On Tuesday 24th September, we were fortunate to host Professor Lewis Dartnell again in College.
He spent the day with us, interacting with many students and culminating in an evening lecture, open to local schools and wider members of the College community, including parents and Guild. Professor Dartnell is an astrobiologist and author of several books. He currently holds the post of Professor of Science Communication at the University of Westminster and researches bacterial life on Mars.
Professor Dartnell offered two workshops to our Upper College and Sixth Form Scholars, allowing them to design an experiment to detect microbial life on the Martian surface. He spoke to Lower College students in the afternoon on the topic of life on Mars and wowed us with computer animations of cells.
In the evening, he spoke on his latest book ‘Being Human’, exploring the connections between biology and events in history. It was wonderful to see links between so many different subjects addressed in Professor Dartnell’s work and students and staff enjoyed hearing from this expert.
In a problem solving workshop we were challenged by Professor Dartnell to think about how we could ascertain whether or not there was life on Mars. We were encouraged to think about the methods that might be useful and the signs that we could look for to determine if there was life on Mars, with the goal of devising an experiment to test for this. I found it a really stimulating process, as we identified assumptions we made along the way and tried to look for solutions for the flaws in our original ideas which required us to look beyond textbooks.
We were also offered a glimpse into his new book 'Being Human' in the evening lecture, which explores the profound impact our biology has on different aspects of society, including how the impact of substances like coffee, tea or opium on our bodies ultimately led to international trade routes, and even significant conflict like the Opium Wars. Professor Dartnell provided us with a unique biological perspective that we would otherwise not consider, as we often value the political or economic causes for such events and overlook our biological functions that constitute the decisions we make.
It was really fascinating overall to think about the world from a biological lens! - Janice, SFC1
We look forward to hosting Professor Dartnell again!
Dr Woolstenhulme, Teacher of Religious Studies and Philosophy and Teacher in Charge of Academic Scholarship: Enrichment
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