Professor Duncan McFarlane
Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter FRS OBE
Professor Wolfram Schultz
Professor Chris Budd OBE
Founded in 1819 'for the purpose of promoting scientific inquiry', The Cambridge Philosophical Society is an exciting hub for the promotion of scientific research, discussion, and learning. Discover more…
Show All
Research in fluid mechanics has long been motivated by the desire to understand the world around us. Biology, in particular, is dominated by transport problems involving fluids, from the diffusion of nutrients and locomotion to flows around plants and the circulatory system of animals. The biological realm has therefore long been a source of inspiration for fluid mechanicians.
In the 1950s, driven by the desire to understand the locomotion of spermatozoa, G I Taylor - the founder of modern fluid mechanics whose name is associated with this lecture - was the first to carry out a mathematical analysis of locomotion in a fluid. In the spirit of Taylor, I will highlight in this lecture examples where an analysis of fluid motion has lead to novel understanding of biological processes in the realm of cellular motility.
Originally a term used almost exclusively in the industrial domain, automation is now being applied in most aspects of life. Yet the rationale for automating and its implications is often not clearly understood. This talk will explore the origins of automation and examine what is encompassed by the term today. It will explore the rationale, benefits and downsides of automating - including implications for the future workforce - and will attempt to provide some signposting around whether we should automate, and if so when and where. A range of industrial automation developments from more than thirty years experience will be used to support this presentation.
Dr Peter Forster, known for his work on phylogenetic network analysis discusses the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Molecules that changed the World" is a new App that has been jointly launched by Dr. Ljiljana Fruk, Society Fellow and researcher in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge.
In line with the core aim of 'keeping alive the spirit of inquiry’, the Society awards a number financial grants for future scientists, which include a three-year Research Studentships, the Henslow Fellowship, in the fields of Natural Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science and Clinical Sciences. Travel Grants are for Fellows of the Society and help support researchers to attend conferences and visit laboratories.
Watch on
From Darwin’s paper on evolution to the development of stem cell research, publications from the Society continue to shape the scientific landscape.
Mathematical Proceedings is one of the few high-quality journals publishing original research papers that cover the whole range of pure and applied mathematics, theoretical physics and statistics.
Biological Reviews covers the entire range of the biological sciences, presenting several review articles per issue. Although scholarly and with extensive bibliographies, the articles are aimed at non-specialist biologists as well as researchers in the field.
The Spirit of Inquiry celebrates the 200th anniversary of the remarkable Cambridge Philosophical Society and brings to life the many remarkable episodes and illustrious figures associated with the Society, including Adam Sedgwick, Mary Somerville, Charles Darwin, and Lawrence Bragg.
Become a Fellow of the Society and enjoy the benefits that membership brings. Membership costs £20 per year.
Cambridge Philosophical Society 17 Mill Lane Cambridge CB2 1RX
01223 334743
philosoc@group.cam.ac.uk