions of human nature and society; the nature of their original contributions, and their reverberations in contemporary culture and politics.

In this `prequel’ to their 1991 biography, Moore joins Adrian Desmond to answer the question it left open: Why did Charles Darwin, a rich and impeccably upright gentleman, go out of his way to develop privately a subversive image of human evolution and then pursue the subject with tenacity for three decades before publishing the Descent of Man?
Answer: Underpinning his work on human origins was a belief in racial brotherhood rooted in the greatest moral movement of his age, for the abolition of slavery. Darwin extended the abolitionists’ common-descent image to the rest of life, making not just the races, but all races kin.

The RSE is opening its doors to the public on 26 September as part of the annual Edinburgh's Doors Open Day programme.

Access to the building is by tour only, which lasts for about 45 minutes. The tours are at 1000, 1045, 1130, 1215, 1300, 1345, 1430, 1515, 1600 and 1645. Tour places are limited and will be available on a first come first serve basis. Tour places can be reserved on the day.

The eye is an ‘organ of extreme perfection’ (Charles Darwin). Studying eye abnormalities in humans has provided strong insight into how the miracle of normal development takes place. Identifying several disease- causing genes has allowed us to dissect some of the mechanisms involved in controlling such complex processes. Using animal models, we have also explored how the final outcome may be influenced by environmental factors. The work presented will illustrate how many genes are required to work in concert to produce and sustain this finely-tuned organ.

Japan-UK 150 - series of events in the UK organised to celebrate 150 years of friendship between Japan and the UK. Activities during the year are designed to encourage exchange in such fields as culture, the arts, sport, education and science.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh recognises the long-standing scientific links between Scotland and Japan, particularly in the area of engineering. As such, the RSE is delighted to host an event as part of the Japan-UK 150 series.

Scottish and Japanese representatives from academia and industry will present on the engineering links between the two countries, past, present and future.

There were two great visions of the 18th century Enlightenment: the intellectual virtue of thinking for oneself rather than simply accepting the authority of others, and the moral virtue of tolerance as demonstrated in the willingness of those in power to permit people to express their ideas without fear of repression. Such freedom led to an extraordinary burst of creativity across the whole gamut of the arts, humanities and sciences.
Nowhere was the Enlightenment more spectacular than in Scotland, with figures such as David Hume, Adam Smith, Joseph Black, James Hutton, Henry Raeburn and Robert Burns working in Edinburgh. Learned Academies became popular ways to encourage Enlightenment principles and practices, and Scotland’s first National Academy, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, founded in 1783, continues to maintain the spirit and the values of the Scottish Enlightenment today.

Alexander Broadie FRSE, Professor of Logic and Rhetoric, University of Glasgow
Sir Timothy Clifford FRSE, former Director-General, National Galleries of Scotland
Julian Engberg, curator of The Enlightenments exhibition
Duncan Macmillan FRSE, art critic for the Scotsman

Maggie Gee, novelist
Knud Haakonssen FRSE, Professor of Intellectual History, University of Sussex
Michael Kantor, Artistic Director, Malthouse Melbourne
Tom Wright, playwright of the Malthouse Melbourne production Optimism

Anne Bogart, Artistic Director SITI Company
Lee Breuer, Co-Artistic Director of Mabou Mines
Roger L Emerson, Emeritus Professor, University of Western Ontarion, Canada
Paul Goring, Senior Lecturer, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim

A puzzle from the past: Why did the Scottish Enlightenment Happen? Tom Devine examineds the flowering of intellectual and scientific achievement in 18th century Scotland. Where were its roots? How did we become one of the most literate nations in Europe? Crucial questions answered by our pre-eminent national historian, one of Scotland's most incisive and popular thinkers.

Sir John was the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England responsible for banking regulation and the banking sector until March 2009.
We are very fortunate that he agreed to come to Edinburgh to discuss the way forward for the sector, in the light of his long experience at the bank and the recent devastating experience for the sector and our economy.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease that is a major threat to human life throughout the tropics and particularly in Africa. Efforts to control malaria target the disease both in humans and in its mosquito vector. At the moment most mosquito-control strategies involve insecticides, either sprayed indoors, applied to bed nets, or used outdoors on mosquito breeding sites. However worries about the development of insecticide resistance in the mosquito have led over the last ten years to a flurry of new ideas about how the vector may be targeted, some involving mosquito pathogens, others novel genetic techniques. The talk examined some of these ideas, and showed how mathematical and computer modelling is used as a tool to explore which strategies may have the greatest impact in reducing disease burdens.

Gravitational Waves (a prediction of Einstein’s General Relativity) are amongst the most elusive signals (ripples in the curvature of space-time) reaching the earth. The information carried by these signals will give us new insight into the hearts of some of the most violent events in the universe. A global network of detectors – LIGO, Virgo and GEO, – is now operational with early results showing promise. Professor Hough will explain the nature of gravitational waves, how the detectors work and what the data from the detectors shows.

This year's MacCormick European Lecture, named in honour of Professor Sir Neil MacCormick FBA FRSE in recognition of his contribution to Scottish and European politics and his international work for the RSE, was given by Lord John Kerr of Kinlochard GCMG HonFRSE.

During his career, Lord Kerr has been Ambassador to the United States; UK Permanent Representative to the European Union; Permanent Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Head of the Diplomatic Service; and Secretary-General of the European Convention.

Stem cells have been the subject of one of the fastest-growing areas in biomedical research internationally in the past decade. Once identified, they were very quickly recognised as having enormous potential for use in treating a wide range of previously intractable diseases, but there remain significant hurdles to their widespread introduction.

While much attention has focused on the important ethical and legal aspects of the stem cell research and the appropriateness of stem cell use in medical practice, this conference addressed the scientific issues currently confronting stem cell researchers. After reviewing the achievements of the recent past, it will consider the current state of research before taking a look into the future and considering how to overcome the barriers to realising the dream of stem cells becoming routine therapy.

Speakers : Sir John Gurdon, Cambridge, UK, Professor Roger Pederson,Cambridge, UK, Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, London, UK, Professor Ian Duncan,University of Wisconsin, USA Professor Paul Sharpe, London, UK, Professor Olle Lindvall, Lund, Sweden, Professor Frank Luyten, Leuven, Belgium, Professor Alan Colman, Singapore, Sir Ian Wilmut, Edinburgh, UK, Professor Sian Harding, London,UK, Dr John Connelly, London, UK

Caledonian Research Foundation is a Scottish Charity, incorporated in Scotland as a Company Limited by Guarantee. Registration No. 36656. Scottish Charity No. SC014705

Scotland is a leader in seeking to use science based policy, regulation and voluntary industry codes to increase the sustainability of the aquaculture sector within the context of increasingly focused regulation and global environmental and economic forces.

The symposium explored sustainability under four broad themes of the environment, fish health and welfare, the role of science within regulation and policy, together with the socio-economic impact of aquaculture. The symposium was organised by the Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum (SARF) in conjunction with The Royal Society of Edinburgh and The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, and aimed to engage delegates from a wide range of backgrounds with an interest in aquaculture, bring together the extensive portfolio of SARF sponsored research, complemented by internationally recognised keynote speakers.

Part of the conference “Geometry and Physics” celebrating the 80th birthday of Sir Michael Atiyah OM PRSE.
Professor Peter Higgs FRSE (Edinburgh) spoke on the origins of the concept of the eponymous boson. Professor Edward Witten (Institute for Advanced Study, USA and CERN, European Organisation for Nuclear Research) discussed the modern theory of the boson, and what is being tested at CERN. Professor David Saxon (Glasgow) outlined the experimental challenges.

Although the health of those over 65 in this country has never been better and the number of people reaching 85 is increasing by more than five percent year-on-year, ill health in the over-65s accounts for almost half the national spend on hospitals and community health. The objective of this conference was to bring together healthcare professionals and informed members of the public to discuss the rationale behind the development of new drugs and devices for this group and the exciting prospect of tailoring them to the needs of the individual patient.
The morning and afternoon sessions focused on two main areas of current concern: Alzheimer’s and Parkinsonism and the support of patients with a failing heart.
The evening session focused on the ongoing debate about the feasibility of, the need for, and implications of, developing medicines targeted at the needs of specific groups of individual patients.

Andrew McLellan has been HM Chief Inspector of Prisons since October 2002. He was previously a member of the District Council in Greenock, served as a university tutor and was a prison chaplain in Stirling. He also served as Minister of St Andrew’s and St George’s in the centre of Edinburgh for sixteen years. Between 1994 and 2004 the Airborne Initiative offered a mould-breaking residential courses for high tariff young male offenders who might otherwise have languished in prison. Fifty per cent of those who got through a course did not re-offend. Andrew McLellan will be addressing the problem of finding realistic alternatives to prison for young offenders.