Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science
The Simonyi Professorship for the Public Understanding of Science is a chair at the University of Oxford. The chair was established in 1995 for the ethologist Richard Dawkins by an endowment from Charles Simonyi.[1][2] The aim of the Professorship is 'to communicate science to the public without, in doing so, losing those elements of scholarship which constitute the essence of true understanding'. It is a position that had been endowed by Charles Simonyi with the express intention that the holder "be expected to make important contributions to the public understanding of some scientific field",[3] and that its first holder should be Richard Dawkins.[4]
History
[...] if I am asked for a single phrase to characterize my role as Professor of the Public Understanding of Science, I think I would claim Advocate for Disinterested Truth.
Richard Dawkins explained the history of the creation of the chair in a chapter of his memoirs, Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science.[2] In 2008, Dawkins retired and the Oxford mathematician Marcus du Sautoy was elected to the chair.[6][7]
List of Simonyi Professors
- 1995-2008: Richard Dawkins, biological science
- Since 2008: Marcus du Sautoy, mathematical science
List of Simonyi Lectures
Richard Dawkins established an annual "Charles Simonyi Lecture" at the University of Oxford. He invited the following speakers:[8][9]
- Daniel Dennett (1999), "The evolution of culture "
- Richard Gregory (2000), "Shaking hands with the universe"
- Jared Diamond (2001), "Why did human history unfold differently on different continents?"
- Steven Pinker (2002), "The blank slate "
- Martin Rees (2003), "The mystery of our complex cosmos"
- Richard Leakey (2004), "Why our origins matter"
- Carolyn Porco (2005), "In orbit! Cassini explores the Saturn system "
- Harry Kroto (2006), "Can the internet save the Enlightenment?"
- Paul Nurse (2007), "The great ideas of biology "
- Richard Dawkins (2008), "The purpose of purpose"
Marcus du Sautoy, second Simonyi Professor, invited:[9]
- Timothy Gowers (2009), "Open-source mathematics "
- Christof Koch (2010), "Consciousness: confessions of romantic reductionist"
- David Spiegelhalter (2011), "Working out the odds"
- Luc Steels (2012), "Can machines be creative?"
- W. Ian Lipkin (2013), "Of microbes and men: tales of the small game hunter"
- Eric Weinstein (2013 special lecture), "Geometric unity"
- David MacKay (2014), "Why climate change action is difficult, and how we can make a difference"
- Melissa Franklin (2015), "Putting the Higgs boson in its place"
Notes and references
- Charles Simonyi's manifesto Archived 5 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine, University of Oxford (page visited on 6 December 2015).
- Richard Dawkins, Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science, Bantam Press, 2015 (ISBN 978-0-59307-256-1). Chapter "Simonyi Professor", pages 271-307.
- Simonyi, Charles (15 May 1995). "Manifesto for the Simonyi Professorship". The University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 23 April 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
- "Aims of the Simonyi Professorship". 23 April 2008. Archived from the original on 23 April 2008. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
- Richard Dawkins, "Science, Genetics and Ethics: Memo for Tony Blair", A Devil's Chaplain, Phoenix, 2003, page 43 (ISBN 978-0-7538-1750-6).
- "The Current Simonyi Professor: Richard Dawkins". The University of Oxford. Archived from the original on 26 May 2010. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
- Richard Dawkins. "Charles Simonyi Professorship in the Public Understanding of Science". RichardDawkins.net. Retrieved 29 March 2008.
- Richard Dawkins, Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science, Bantam Press, 2015, page 282 (ISBN 978-0-59307-256-1).
- The Simonyi Lectures, University of Oxford (page visited on 6 December 2015).
Bibliography
- Richard Dawkins, Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science, Bantam Press, 2015 (ISBN 978-0-59307-256-1). Chapter "Simonyi Professor", pages 271-307.
