Robert Boyle Summer School

The 9th Robert Boyle Summer School this weekend sounds interesting, on the theme of Women in STEM: past, present and future.

It features the wonderful Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell as the keynote speaker, who says she will 'describe the accidental discovery of pulsars (pulsating radio stars), discuss some earlier incidents where they were ‘nearly’ discovered, and reflect on what this might mean for future, more automated, data analysis.'

Before that, there's a talk by Michelle Di Meo on Lady Ranelagh. about whom she's recently published a biography. In Nature's very positive review they say the book 'reveals Katherine Jones, Lady Ranelagh, as central to political, religious, philosophical and medical discussions, yet destined to be forgotten, because she obeyed the convention that women should not put their thoughts into print. '

She surely deserves more than to be a footnote in history - though as footnotes go, it would always be an interesting one as she went on to introduce her teenage brother Robert (Boyle) to world of science and remained his spiritual and intellectual mentor throughout their lives.

Both talks are followed by panel discussions. Booking, and the full programme, is available here.