Four months after my open letter calling on the Royal Society to take action over Elon Musk FRS’s breaches of their code of conduct had attracted thousands of signatures from the scientific community, ...

I’m not convinced by the idea of AI throwing everyone out of jobs or taking over the world, but I thought I should read up some thoughtful writing on the subject, so I turned to Neil Lawrence’s 2024 ...

Update (17:00 03 Mar): all members of the UK or international scientific community were invited to indicate their support by signing the letter. The opportunity to do so closed at 17:00 UK time on 03 ...

The ASW organisers had arranged some library tours for delegates and I enjoyed seeing and learning about the history of the Leeds Library – this is a private library that was founded in 1768 with ...

is an author, editor and recovering palaeontologist who lives in Cromer, Norfolk, England, with his family and numerous pets. His latest book, A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth, is out now. His ...

Björn Natthiko Lindeblad: I May B e Wrong ‘Oh, your poor brain’, says Mrs Gee, when she sees the stack of things I really must read; the list of tasks I give myself. Then she passed me this book. Now, ...

Edward Gibbon: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume 4 (Folio Society Edition).We arrive at last at the Fifth Century and the agonising collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Assailed by ...

Edward Gibbon: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (vol 2) (Folio Society Edition) I bought a handsome 8-volume set of Gibbon’s classic history cheaply on eBay. Attentive readers will note that I ...

Björn Natthiko Lindeblad: I May B e Wrong ‘Oh, your poor brain’, says Mrs Gee, when she sees the stack of things I really must read; the list of tasks I give myself. Then she passed me this book. Now, ...

In 2022 I consumed devoured read 62 books of various sizes, from slim novels to the multi-volume epic that is Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (which I counted as one book). I haven’t ...

is an award-winning author, editor and recovering palaeontologist who lives in Cromer, Norfolk, England, with his family and numerous pets. His latest book The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire is ...

In a famous letter to publisher Milton Waldman, probably written in late 1951 (No. 131 in The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien), Tolkien wrote:. Do not laugh! But once upon a time (my crest has long since ...