Members' trip to YorkNew for Spring 2020! - a three day trip to York which is packed with interesting and informative visits and talks. The trip also provides an opportunity to meet with a similar organisation to ours, this being the Yorkshire Philosophical Society (YPS).
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The Mind of a bee!See Professor Lars Chittka's talk for the society "The Mind of the Bee" from January 2021. Bees have a diverse instinctual repertoire that allows the functioning of the beehive like a smoothly oiled factory, with different workers specialising in comb construction, climate control system, defence and foraging for nectar and pollen. However, the richness of bees’ instincts has traditionally been contrasted with the notion that bees’ small brains allow little behavioural flexibility and learning behaviour.
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The Origins of GenocideWhen he receives an invitation to deliver a lecture in the Ukrainian city of Lviv, international lawyer Philippe Sands begins a journey on the trail of his family’s secret history. In doing so, he uncovers a series of unlikely coincidences that lead him halfway across the world, to the origins of modern international law, in the 1945 ‘moment’ and at the Nuremberg trial. ‘East West Street’: on the origins of genocide and crimes against humanity, on the individual and the group. See Prof Philippe Sands lecture for the Royal Phil.
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SOCIETY INAUGURATION0n the 5th November 1802, three Glaswegian gentlemen, John Roberton, William Douglas, and Peter Nicholson, acting on behalf of a number of others in the city who were ‘interested in the prosperity of the Trades and Manufactures of their country’, and anxious for ‘the improvement of the Arts and Sciences’ ...
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Our New HomeWe are really excited to be moving into our new home (as soon as conditions allow) in the brand new James McCune Smith lecture theatre, part of the new development at Glasgow University. There we will have the latest facilities for our talks and social activities.
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What would Lister do in a post-pandemic world?
Prof Iain McInnes
“What would Lister do in a post-pandemic world?” The pandemic arising from the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 has been a salutary reminder to society of our interdependence on each other within…
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Eugenics: A Dark History and Troubling Present
Dr Adam Rutherford
Eugenics is a set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population, historically by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior or…
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The making, keeping and losing of memory
Prof. Richard Morris
The capacity for memory is one of our prize possessions – defining our individuality and affording the bonds that cement so many aspects of friendship and family life. Remembrance is…
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The Gendered Brain: Do you have a female brain or a male brain? Or are we asking the wrong question?
Professor Gina Rippon
Abstract: For centuries both neuroscience and behavioural science have been pursuing a Hunt the Difference agenda, trying to find ways of characterising the differences between the brains and behaviour of…
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being rescheduled – The fate of human rights in a fragile world
Baroness Helena Kennedy
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC is one of Britain's most distinguished lawyers. She has spent her professional life giving voice to those who have least power within the system, championing civil…
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The changing shape of flies
Dr Erica McAlister
From the tips of their antennae to the end of their legs, fly morphology is as varied and diverse as their ecology and habitat. They have adapted to living…