Science
Unsound Science
Government plans to allocate scientific research funding according to “economic and social impact” will stifle creativity and prevent basic advances
Maths Moves in Mysterious Ways
The shapes and patterns of Nature have some surprising explanations
The Serendipity of Genius
Historical events, finding a dusty old book or debates at the dinner table: anything can inspire a Nobel Laureate. So what makes an economist tick?
Sperm Limits
The “sperm in a test-tube” reports are evidence of how scientific plagiarism is a serious and growing crime
Demons in the Details
Hollywood and physics should be kept apart — pretty much like matter and anti-matter
Global Warning
An Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming by Nigel Lawson, and Blueprint for a Safer Planet by Nicholas Stern
Raymond Tallis
The philosopher-physician should be praised for swimming against the post-modernist current
Worlds Apart
What is the Royal Geographical Society for — exploration or ‘post-socialist urban identities’?
Taking Research for Granted
British universities need to become more like America’s if they want to keep the best scientists
Feathered Friends
Birdscapes by Jeremy Mynott
Why Remoaners should back Boris
“Boris, ironically, now offers Remoaners the best chance of a soft Brexit, or at least a sensible one. And to those who want a second referendum—’the people’s vote’—there may even be a chance of that too.”
On the road
“In the summer of 1980, in the grip of some Kerouac-ish fantasy, I opted to hitch-hike from Laredo to New York”
Discovering the Great War of China
A third of a million Chinese labourers helped the Allies defeat the Kaiser, but their huge unsung contribution ended in betrayal