The Sense About Science Lecture 2008

What is Science and Why Should We Care?

by

Professor Alan Sokal

Chair: Dr Matt Ridley FMedSci

Our third annual lecture took place on 27th February 2008 at the Cruciform Lecture Theatre, UCL. Alan Sokal is Professor of Physics at New York University and Professor of Mathematics at University College, London. His main research interests are in statistical mechanics and quantum field theory. Among non-physicists, Sokal is probably best known for his famous parody of postmodern science criticism, known as the ‘Sokal Hoax’, which aroused fierce debate in cultural circles, and received widespread coverage in the media, including front-page stories in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Observer, and Le Monde.

You can listen to the lecture as a podcast on The Guardian’s website. You can also download a transcript of the lecture (pdf) here.

A few days before the lecture, Professor Sokal spoke to Alok Jha on The Guardian’s weekly science podcast. Download it here.

To read Professor Sokal’s article ‘Taking Evidence Seriously’, published in the Guardian, click here

    Last updated: March 04 2009

The Sense About Science Lecture 2007

The second annual lecture was given by Professor Ray Tallis, and covered the achievements of modern science and its central part in our humanity.  Listen again to the lecture in a podcast from the Times Online here.  Slides and a transcript are also available.

The Sense About Science Lecture 2006

Sense About Science’s inaugural annual lecture, given by Sir John Krebs, was about public policy and the use of science. Read a write up of the lecture here (pdf) and see the slides here (ppt, 9.29 mb).