with Dr. John Durant
Our annual BOAT RACE DINNER was held on Saturday, 31st May, at The Cambridge Boat Club, Gerry's Landing, Cambridge, Mass., starting at 6:15p.m.
Our speaker, Dr. John Durant, Queens' College, Cambridge, is Director of the MIT Museum and adjunct professor in the Institute's Department of Science, Technology and Society. He is an authority on the public presentation of scientific research. His career spans three decades in this rapidly-developing field which aims to bridge the gulf between science and the humanities lamented fifty years ago by another Cantabrigian, C.P.Snow. From 1999-2000 Dr Durant served, for example, on the House of Lords Select Committee of Science and Technology mandated to draft guidelines for British policy in these areas. The MIT Museum is this spring presenting the Cambridge Science Festival, a city-wide celebration of the role of science in the Cambridge community - a North- American first.
Prior to his MIT appointment in 2005, Dr. Durant was based in London where from 1989-2000 he was Director of Science Communication at the London Science Museum and Professor of Public Understanding of Science at Imperial College. From 2000-2005 he was CEO of At-Bristol, hailed as "one of the UK's most exciting science centers" and described by The Daily Telegraph as " a model for the museums of the future".
The title of his talk was: "Communicating Science to the Public in Britain and America: What's the Difference?"
Sincerely
Ralph Gillis,
Jesus College, Cambridge
President of the Society