Fraser Macpherson

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On Growth and Form 100 – Centenary Conference

From the Curator of Museum Services at the University of Dundee :


Centenary Conference – ON GROWTH AND FORM 100
13th -15th October 2017
University of Dundee and University of St Andrews

2017 marks 100 years since the publication of D’Arcy Thompson’s landmark book On Growth and Form – “the greatest work of prose in twentieth century science” (Stephen Jay Gould), written by the man that Richard Dawkins recently nominated as possibly “the most learned polymath of all time”.

One of the key works at the intersection of science and the imagination, it is a book that has inspired scientists, artists and thinkers as diverse as Alan Turing, C H Waddington, Claude Lévi Strauss, Norbert Wiener, Henry Moore and Mies van der Rohe. It pioneered the science of biomathematics, and has had a profound influence in art, architecture, anthropology, geography, cybernetics and many other fields.

To mark the occasion, a three-day interdisciplinary conference is being organised at the Universities of Dundee and St Andrews. It will feature a range of presentations covering every aspect of D’Arcy’s own work and the various fields that it has influenced. The conference will also include visits to the D’Arcy Thompson Zoology Museum and the Bell Pettigrew Museum of Natural History and there will be a special preview of a new exhibition exploring On Growth and Form and its legacy.

We are also delighted to welcome two outstanding speakers to give the keynote lectures at the conference.   These will be free and open to the public to attend.

Friday 13th October – Lars Spuybroek (NOX / Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta)

Lars Spuybroek is an internationally acclaimed Dutch architect whose practice, NOX, has become renowned for organically inspired projects. Having taught in the University of Kassel and Columbia University, he is now Professor of Architectural Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. His lecture will discuss the implications of D’Arcy’s ideas for architecture, drawing on experiments with both analogue as well as digital computing techniques for design.

Saturday 14th October – Evelyn Fox Keller (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
(The Fauvel Lecture, supported by the British Society for the History of Mathematics)

Evelyn Fox Keller is one of the most internationally respected historians of science. A physicist, author and feminist, she is currently Professor Emerita of the History & Philosophy of Science at MIT. Beginning her career in theoretical physics, she moved on to work in molecular biology before becoming renowned for her work as a feminist critic of science. Her books include Keywords in Evolutionary Biology (1998), The Century of the Gene (2000) and Making Sense of Life: Explaining Biological Development with Models, Metaphors, and Machines (2002). The latter has a particular focus on mathematical biology and in her lecture she will discuss the legacy of D’Arcy Thompson’s work.

The venues will be as follows:

Friday 13th October – University of Dundee
Saturday 14th October – University of St Andrews
Sunday 15th October – University of Dundee

Booking for the conference is now open. The costs, programme and details for registration can be found here.   We gratefully acknowledge support from the Dundee & Angus Convention Bureau for this event.
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Have your say on transport

Dundee Voluntary Action and Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership are working together to see what accessible transport solutions can be created to help people with issues accessing public transport, to help them get out and do what they want to do.    

There is clearly a gap in transport for people who do not drive and are not able to access public transport.

It is vital that residents who are elderly, disabled, frail and vulnerable have an accessible transport option to reduce isolation for the people who currently cannot get out and about.

A consultation is underway and it closes on 30th September – you can take part here.

There is also a drop-in event at the Lime Street Sheltered Lounge from 2pm to 4pm on Tuesday 3rd October.    All welcome!

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Weekly Road Report – West End Ward #dundeewestend

DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL – WEEKLY ROAD REPORT

REPORT FOR WEST END WARD – WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 2017

Riverside Esplanade/Riverside Drive (Tay Road Bridge off ramp to 75m along Riverside Drive) – westbound nearside lane closure for 11 weeks to facilitate V&A construction works.

A85 Riverside Drive – prohibition of right turn from westbound lane of Riverside Drive into Riverside approach and prohibition of right turn from Riverside Approach in to Riverside Drive for 11 weeks for works to the sea wall.  Prohibitions will only be in place when required.

Riverside Drive (at Mayo Avenue) – off-peak temporary traffic lights from Monday 25 September for up to one week.

South Marketgait (at Railway Station) – northbound nearside lane closure from Monday 25 September for one week for Hydro Electric cable installation.
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