History of Science, Technology and Medicine at ESOF 2016

21 Jul 2016

Staff and students from the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine are closely involved throughout the three-day programme

Manchester will play host next week to the 2016 EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF), where thousands of scientists, policymakers, business leaders and journalists from across Europe and beyond will gather to debate the future of the field in uncertain times. CHSTM staff and students are closely involved throughout the three-day programme.

On Monday, 25 July, Lord (David) Willetts, the former UK Minister for Universities and Science, will give the latest in the Fred Jevons Science Policy lecture series organised jointly by CHSTM and the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research. The lecture, to be held at Manchester Town Hall, is free and open to non-ESOF attendees, but you will need to reserve a ticket in advance.

Later that day, the main ESOF programme at Manchester Central features a panel session organised by our historian of technology James Sumner. Collaborative approaches to science and technology: lessons from the humanities? explores how approaches from history, the creative arts and the social sciences could help scientists to engage with wider publics on controversial issues from evolution to food safety.

On Tuesday, 26 July, Simone Turchetti’s panel An academic revolution for the new research generation? looks at the changing landscape of research policy internationally.

Policy is also a major theme in the historical session The ghost of science past, organised by our Innovation Research colleague Kieron Flanagan. James Sumner will be among the panellists considering the relationship between science and local identity in Manchester and across post-industrial Europe.

Also on Tuesday, Becoming well together: how nonhuman animals can improve our health and well-being, organised by Rob Kirk, builds on the work of our research cluster in animal studies, with contributions from Neil Pemberton and Mat Andrews.

Wednesday, 27 July features another session from Simone Turchetti. The legacy of the 1960s “environmental revolution” covers the evolving history of the climate change debate with colleagues from Denmark, Sweden and the UK.

Students from our taught Master’s in Science Communication will be helping to run the Press Room during the conference.

CHSTM is also contributing to the accompanying public events festival, Science in the City. As part of the University’s Open Labs day on Tuesday, 27 July, James Sumner will be leading a walking tour of John Dalton’s Manchester to see the city through nineteenth-century scientific eyes.

The story of John Dalton and the modern atomic theory is one of many featured in James’s chapter on Manchester science, technology and medicine for the new book Manchester: Making the Modern City, which is the official souvenir of ESOF and will be available throughout the conference at a special discount price of £10.