The Bone Collector Bristol Dinosaur: Some Assembly Required The ...

1 A scene from Mile End by former
3 Gaynor Dark (left) with Lucy, winner in
5 Jake Cadwaller (left), of New
Bristol student, Dan Rebellato. The
the Best Rescue Dog category at the Vet
Fosseway School, Hengrove, and
play, performed by Analogue theatre
School’s Fun Day and Dog Show, and
Josh Beesley of Ravenswood School,
company, is part of the autumn season
Paula Anstey of the Public Relations
Nailsea, two of the pupils from local
at the Wickham Theatre, situated in the
Ofﬁce with competitor Sunny. The event,
special schools that participated in the
Department of Drama. Inspired by the
organised by the Division of Companion
West of England Festival of Sporting
true story of a commuter pushed in front
Animal Studies and held at Langford, is
Ability at Coombe Dingle Sports
of a train at Mile End station by a man
becoming a favourite ﬁxture in the
Complex over the summer. This was a
with a history of mental illness, it was an
calendars of local residents.
sister event to the Festival of School
Edinburgh Fringe First Award winner in
Sport, also hosted at Coombe Dingle.
Subtext7
2007. It will be performed on 30 October
4 African penguins on Robben Island,
Both events were aimed at inspiring
at 7.30pm. More details of the autumn
the subject of groundbreaking research
children to stay active by playing sport.
Autumn 2008
programme can be found at
by scientists in the Departments of
www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2008/5870.html.
Physics and Computer Science and
the School of Biological Sciences.
2 Botanist David Bellamy OBE presided
The Penguin Recognition Project,
at the opening of the ‘Evolution
devised by Professor Peter Barham
Collection’ at the University’s Botanic
(see p14), uses an intelligent visual-
Garden in July. The event focused on
surveillance system to enable the
the education and conservation work
automatic identiﬁcation and monitoring
that are a feature of the development
of large numbers of endangered animals
of the new garden. As well as ‘Evolution’,
without their being captured. African
the garden’s core collections comprise
penguins are suited to the research
plants from Mediterranean climates;
because they carry an individual pattern
The bone collector
useful plants; and rare and threatened
of black spots on their chests that does
Bristol Dinosaur: some
native plants associated with the Bristol
not change during their adult life. The
area. For details of garden opening
new technology was shown to the public
assembly required
times, visit www.bristol.ac.uk/
for the ﬁrst time at this year’s Royal
Depts/BotanicGardens.
Society Summer Science exhibition.
The volcano lover
Toxic tales from Hawaii
1
2
Relative merits
Two siblings. No rivalry.
Endnotes
But plenty of arguing
Science and
sussability
No Einstein wigs please,
TESY OF ANALOGUE
we’re physicists
COUR
3
TH NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED
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Non scholae sed vitae discimus, wrote Seneca
the Younger. Not for school, but for life do we
12
learn. Right on, Seneca.
And ‘life’ means more than just
7
t x
e
bt
Su
employment. Students, some believe,
are under increasing pressure to bash
themselves into job-ready shapes. But if
that’s true, what happened to old-fashioned
curiosity, the drive to ﬁnd things out, the
love of argument?
Nil desperandum – these qualities are still
alive and kicking. The people in this issue
of Subtext have them in spades. They
include an accomplished pair of siblings
familiar with academic jousting as well as
admin (p9); a former vet who traded in
ADAM DURANT
her stethoscopes for spreadsheets (p7); a
lcome mathematician whose attempts to visualise
4
elements of chaos theory led to a global
outbreak of crocheting (p4); and a physicist
whose hobbies have a habit of taking over
e – and eventually becoming part of – his
work (p14).
So for insights into learning and life –
as well as penguins, fossil preparation, and
how to avoid toxic plumes – read on.
W
ITN SOURCE
7
Nick Riddle
n.riddle@bristol.ac.uk
16
The scholar and the soundbite 14
Contents
Penguins, potatoes and black forest
gateaux: all in a day’s work for
physicist Professor Peter Barham.
Other people’s jobs
16
Remmert Schouten is rebuilding
Thecodontosaurus – one bone
Design and production
Subtext
Proﬁle: Hinke Osinga
4
at a time.
7
www.pelotondesign.co.uk
Autumn 2008
A mathematician uses crochet to
Print and reproduction
The bone collector
realise her manifold destiny.
Why I became …
Bristol Dinosaur: some
assembly required
Portishead Press. This
The volcano lover
Toxic tales from Hawaii
publication is printed on
an immunologist
18
Relative merits
Two siblings. No rivalry.
Cyclus Offset, a 100%
But plenty of arguing
Proﬁle: Lynne Hill
7
Professor Neil Williams on exploring
Science and
sussability
recycled paper stock using
No Einstein wigs please,
we’re physicists
vegetable/mineral oil-based,
A former vet takes Langford to
the unknown and the comforts of
environmentally friendly inks.
the marketplace.
the familiar.
T
T
Subtext is available online at
bristol.ac.uk/university/
Conversation piece
9
From the archives
19
VE PRA
publications/subtext
DA
Six degrees of separation? With
Dramatic props with a duel role,
For the latest news about
Professors Harriet Bradley and
courtesy of the University’s
Subtext Autumn 2008
the University, see
bristol.ac.uk/news
Charles Martindale, you only
Theatre Collection.
Subtext is produced termly
need one.
by the Public Relations Ofﬁce,
For an insight into research
which is a department of
conducted at the University, see
Communications and
re:search magazine and visit
Tales from the Field
12
Marketing Services.
bristol.ac.uk/researchreview
Volcanologist Dr Adam Durant takes
Communications and
Public Relations Ofﬁce,
to the slopes to do research for which
Marketing Director
Senate House, Tyndall Avenue,
Barry Taylor
Bristol BS8 1TH
the phrase ‘stand well clear’ could
Tel: +44 (0)117 928 8895
have been invented.
Next issue due out February 2009
Assistant Director/
Email: news-team@bristol.ac.uk
Head of the Public
Relations Ofﬁce
Subtext No 7, October 2008
Jill Cartwright
© University of Bristol 2008
Extracts may only be
Subtext editors
reproduced with the permission
Hilary Brown, Nick Riddle
of the Public Relations Ofﬁce.

Proﬁle
THE ART OF MATHS
Dr Hinke Osinga, Reader in Mathematics, has had a long association with the Lorenz manifold,
one of the most famous objects in chaos theory. She talks to Hilary Brown about how she started
with a mathematical equation and ended up with a work of art – via a crocheted prototype.
A winding ribbon of stainless steel stands in a north
making your own socks,” he said – which I used to
Bristol living room. It rotates upwards into a
do in the days when my handicraft teacher mother
helix and scrolls outwards, clockwise and anti-
trialled her lessons on me and my sisters – “but
clockwise, to form curving folds that never
this? Why don’t you make something useful?”’
intersect; it almost seems to move. Shafts of
It was a Eureka moment, if ever there was
light bounce off the polished surface; the
one: ‘As soon as he said it, we just looked
converse, burnished face casts shadows
at each other. We were thinking the
on the wall. It’s both chaotic and orderly;
same thing – why not crochet the
complicated in its conception,
Lorenz manifold?’
deceptively simple in its execution.
The pair realised that their
To Hinke Osinga, it’s not only a work
computations had naturally generated
of art, but also the product of a ten-year
crochet instructions. Eighty-ﬁve hours and
research collaboration to visualise the
25,511 stitches later, Osinga had crocheted
complicated surface that emerges from the
her own model of chaos. ‘It was like a big
Lorenz equations describing chaotic weather
ﬂoppy tablecloth until we got it into shape by
patterns (see panel, p6).
mounting it with steel wire,’ she says. ‘It was amazing
Osinga’s fascination with geometric shapes began
– it gave us a sense of the shape of the Lorenz manifold
when she was at secondary school and the Dutch maths
and a better understanding of the Lorenz equations
curriculum changed. ‘It was all algebra until someone
themselves.’ They published another paper and presented it
decided that us kids didn’t know how to draw graphs any
at a dynamical systems conference. Then all hell broke loose.
more,’ she says. New geometry texts appeared, but without
‘I wasn’t prepared for the huge media interest it
the answer booklets, and Osinga found herself helping her
generated,’ says Osinga. ‘It wasn’t just the science that people
father – who was the maths teacher – to work out the
‘It’s one thing
were interested in; it was as if I had suddenly made myself
answers at home. ‘You had to solve problems in a graphical
making your
more of a “normal” human being. I’d spent my life wanting
way, by drawing objects in 3D rather than writing up
own socks,
to be treated as a mathematician, and here I was, the woman
equations. I loved that stuff.’
but what about
who crocheted – it was such a cliché.’ All the more ironic
Her PhD at the University of Groningen in the
something
for someone who, as one of only 14 women to 100 men
Netherlands focused on the development of computational
more useful?’
in the ﬁrst year of her undergraduate degree in maths,
methods and visualisation of mathematical objects using
had hidden her handicraft talents from her fellow
computer graphics. A job at the former Geometry Center
undergraduates for this very reason.
in Minneapolis followed, where she worked on extending
Dealing with the media had its challenges. The worst
these techniques to such complicated surfaces as the Lorenz
moment was seeing the edited version of an interview
manifold. ‘The Lorenz manifold is an important surface in
she and Krauskopf gave for regional TV news. ‘It showed
dynamical systems theory,’ explains Osinga, ‘but most people
the learned professor, Bernd, talking about the maths behind
think of it as an abstract object. They know it has certain
the manifold, but whenever a particular crochet stitch was
properties, but they don’t know what it looks like.’
mentioned, the camera cut to me,’ she said. But they learnt
The work continued when she came to Bristol in
quickly, and it was all good experience for the many
collaboration with her partner Professor Bernd Krauskopf,
interviews that followed, including a live broadcast on
also in the Department of Engineering Mathematics.
Channel 4 News. Determined to be the one to explain
‘Computing the Lorenz manifold became a sort of holy
the maths, Osinga started talking, and even the presenter –
grail in the ﬁeld. Bernd and I had our own ideas about
the famously voluble Jon Snow – couldn’t stop her. ‘He
how the surface could grow outwards from a central point.’
eventually directed a question solely at Bernd so that at
By the time they had developed their version and published
least he would get to say something before the interview
both a theoretical and a numerical analysis of their ﬁndings,
ended,’ remembers Osinga. But it worked. The following
it seemed that they had exhausted the subject. Until the
day colleagues were commenting not on her crochet skills
crochet, that is.
but on how well she’d come across.
It all started with some innocent hexagonal lace motifs.
There is no denying the beneﬁts of the publicity
‘I had a book on the history of Irish lace, and wanted to
generated by the crocheted manifold, including contact
have a go at crocheting these beautiful shapes,’ says Osinga.
with the public (see panel, p6) – a new departure for a
JASON INGRAM
‘Bernd thought I was wasting my time. “It’s one thing
hardened researcher like Osinga – and outreach activities,
4 Subtext
Autumn 2008
Autumn 2008
Subtext 5

Proﬁle
Proﬁle
such as the Popular Lectures organised by the London
Mathematical Society. ‘It also opened my eyes to a
THE CROCHET COMPETITION
completely different side of applied mathematics –
mathematics and the arts,’ says Osinga.
Osinga and Krauskopf published the crochet instructions along with their
ANIMAL
The partnership between maths and craft isn’t new:
paper on the Lorenz manifold, and offered a bottle of champagne for the
repetitive patterns seen in ancient baskets and weaving
ﬁrst person to complete their own version. The response was such that they
ﬁrst hinted at a mathematical subtext to the world, and
ended up with three joint winners … and a few surprises.
university maths departments the world over harbour
PRAGMATISM
gypsum models dating back a century or more that were
used in geometry classes. Even the mathematician Alan
Turing, famous for his code-breaking work during the
Second World War, was often seen knitting Möbius strips
and other geometric shapes.
The annual Bridges Conference is a showcase for the
mathematical connections in art, music and science, a
combination that is revealing relationships between
mathematical subjects and their artistic/aesthetic
presentations. ‘This is hard-core maths, which combines
structural and theoretical knowledge,’ says Osinga. ‘I have
a new respect for colleagues who work in this ﬁeld.’
It was at Bridges 2006 that artist Benjamin Storch was ﬁrst
inspired to create the steel manifold eventually commissioned
by Osinga and Krauskopf. Storch’s work originates from
a desire to create dynamic surfaces in metal, and the couple
had already been captivated by another of his sculptures,
a copper Möbius strip, which also adorns their living
room. The complex metal-smithing technique Storch
employs, in which central surface areas are compressed and
The winners
peripheral areas stretched, was perfectly suited for creating
the sculpture Manifold.
‘The band of steel corresponds to a part of the Lorenz
manifold that is the equivalent of about ten rounds of
crochet further outward from the crocheted version – several
colleagues have mistaken the photograph on my ofﬁce door
for a computer-generated image,’ says Osinga. ‘It’s real proof
of how a tangible, 3D object can add to the mathematical
understanding of a geometric shape.’
It’s also a beautiful piece of art. Long may it inspire future
JASON INGRAM
generations of artists and mathematicians alike.
Craig Lazarski: maths teacher
Leslie Carver: housewife from Texas.
In a small, rural community of animals and humans at the foot of
has always been to teach students rather
from North Carolina with a sideline in
‘Leslie was one of the many non-
the Mendips, a quiet revolution is under way. No, this isn’t a sinister
than try to get more business.’
crocheted stuffed chickens
mathematicians to read the paper along
Langford’s competitors aren’t other
THE SCIENCE BEHIND
(www.stuffedchickens.com). He deemed
with the crochet instructions and to
Orwellian fable. It’s a tale of the marketplace and the changing complexion
vet schools; they’re the local practices,
THE LORENZ MANIFOLD
it a travesty to mount his Lorenz manifold
come up with some quite complicated
of veterinary practice – and of a woman in a hurry. Nick Riddle catches
which are competing for staff as well
using steel wire, and instead draped it
questions about the maths behind it,’
as for clients. ‘There’s more demand for
over a wooden frame decorated with
says Osinga. ‘We really didn’t expect to
up with Lynne Hill, CEO of a new University venture.
qualiﬁed vets in private practice than
The Lorenz equations are the classic example used to
some of his best fowl.
have those kinds of conversations with
there was 15 years ago,’ says Hill. ‘Private
illustrate the unpredictability of systems such as the weather.
members of the public. We even had
‘Do people at Bristol think much about
For a while now, there have been
‘One of the
practices are now better equipped, and
In the 1960s, American meteorologist Edward Lorenz showed
one 82-year-old Dutch grandmother
Langford – or even know where it is?,’
plans to turn the clinical services offered
aspects of
they can offer higher salaries because
with these equations that small changes in initial conditions
grappling with her own version of what
Lynne Hill muses. ‘It’d be great to do a
at Langford into a proper commercial
change
their clinical staff spend all their time on
can have a big effect on the long-term behaviour of the
the Lorenz manifold was all about on her
survey of University staff and ﬁnd out.’
enterprise. The current range of
management
money-earning cases, with no teaching
system. This is now called the butterﬂy effect, which refers to
local TV station – in my home province
The Langford House estate, 15 miles
facilities is impressive: there’s a small
is convincing
component.’ Not that it’s all about
the famous conclusion that the ﬂutter of a butterﬂy’s wings in
in the Netherlands.’
southwest of Bristol, is the home of the
animal hospital and practice, the Equine
people that
money, but staff often have young
Brazil can cause a tornado in Texas.
Department of Clinical Veterinary
Centre (another hospital and practice),
change is
families, mortgages and student loans.
In order to visualise the butterﬂy effect in the Lorenz
Science. For over 50 years, Langford
a farm animal practice, and several
needed.’
The objectives for Langford’s clinical
equations, Osinga makes the analogy with leaves dropped
Special mention goes to Scott Senate
has been the base for the clinical side
diagnostic and clinical laboratories.
services, says Hill, are now clear:
upstream of a rock in a turbulent river. It’s difﬁcult to predict
from Syracuse, New York, whose bag
of vet students’ training, and for a full
Clients come in a steady stream, either
‘Get competitive.’
where the leaves will ﬂow in relation to the rock. You would
Carolyn Yackel: mathematician at
containing his half-completed crocheted
programme of research into animal
as referrals or for a ﬁrst opinion.
The process began some years ago,
need to drop a lot of leaves and document which one goes
Mercer University in Georgia and
manifold, yarn, hooks and instructions
welfare and other topics.
‘The Department has been
when Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor
where. A more elegant way is to try to document the leaves
co-organiser of the American
‘may have been picked up by someone by
From its beginnings as a ﬁeld station
delivering excellent teaching and
Avril Waterman-Pearson and members
that end up clinging to the rock rather than passing to the left
Mathematical Society Special Session on
mistake’. He hopes it will somehow make
in 1951, Langford has developed into
clinical experience for the students in
of Research and Enterprise
or right of it – leaves on either side of these special ones
Mathematics and Mathematics Education
its way back to him.
a community of some 90 academics,
farm animal, equine and small animal
Development looked at how Bristol
predictably go to one side of the rock or the other.
in Fiber Arts. As well as knitting, Yackel
100 administrative staff and over
practice,’ says Hill. ‘But the veterinary
should respond to the changes in the
The development of techniques for selecting precisely
uses Japanese string balls called temari
30 honorary staff and visitors. And
profession has changed a lot. The
profession. Should the University get
those special solutions from the equations is the basis of
as the basis for creating physical
its growth is continuing – a fact not
marketplace is more aggressive; larger
into bed with venture capitalists, for
Osinga’s research. For the Lorenz equations all initial
representations of complex geometry.
unconnected with Hill’s arrival early
corporations are buying smaller
instance? ‘They decided that Bristol’s
conditions (the leaves) that take a path to the origin (the rock)
Temari balls are decorative items made
in 2008. She’s a qualiﬁed vet with years
practices and investing in better
philosophy would be best suited by
form a smooth surface, called the Lorenz manifold.
from coloured string wrapped around a
For more information on the crocheted manifolds,
of clinical practice, but it was her
facilities. And Langford isn’t in the best
starting up a subsidiary of the University,’
The butterﬂy effect implies that this surface must have
small wooden or plastic sphere.
see www.enm.bris.ac.uk/staff/hinke/crochet
business experience that got her the
position to compete with that, because
says Hill. Hence the imminent launch of
very complex geometry.
new post.
its priority as a university department
Langford Veterinary Services (LVS).
6 Subtext
Autumn 2008
Autumn 2008
Subtext 7

Proﬁle
Conversation piece
who staff the place are another matter. ‘One of
the aspects of change management is convincing
people that change is needed,’ says Hill. ‘But
I think people have reached the point where
RELATIVE
they just want the change to happen.’
The quality of clinical training that students
get at Langford isn’t in question. ‘They get a lot
of contact time,’ says Hill, ‘and they graduate
MERITS
with a real loyalty to the place. Academic staff
Professor Harriet Bradley is a sociologist and
will stay within the University so that we can
safeguard the quality of their teaching and
former Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences.
research. But the profession is changing, so we
Professor Charles Martindale is a classicist and
have to change what we offer our students.’
will become Dean of the Faculty of Arts in
Such as fresh perspectives? ‘Absolutely. It may
be great the way we do it here, but there may
August 2009. Professors Bradley and Martindale
be other ways of doing some things.’
are also sister and brother. They talk to Nick
Hill’s notion of ‘other ways’ was broadened
when she did her MBA in 2000 at London
Riddle about family, the sixties and arguing.
Business School. ‘We had 37 different
nationalities on the course: one guy was in the
middle of negotiating a pipeline through Iran,
Photos: Sister and brother
another bought metals for the Chinese
as children in Cambridge
Government. There were venture capitalists, a
photographer, a theatre manager. It was really
helpful to look at different business models.’
Ab initio
Some of those different models have already
HB: We grew up in Cambridge; our grandfather was a don at
found their way into higher education and have
Cambridge University.
made their presence felt. ‘Academics have to be
CM: He taught history until he was in his eighties. He was rather
more accountable now,’ says Hill. ‘They’ve got
a Victorian ﬁgure.
to be able to bring in grants and to show that
HB: He wore wing collars…
they’re worth having.’
CM: …till the end of his life. He had something like 30,000 books.
Such talk can still rufﬂe feathers in academia,
HB: Our parents were Cambridge graduates, but not academics.
and it often falls to the managers to negotiate
It skipped a generation – we must have inherited some terrible
a path through controversial new territory.
gene, because our sister Joanna is married to a professor of Ancient
‘Administrators in universities are deﬁnitely
History at Oxford.
undervalued,’ Hill agrees. ‘The same goes for
CM: Our father got a ﬁrst-class Law degree and was going to
support staff in general. Clinicians may bring in
become a lawyer, but he couldn’t afford the training.
a lot of the income at Langford, but they can’t
HB: He worked for an organisation called the Community Council,
do their job without the nurses. If nobody
which was a charitable organisation, run by Rowntree, that dealt
answers the phone, people won’t come to us.’
with rural life, village halls, that sort of thing. Later on it was
Fortunately, people do come to Langford.
integrated into the Civil Service. He ran the Cambridgeshire branch
Hill’s job is to maintain this popularity, while
and he was a big local ﬁgure. We both inherited a very strong sense
reinventing LVS as ‘a viable business that can
of public service and trying to make things work better for people.
reinvest in itself in order to develop and expand’.
CM: Critics might call it ‘telling other people what to do’…
A new hospital, surgery and diagnostic imaging
centre are currently being built, with facilities
Childhood
including an MRI scanner and a CT scanner.
CM: We were a close family. Our mother was the dominant presence
‘That’s going to change the face of Langford,’
in the household. Harriet was the most rebellious.
JASON INGRAM
she says. ‘I think that LVS will become the
HB: I was a very bookish child. I would read the cornﬂakes packet
referral centre for the South West.’
if there was nothing else. Books, music and art were part of our
actually. I thought about doing modern languages and art history and
Her own experience has seen her cross
I’ve stayed in the veterinary world – I can still
LVS is due to launch this winter. Customers
household – they were what life was about.
various other things, but I couldn’t escape! That’s probably why my own
between veterinary practice and business. ‘As a
get a bit of it by walking into the wards here
will notice some rebranding, ‘because we have
CM: I wasn’t a particular reader when I was a child, but our
approach to classics is so broad, and so concerned with the inﬂuence of
vet I did voluntary work for the British Small
without actually doing the hands-on work.’
to be visibly, legally at arm’s length from the
mother read all the time and we went to the theatre, ﬁlms,
classics in other areas.
Animal Veterinary Association, then I became
So when she rolls up her sleeves as CEO of
University’. And a lot of other institutions will
concerts and the opera.
HB: I decided that since reading novels was my greatest pleasure in life
its ﬁrst woman president. I looked at its business
LVS, what does she get her hands dirty with?
be taking a keen interest.
HB: Charles and I used to run around the streets and have a kind
I’d do a degree in English. I came to Bristol and loved it, but I didn’t get
side and made it into a registered charity. And I
‘Figures, legal language, contracts,’ she says. ‘We
‘No other UK university has put all of its
of fantasy life. Charles played with soldiers and I was into romantic
a good enough result to go into research. So I became a schoolteacher
thought, “I really enjoy this”. I’d been doing the
have to move a lot of staff across from the
facilities into a subsidiary company like this.
storytelling and things. When I went to secondary school I got more
instead, teaching English and drama. I did enjoy it – I tried to make it
general veterinary stuff for a long time, and it
University into this new subsidiary – nurses,
There are all sorts of nuances: how is the
involved in teenage culture than Charles did.
more interesting than the ‘traditional’ education I’d been subjected to.
had become pretty routine.’ So when Hills Pet
reception staff, administrators. We need to
interface between the academics and this new
CM: I got my ﬁrst job at Sussex University, although I was told that
Nutrition offered her a management job in its
separate out the budgets, establish guidelines on
company going to work? What sort of payment
School and university
if I went there my career would be ﬁnished. It didn’t have a Classics
marketing department, she went for it.
the terms and conditions of every post, iron
scales will we use? What about proﬁt sharing
HB: I was a bit of a swot, always top of the class at school. But I didn’t
department; we taught broad courses, called ‘contextuals’. There was
She followed that with a stint as
things out with the unions…’ It sounds ﬁddly.
and bonus schemes?’
get on with the teachers. They thought I didn’t do any work. I worked
one called ‘The Western Tradition’, which covered Homer, Virgil, Dante
director/manager of the hospitals and
‘Yes it is. And people have a lot of questions.
It’s clear that LVS will hit the ground at a
like hell, but I did it at home, and I tended to fool around at school. They
and the Bible. Sussex was a really exciting intellectual environment –
laboratories at the Royal Veterinary College.
So we’re trying to make sure that we let them
gallop, and equally clear that that’s how Hill likes
got the wrong impression of me.
everybody talked to everybody else. I learnt a lot and changed radically.
She hasn’t worked as a vet since 1995. ‘I don’t
know what’s happening.’
it. ‘I like to get things moving,’ she says. ‘I’m
CM: I wasn’t a very good pupil to begin with. But I discovered I could
But it didn’t advance my career as a classicist. When I moved to Bristol,
miss it at all now, although I used to miss
With change on this scale, that last detail is a
always in a hurry. Which is why I have broken
do certain things, like Latin, so I focused on them. It wasn’t some sort of
I suddenly became controversial because of the trendy, modern ways I’d
lambings in the spring,’ she says. ‘Our practice
crucial one; the animals coming in for treatment
toes at the moment; I fell down the stairs
grand revelation, I was just good at it and other people weren’t. I liked
picked up at Sussex. Now I’m a grand old man and totally respectable,
served a lot of farmers with pedigree ﬂocks. But
may be oblivious to such things, but the humans
running to answer a phone…’
the nuts and bolts of the language. I kept trying to get out of classics,
but back then, several academics said that I was ‘destroying classics’.
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Conversation piece
O tempora, o mores
Writing and style
CM: Our mother told us that in her day at Newnham College, if she had
HB: I like to write in a way that can be read by people in other
a male guest in her room, she had to push the bed out into the corridor.
disciplines; I think that’s something Charles and I have in common.
When I ﬁrst went to Oxford, colleges were still locked at ten o’clock and
Our audience is a broader one than just the tight disciplinary community.
women weren’t allowed in after nine.
CM: I write in different ways for different audiences, but I’m always
HB: Everything was very formalised at Bristol, too. At Clifton Hill House
interested in style and how you communicate with different audiences.
we weren’t allowed male visitors except on Wednesdays and Saturdays
Harriet has written some wonderful pieces. This isn’t the kind of thing
when they could come for tea in the common room.
that you can generally do in sociology, but Harriet has a real gift for it.
CM: But that sort of thing was swept away very quickly, even in bastions
HB: I’m hoping to write much more in that style. In a way I’ve revisited
of conservatism like Oxford and Cambridge. My college, Wadham, was
my teenage ambition to become a novelist, writing creatively and
one of the ﬁrst to start liberalising and removing gate rules, and stop
imaginatively within my own discipline.
people having to wear gowns on all occasions.
CM: I’m concerned to communicate but not to dumb down. You want it
to be intellectually demanding but at the same time exciting, interesting,
The sixties
well written.
HB: I loved the sixties. I was a protesting hippie student. It was very
HB: Charles’ interest in style and writing in different ways deﬁnitely
liberating for me; in those days you did what your teachers and parents
inﬂuenced me to try doing more interesting and ambitious things.
told you to do. I became a bit of a radical outlier in the family during
CM: I always thought Harriet was intellectually more conservative than
the sixties.
‘I wa
me. I was rather a postmodernist. Harriet was more from the solid,
s part of a
CM: I wasn’t particularly political, but I thought of myself as Labour.
student pr
positivist, facts-are-facts school.
otest
Radicalism wasn’t very strong at Oxford – there was one famous
mo
HB:
v
Perhaps I’m a bit bland now – I like to feel that all positions have
ement her
episode of ‘the storming of the Indian Institute’, where about
e,
called the Fr
something to offer.
ee
25 people turned up.
University,
HB: I was at the big anti-war US Embassy demonstration in Grosvenor
wher
Administrating and arguing
e we tried
Square in 1968. And I was part of a student protest movement here,
to get rid of
CM: We both usually sit on University Senate, so we sometimes express
called the Free University, where we tried to get rid of teachers and it
teachers.
disagreement with the top table.
’
was all quite exciting and fun.
HB: We’re not the kind of people who accept the orthodoxies of the
time. We’re modernisers, but if we think the modernising is going in
Coming to Bristol
the wrong direction we can be very critical of it.
HB: I was ill for a couple of years – it was probably ME although they
CM: Improvements come through discussion, and dialogue and
didn’t use the term then – and I wasn’t sure about going back to
JASON INGRAM
argument, and the results are better than would be the case if you didn’t
schoolteaching, so I decided to do another degree. I’d already developed
have that process.
an interest in sociology at Bristol, when I was taught by a great, inspiring
HB: I think that comes from our family as well. Everyone was rather
educational sociologist called Roger Taylor. I always had a passionate
opinionated, and the opinions clashed a lot, and that has had a profound
interest in the individual’s relationship with society, going back to my
impact on both of us. We’ll never be company men or women in that
love of 19th-century novels like Middlemarch and Bleak House. I did
sense. Although in another sense we are both very committed to the
a BSc in Sociology at Leicester University and discovered feminism for
University and we give a lot of our free time to serving it.
the ﬁrst time, then did my PhD at Nufﬁeld University and started my
CM: I think part of Bristol becoming a top place is having the courage
research on women and work. That became the core of my research.
to disagree and debate and not just have a cosy consensus.
But I graduated at a bad moment for getting jobs. Margaret Thatcher
HB: That’s why we sometimes take a position that we don’t completely
was trying to get rid of sociology because it was too radical a subject.
agree with, just to open up a debate. I hope we’ve done a service to
CM: Well, it wasn’t a subject, since there was ‘no such thing as society’…
the University by sometimes being controversial, though it doesn’t
HB: Also, in the early 1990s, universities had something called ‘new
please everybody.
blood’ posts because they were worried about the age structure. So I kept
CM: That said, we often have different opinions. We don’t sit next to
being interviewed as a 40-year-old up against all these youngsters, and it
each other in Senate.
wasn’t looking very promising. I was fortunate enough to get a job here.
HB: We’re very careful about that.
CM: But it may be that other people see us as ‘those dratted Martindales’.
Classics
CM: Classics as a subject has really opened up, and we played a big role in
Looking back
that at Bristol. The subject used to end in the second century AD; there
HB: I’m getting close to retirement, and I think more and more about
was no Later Antiquity, you didn’t think about the inﬂuence the classics
my childhood and youth and how my past has inﬂuenced my present.
had on subsequent ages, or about issues like feminism. You translated, and
I think Charles probably lives a bit more in the present.
did some political history. But the subject is fundamental to every aspect
CM: Probably, yes. But it is remarkable that we’ve both ended up as
of Western civilisation.
professors at Bristol and deans of faculties.
HB: At school it was taught more as a language, but I think it’s now seen
HB: We certainly talk about how odd it is.
more as a cultural area. We did read some beautiful poetry – I still
CM: I can’t decide whether it’s just because I’m old, but when I ﬁrst
remember reading Horace and Catullus at school. But you started by
came here we had very close relationships with students, a lot closer than
reading Caesar and Livy and Cicero, which wasn’t so much fun.
now, and I think that’s all part of the culture change, too. I used to go out
CM: That’s very different at schools today. Nobody reads Caesar now, but
drinking with them and socialising, and I think now people would be
it was the ﬁrst thing we read because it was considered ‘proper’, correct,
a bit wary about doing that. Maybe my younger colleagues ﬁnd that
golden Latin prose.
communication a bit easier. Or maybe the students are afraid of me.
HB: But it was all about armies and spears, so you learnt a vocabulary
HB: Terrifying man that you are…
which was extremely boring for women. It’s only when we got to the
love bit that I got really excited, but I did like the muscularity of the
language. I rather envy Charles in some ways, dealing with Latin. I think
it’s a splendid language, and of course it’s the root of so many other
languages as well.
JASON INGRAM
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Tales from the ﬁeld
SOMETHING IN THE AIR
‘You don’t go
mix with oxygen and atmospheric moisture in sunlight. Kilauea
wandering into
volcano emits an estimated 2,000 tons of sulphur dioxide every day.
a crater if it’s
Many residents of Hawaii report physical complaints associated
about to erupt.’
with vog exposure, such as headaches, breathing difﬁculties and
ﬂu-like symptoms.
What’s that infernal smell? That’d be sulphur dioxide. It’s a whiff that Adam Durant is familiar with. A research
Does Durant worry about inhaling too many poisonous fumes
assistant in the School of Geographical Sciences, some of his recent work focuses on gases from erupting volcanoes.
during the course of his work? ‘Not really,’ he says. ‘You take
sensible precautions when you visit volcanoes close up – you wear
He talks to Hilary Brown.
hard hats, protective clothing and respirators. Of course, there’s
always an element of risk involved in being on an active volcano –
there are plenty of stories about volcanologists who have perished.
But you don’t go wandering into a crater if it’s about to erupt, and
these days scientists are much better informed. We know what the
warning signs are, and we have more sophisticated ways of
predicting volcanic activity.’
You don’t really want to be downwind of an erupting new eruption at the summit caldera in March.
He and Watson recovered the balloon intact, but not without a
Durant has done his fair share of high-octane ﬁeldwork,
volcano, and not just because of the smell. Admittedly, we
Durant and his colleagues – Dr Matt Watson, a lecturer in
three-hour slog through the jungle.
although most of the dangers he’s encountered have been on the
Brits don’t have to spend much time worrying about being
geophysical natural hazards in the Department of Earth Sciences,
Flight number two was more successful. This time, Durant and
way up to, or down from, the volcano. ‘In the Cascade volcanic
stranded in the path of a lava ﬂow – for most of us, that’s
and Paul Voss of Smith College, Massachusetts – successfully took
Watson coordinated the ﬂight plan with Voss in ‘real time’ from the
range in the western US, you can often be working at very high
the stuff of Hollywood disaster ﬁlms. But active volcanoes also emit
the ﬁrst-ever direct (in situ) balloon-based measurements of volcanic
comfort of their ﬁeld cabin balcony using Google Earth to help
altitudes and there’s always a chance of storms or blizzards coming
gases, such as sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide, which can be
gases as they actually spew from the mouth of the crater. Even more
visualise the ﬂight path. If anything, the balloon stayed airborne too
in unexpectedly. It’s easy to lose your way on mountains in bad
hazardous to human and animal health and degrade ecosystems.
impressively, they did so using a couple of sorry-looking, slightly
long, and after ﬁve hours they had to terminate the ﬂight to avoid
weather. There were some dicey moments coming down Mount
Then there’s the way these gases evolve once they’re in the
saggy inﬂatables.
exceeding the US Federal Aviation Administration’s approved time
Rainier on one trip, because we’d stayed a little long working at the
atmosphere: sulphur dioxide, for example, converts to sulphate
These are no ordinary balloons, however – they’re altitude-
window. The balloon landed in a plantation, and Google Earth
summit on a day in the mid-summer and snow bridges over the
aerosol, forming a haze that may lower the Earth’s temperature
controlled meteorological balloons, with sensors hanging below
came into its own, allowing Durant and Watson to locate it to the
crevasses were starting to become soft from the warm air.’
by reﬂecting away the sun’s rays. This in turn has wider
them for measuring air temperature, humidity and pressure, as
nearest Macadamia nut tree.
Remotely controlled balloon experiments may keep Durant out
implications for climate change, which is something we all
well as concentrations of sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide.
The ability to measure volcanic gas emissions several hours after
of trouble for the time being, but the lure of the active volcano is
need be concerned about.
‘The balloons are piloted remotely by satellite link,’ explains
eruptions could have immediate consequences for people living in
always there. ‘There’s something very elemental about volcanoes,’ he
Adam Durant (pictured right) is certainly taking it seriously.
Durant. ‘The great thing about them is that they enable us to take
the vicinity of the volcano. Sulphur dioxide is toxic to humans and
says. ‘Seeing gases being emitted into the atmosphere and watching
A postdoc in the Department of Geographical Sciences and an
measurements in real time, and to see how the composition of the
levels of the gas detected in the atmosphere over a large residential
new rock forming as lava is erupted is highly appealing. It’s geology
adjunct geological sciences faculty member at Michigan
atmosphere changes over time as the balloons drift in the wind.’
development downwind of Kilauea were high enough to warrant
in action.’
Technological University, Durant has recently returned from US
The ﬁrst balloon was released into strong trade winds and ﬂew
further monitoring. Although Durant’s ﬁndings indicate that there
National Science Foundation-funded ﬁeldwork in Hawaii where
for a couple of hours, ascending to 2,500 metres before crashing
is a rapid loss of sulphur dioxide the further the plume gets from
Top: The plume at Halema‘uma’u Crater, Kilauea, early on the morning of 15 July
he’s been measuring the concentration of volcanic gases in the
into the side of Mauna Loa, another of Hawaii’s ﬁve volcanoes:
the crater, this is most likely because it is being converted to
2008. The plume contains a mixture of gases (mainly water, carbon dioxide and
atmosphere. And he’s been doing it in a rather unusual way – by
‘We hadn’t bargained for the anabatic winds that were blowing
sulphate aerosol, and forms what is locally known as ‘vog’. This is
sulphur dioxide), small aerosol particles and volcanic ash. On most days the plume
ﬂying balloons in the plume of Kilauea volcano, which began a
up the mountain side in the opposite direction,’ says Durant.
a volcanic smog that occurs when sulphur dioxide and other gases
is carried south-west by trade winds
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS: ADAM DURANT
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The scholar and the soundbite
If journalist and academic meet each other halfway, then the
relationship is much happier. ‘You say “Here’s the answer to your
question, but this is what you should have asked me”,’ says Barham.
‘As long as you give them something sensible, they don’t complain
that you haven’t answered their question because they realise very
quickly that the question isn’t relevant.’
Barham’s key piece of advice concerning live interviews is something
echoed by many academics we’ve talked to for ‘The scholar and the
soundbite’: Preparation is everything. Listen to the show ﬁrst, for
example. ‘I once got a call from a radio show asking whether I’d do a
slot for them on food. For a serious programme, they assured me. I said
yes. It turned out to be a lightweight show with jokes and loads of
FRANCES TOUT
music, and people calling in with questions. I didn’t know any better
because I didn’t do my homework.’
So now he does. Before a radio interview, he talks to the producer
to ﬁnd out what’s expected of him and where he ﬁts in, and to clear up
any misconceptions about the science involved. He also recommends
mastering the art of circular breathing: ‘If you can keep on speaking
without drawing breath, they can’t interrupt you without seeming rude.’
Engagement and embarrassment
Media training is becoming a staple of the postgraduate experience.
The reason is simple: presentation skills are now a crucial part of an
academic’s armoury. ‘You won’t get on in science if you can’t go to a
conference and present your work in a coherent, accessible way,’ says
FRANCES TOUT
Above: One of Barham’s early sorties into public engagement: a ‘Scientiﬁc
Barham. ‘Mumble through it or look like a twit and nobody will pay
Dinner Party’ at Filton Technical College Catering School in the late 1980s
any attention, unless you’re some kind of genius.’
Barham has been telling this to his postgraduate students for years,
naturally within the remit of any one funding council. We created a
and he gives them the chance to go out to public engagement events to
striking demonstration and an exhibition at the Royal Society to get
get plenty of practice. He also sets up mock video seminars so that they
publicity and impress the funders.’ And it worked: Barham and his
can watch their own performance, a process they ﬁnd ‘incredibly helpful
colleagues made important contacts and increased their chances of
but horrendously embarrassing’.
securing funding for the project.
Talking to the public in small groups, says Barham, helps you to
Others have turned this strategy into a ﬁne art. ‘Every couple of
judge what’s getting across and what isn’t. ‘You can stand up and give a
weeks on the Today programme, there’s a story about new developments
public talk and get a nice round of applause, but it’s only when people
in some area of medical research,’ says Barham. ‘If you then check the
JASON INGRAM
come up afterwards to ask you questions that you realise that maybe two
Medical Research Council website, you’ll almost always ﬁnd a grant
people have understood what you were talking about. You haven’t really
application on that very subject.’ Get it in the media and the people
SCIENCE &
Peter Barham is recalling, with a shiver, his early brush with
engaged anybody.’
on the grant committees – who, after all, read the newspapers like the
the media. ‘“The physics of black forest gateau”. That was one
One sure sign that you’re engaging people is when the media add
rest of us – will prick up their ears. ‘And they’ll know a little more
of my ﬁrst public lectures, back in the early 1980s. Afterwards,
you to their ‘go-to’ lists. ‘In an average week, I get two or three press
about the subject than whatever your rather dry research proposal says,’
the Bristol Evening Post printed a letter from a woman asking
enquiries about food, and maybe half that on penguins. If there’s a
Barham points out.
why these scientists couldn’t do something useful like curing cancer
penguin story in the media, I’m probably the person they call. I’m far
It’s nice, he admits, to see your name in print. ‘But if you make
instead of wasting time and money on making cakes.’
SUSSABILITY
from being the only person in the UK working on penguins, but I’m
a balls-up of it and that ends up in print, that’s not so nice,’ he says.
Another public lecture involved Barham cooking potatoes, to
the person they know.’
And the history of academics in the media does include some
illustrate the principle of heat transfer. ‘As part of that, I wrote an
cautionary tales. Remember the cold fusion story? ‘Some guys
equation down,’ says Barham. ‘And it ended up in the Sun, under a
Creating a ﬂap
thought they’d discovered something brand-new in cold fusion, which
Food and penguins: Peter Barham, Professorial
headline saying “Batty bofﬁn” or something. After that, I decided I
Ah, yes, the penguin thing. It all started because Barham, for his physics
would solve the world’s energy problems,’ says Barham. ‘Brilliant –
needed to be more aware of how the media works.’
lectures, needed place-holder slides between the important pictures. His
had it been true. Somehow it became a big media story before their
Teaching Fellow in the Department of Physics, is
Barham’s more considered approach has paid off: his advocacy of
wife was obsessed with penguins, so he plumped for them. ‘People got
work had been peer-reviewed. When it was peer-reviewed, it got
the media’s ‘go-to’ person for both topics. How come?
‘molecular gastronomy’ and his collaborations with chef Heston
used to seeing penguins somewhere in my lectures – they’d start looking
slammed. And that wrecked several careers.’
Blumenthal caught the public’s imagination, and as for the whole
out for them. At some point I became Penguin Man.’ Barham and his
It isn’t being wrong that gets you into trouble, says Barham:
And will he ever wear an Einstein wig on live TV?
penguin thing… but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
wife started travelling to see them and went to a penguin conference in
‘In science, you have to be wrong most of the time in order to get
He talks to Nick Riddle.
Back in the late 1980s, media training wasn’t really on the academic
South Africa for biologists. ‘It turned out that there were problems with
anywhere. But you ﬁnd out you’re wrong when someone tries to
map. ‘The Institute of Physics organised a media training day,’ Barham
penguin identiﬁcation bands, problems that materials science could help
repeat your work and fails, or when a peer-reviewer says, “Whoops,
recalls. ‘Kathy Sykes was my PhD student in those days, and she was
with, so with my physicist hat on I said I’d look at it.’
look what you did”. By the time you engage with the media, it has
just getting into media work, so we both went along. The organisers
That led to collaborations with colleagues in the School of Biological
to be right. Otherwise you’re in deep do-do.’
greeted us with “Actually, we hoped you’d be doing some of the
Sciences and elsewhere. ‘I’m actually the chair of the next penguin
But there are some things over which the scientist has no control.
teaching on this…”’
conference – and I’ve got an honorary position in Zoology at the
Take public perception of scientists. Barham, with another shudder,
Nevertheless, the meeting – which included journalists from the
University of Cape Town.’
relates an instance of The Cliché That Wouldn’t Die: ‘Some years
Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and New Scientist – was productive.
It was Barham’s work on penguins that recently led him to take a
ago, Breakfast TV wanted me to come on for a piece wearing a
‘We ﬁgured a few things out, not necessarily about how to answer
more proactive approach to the media. ‘We were running a project on
white coat and an Einstein wig. I said “No way” – and they were
a question, but how to convey what the question should have been.’
penguin identiﬁcation, which is hard to get funded because it doesn’t fall
completely ﬂabbergasted.’
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Other people’s jobs
T
H
He topped up his collection on trips to a
about the chances of accumulating enough
How is the knee bone
famous fossil site in Maastricht, where two
material to reconstruct Thecodontosaurus in its
connected to the thigh bone
E
centuries ago scientists found the skull of a
entirety.‘It’s tricky, because the bones are from
of a Thecodontosaurus?
giant reptile, with wicked rows of teeth set in
many different individual animals. On the other
jaws more than three feet long.The monster
hand, the fact that the Bristol Dinosaur is small
Hilary Brown meets
was named Mosasaurus after the Maas River,
– less than ﬁve feet high at the hips and around
Remmert Schouten, a fossil
which runs through the Dutch city.The
two metres long including the tail – makes the
real fossil, so the story goes, was seized by
job easier.’
B
preparator in the Department
Napoleon’s occupation army in 1794 and
Progress has been made: Schouten has
of Earth Sciences, to
shipped to France, where it is now on display
already reconstructed two arms, which are on
in the Paris Museum of Natural History.
display in Bristol City Museum.‘Only about
try to ﬁnd out.
The Dutch have had to content themselves
TT
four more tonnes of rock to get through,’ says
O
with a plaster surrogate ever since, despite
PRA
Schouten cheerfully, hoping that some of
VE
various appeals – sometimes emotional
DA
it will yield the rarer bones, such as those from
ones – for the return of the unique specimen.
the pelvic girdle.
The Dutch have had the last laugh, however.
It seems that Thecodontosaurus has much to
N
A new specimen – even better than the original
teach us. It’s an ancestor of the better-known
and now proudly on display in Maastricht –
sauropods, the largest animals ever to have lived
was found in a recent excavation that Schouten
on land which include among their number
was involved in.
such ﬁrm favourites as Brachiosaurus and
Sites around the Netherlands fuelled in
Diplodocus.‘For a long time, Thecodontosaurus
E
Schouten a lasting interest in palaeontology.
wasn’t considered a dinosaur because it wasn’t
He began reading widely, visiting museums and
big and terrifying enough [“dino” means
poring over geological maps. Soon his fossil-
terrible],’ says Schouten.‘It took Darwin’s
hunting trips were taking him all over Europe.
colleague, the biologist Thomas Henry Huxley,
Schouten honed his preparation skills by
to conﬁrm it as a dinosaur in the 1870s.This
C
volunteering on excavations and in museum
TT
was part of a big change in our understanding
laboratories around the world, stabilising and
PRA
of dinosaur evolution to discover that not all
VE
preparing ﬁnds, and making moulds and casts
DA
of them were huge.’
for reconstruction work, eventually evolving
Lest he become an endangered species
O
into that rarest of creatures – lone fossil
bones intact,’ explains Schouten.‘But in the case
himself, Schouten occasionally escapes the
preparator in the University’s Department
of the rock containing the remains of the
laboratory to take part in ﬁeldwork. He is
of Earth Sciences.
Bristol Dinosaur, the acid would get at the
currently working with Bristol’s Department
Everyone loves a dinosaur, not least Remmert
Much of Schouten’s time here is spent
limestone inside the bones and destabilise them.
of Archaeology and Anthropology and the
L
Schouten, who has the kind of job for which
chipping his way through seven tonnes of
So I had to use largely mechanical methods.’
University of Shefﬁeld on an excavation
the country’s entire primary school population
limestone quarry rock as part of the Bristol
So out came the hammer and chisel, and
of Creswell Crags, uncovering the remains
would willingly trade their collection of plastic
Dinosaur Project.The ﬁrst Thecodontosaurus
an airpen for more delicate work.The airpen
of Ice Age tools and animals, largely reindeer,
sauropods. Schouten is a fossil preparator and
bones were found in Bristol in 1834 on a site
is a narrow tube through which air is blasted
aurochs (a type of wild ox), wild cats, rhinos,
L
conservator, specialising in vertebrate animals.
that has since been built on. In 1975, several
at very high pressure.‘This type of brecciated
mammoths and hyenas.
Simply put, he takes fossilised bones out of the
tonnes of rock full of dinosaur bones were
rock is difﬁcult to prepare, because the
He is also working on a project with the
rocks they are embedded in and cleans them up.
found in a South Gloucestershire quarry.
component parts are large and angular,’ says
Jurassic Coast World Heritage Team, preparing
Everyone loves a mystery, too, and Schouten
The huge boulders, some of them a metre
Schouten.‘It would have formed during rapidly
for research (with display in mind) a complete
E
is also involved in solving the puzzle of how a
cubed, were stored in farm buildings for
occuring events, such as ﬂoods, where rubble
crocodile skull found recently near Swanage.
miscellaneous collection of claws and vertebrae,
25 years until the University secured funding
and sometimes animal remains were washed
‘It was embedded in a huge slab of rock and
which he has spent the past eight years
to begin work on them.
underground into cave systems.The rubble
only the top of the head was visible. I had to
C
extracting, connect to form the skeleton
To get the specimens into the lab, Schouten
and bones then compacted into new rock,
drill it out so that researchers had access to the
of Thecodontosaurus, the Bristol Dinosaur.
had to ‘control break’ the boulders into smaller
called a cave deposit.’
palate and base of the skull.We took it to the
But ﬁrst back to an earlier age when the
blocks, incurring minimal damage to the
For every ten bones retrieved, only one or
RoyalVeterinary College to be X-rayed in their
six-year-old Schouten roamed the shores of his
precious bones.Then began the laborious
two are in good condition. But with potentially
CT scanner and got some funny looks from the
native Netherlands on the look-out for fossils.
process of getting the bones out of the rock.
hundreds more bones at his disposal, and a
vets while we were waiting for them to ﬁnish
T
A bit of a geeky kid, then? ‘I may have been a
‘One way of doing this is to use acetic acid,
stream of student volunteers keen to learn
scanning a kitten with a brain tumour.’As for
bit obsessive,’ admits Schouten.‘I was digging
which can dissolve limestone and leave the
preparation techniques, Schouten is optimistic
the future, Schouten is focusing on next year’s
stuff up before learning how to read or write,
Society of Palaeontology meeting, attended by
O
and certainly before I realised what it was that
Left: Schouten with the reconstructed leg of a Camarasaurus at Bristol City Museum. The Bristol Dinosaur is at
palaeontologists and preparators from around
I’d found. It started off as a hobby, though;
the base of the family tree of large sauropod dinosaurs such as Camarasaurus Above: At work in the lab Below:
the world, which will be held in Bristol.
Skeletal reconstruction of the Bristol Dinosaur by John Sibbick
I never thought it would be a career one day.’
When it comes to outreach work in
A nearby quarry provided rich pickings
schools, however, dinosaurs deﬁnitely rule.
and it was there that the ﬂedgling
‘They appeal to kids for obvious reasons –
R
fossil hunter discovered his
they’re spectacular, and there’s a lot of mystery
ﬁrst vertebrate fossils – the 240-million-year-old
surrounding them,’ says Schouten.‘But the
remnants of nothosaurs, reptiles that caught food
Bristol Dinosaur is a really versatile tool for
in water but came ashore on rocks and beaches.
explaining basic geology and palaeontology as
‘They’re close to the ancestors of plesiosaurs,
well, because you have the bones there in the
which were true marine reptiles – generally
BRISTOL
rock and you can show how they became
speaking, a family that looked like the Loch
OF
fossilised in the ﬁrst place.’
TT
Ness monster, with a long neck and ﬂippers,’
They may have been around for 200 million
PRA
says Schouten.
UNIVERSITY
years, but there’s life in the old bones yet.
VE
DA
16 Subtext
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Autumn 2008
Subtext 17

Why I became
From the archives
… AN IMMUNOLOGIST
(AND AN ENTREPRENEUR AND MUSICIAN)
A tough but inspirational
schoolmistress and an urge to turn
laboratory research into treatments
for disease both feature strongly
in the story of Professor Neil
‘My biology teacher
Williams, Head of Cellular and
had taught my
Molecular Medicine. So does the
father and she
music of Radiohead. He talks
would interrupt
lessons with
to Barry Taylor about inﬂuences
stories about him.’
and motivations.
I was born in 1964 in Letchworth, Hertfordshire
– the world’s ﬁrst garden city, as it happens.
‘He’s bright, but doesn’t apply himself ’ was
the sort of thing my school reports used to say.
I wasn’t a troublemaker, but I tended to look
for the easy path through life. I don’t think the
education system pushed people like it does
now, and mediocrity often seemed to be
accepted with a shrug. My older sister was
naturally very studious; perhaps I reacted
against that.
At grammar school my biology teacher
was a very strict lady, but she loved teaching.
Her enthusiasm got me hooked on science
and maths. She had taught my father when
he was at the same school, and sometimes she
would interrupt lessons with stories about him.
I enjoyed that feeling of continuity with the
JASON INGRAM
NICK RIDDLE
past. The teacher had probably inspired him,
knew as much as anyone. I was wrong, of
patents and the formation of two spinout
too – he became a materials scientist.
course, but it was refreshing to be part of
companies. Through one, we’re about to enter
My dad was into jazz and was inﬂuenced
something so dynamic. You felt you were
clinical trials of what we hope will be an
by the music that John Peel played, and that
working at the cutting edge of science.
effective treatment for asthma. The other
rubbed off on me. In maths we once had to
I became interested in how you might
company works with pharmaceutical and
GUNS AT THE LYCEUM
express the class’s musical preferences using a
modulate the immune system. In infectious
biotech companies, advising them and helping
These duelling pistols belonged
The guns form part of the Irving
bar chart. The Bay City Rollers and Sweet
diseases, like meningitis, the system isn’t
them to develop their drugs. It’s exciting stuff.
to the great 19th-century actor-
Family archive, which was recently
were way out in front; I was on my own with
working hard enough; in some other diseases,
I’ve always felt it’s important to give
manager Sir Henry Irving. They
donated to the University’s Theatre
Emerson, Lake and Palmer. I was one of those
like asthma, it’s working when it shouldn’t be.
something back. I’ve been the meetings
were made by Dempsey, an Irish
Collection by John H B Irving,
nerdy teenagers who read the backs of album
I came to Bristol for my PhD in 1985.
secretary and a trustee of the British Society
gunsmith, and used by Irving
great-grandson of Sir Henry. The
covers obsessively.
(I think of it as the year of Live Aid.) I
for Immunology for the past ﬁve years. Another
onstage at the Lyceum Theatre in
archive contains material including
I did a lot of singing when I was young, and
researched the herpes simplex virus, which
enthusiasm is the London International Youth
London, possibly as the character
diaries, letters and photographs,
got the title role in Joseph at school. Now I sing
causes cold sores and eye infections. I met my
Science Forum. This is an annual two-week
of Dr Primrose in Olivia (1885), an
which will provide further insight
and play guitar in a band called The Excuses.
wife, Sarah, here – when I arrived, she was
gathering of delegates from 50 countries. When
adaptation of Oliver Goldsmith’s
into the public and private lives of
We do cover versions, including songs by my
ﬁnishing a PhD in the same lab. I was two years
I was 16, I was chosen by my home-town to
novel The Vicar of Wakeﬁeld. Each
one of the most celebrated ﬁgures
pistol bears the inscription ‘Only an
of the Victorian era.
big musical passion: Radiohead. When their
into postdoctoral work when a microbiology
attend; for the past seven years, I’ve been a
actor,’ signifying their function as
latest album came out, you could download
lectureship came up. I was only 26, but they
lecturer at the event. At ﬁrst I was daunted
stage props.
it for 50p, but I had to have the £40 box set.
took a risk and gave me the job.
by the prospect of ﬁlling a two-hour slot, but
I took my sons, Harley and Joel – both
After a few years it might have been time
I needn’t have worried – the delegates are
drummers – to Glastonbury for the ﬁrst time
to move on, but then the University decided to
fantastically motivated and bursting with
this year. The Raconteurs and Seasick Steve
invest in medical sciences and things really took
questions. Now I’m Honorary Vice-President.
were the real highlights for us.
off. There was no reason to leave. Five years ago,
Life has had a certain consistency – same
I went to Birmingham in 1982 to study
I became head of department.
school as my dad; same lab as my wife; same
Biological Sciences. I fell for immunology
In the mid-’90s, we made some discoveries
university for 23 years; similar musical leanings
because it was the ﬁrst subject I’d come across
in a ﬁeld that has absorbed me since my
to my father and sons. That’s rather comforting
where the experts were standing up and saying,
undergraduate days – how to modulate the
when much of your work is about exploring
‘We really don’t know’. I convinced myself I
immune response. These led to international
the unknown.
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