Outreach

I've gained a good deal from my pursuit of physics and philosophy, and I am seeking to inspire other people to  form an interest in science and philosophy too through various forms of outreach. I do not think of outreach as merely a matter of recruiting the next generation into academic programmes. It also involves listening to people outside of the academy and grappling with the questions with which they are concerned.

The PhysPhil Conferences -- hearing fresh perspectives

In 2012, 2014 and 2015, I organised international conferences on 'Physics and Philosophy' that were open to academics of other disciplines as well as the general public, and which explored a variety of perspectives on the philosophy of nature (besides the standard forms of physicalism familiar to Anglophone philosophers of physics). I obtained funding from The Analysis Trust, The Scots Philosophical Association, The Mind Association, the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance and the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion. 

Philosophy Begins at Home

I have also been active in bringing philosophy into the homes of people who have questions about philosophy, science and theology. For example, in 2014-5 I obtained funding from The John Templeton Foundation (via the Scientists in Congregations project at St Andrews) to conduct a year-long series of seminars on naturalism, science, religion and the mind, which were conducted within the familiar setting of a family home and were open to local townspeople as well as to university students. These encounters shaped my subsquent work.

Science Outreach

I've had some extraordinary opportunities both to engage in scientific research and to share scientific ideas with non-scientists — from members of the public to peers of the realm. In the future, I am hoping to engage in science outreach to philosophers, with the goal of challenging certain (unhelpful!) ideas about how scientific theories actually succeed in practice.

Royal Society Exhibitions

Two of the most memorable and high-profile occasions in which I have engaged in science outreach were at the Royal Society (in London) and at the Royal Society of Edinburgh. On both occasions, I was part of a Ulf Leonhardt's "Invisibility Science" group.