Royal Society

Paul Nurse: science under attack

by Bryan Walker January 29, 2011

Paul Nurse is the new President of the Royal Society. His predecessor Martin Rees was firm in his insistence on the seriousness of climate science and climate change, and Nurse is equally so. In a striking BBC Horizon documentary Science Under Attack he examines why public trust in scientific theory appears to have diminished, especially [...]

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Rees: scientists are citizens too

by Bryan Walker September 25, 2010

The BBC’s HARDtalk interviewer Stephen Sackur engaged this week with the eminently reasonable Martin Rees, President of the Royal Society. The interview covered a range of topics, and climate change was among them.  It could hardly not be, given the seriousness with which Rees regards it.  Sackur chose to introduce the subject by suggesting that [...]

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Hook, line and stinker

by Gareth April 14, 2010

Richard Treadgold has been attempting a sceptical deconstruction of Professor Keith Hunter’s new statement on Science, Climate Change and Integrityfor the Royal Society of New Zealand. It’s not a pretty sight. Professor Hunter should be ashamed of this shoddy piece of research. The lowliest undergraduate would do better than he. [...] The senior scientists who’ve [...]

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Seeing Further

by Bryan Walker March 5, 2010

  The name of Bill Bryson attracted me and I obtained through the library a copy of his new book Seeing Further: The Story of Science & the Royal Society, only to find that he is the editor, not the author. But he has done a splendid job as editor, collecting contributions from 21 authors, [...]

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You can’t always get what you want

by Gareth May 16, 2009

Hot Topic didn’t win the Royal Society of New Zealand’s first Science Book Prize: the cheque went to Rebecca Priestley, who compiled and edited The Awa Book of New Zealand Science — a very worthy winner. I had a glass of wine with Rebecca before the event, and we were both picking other books to [...]

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What’s a few tears to the ocean?

by Gareth May 12, 2009

New Zealand could be amongst the first places in the world to feel the effects of ocean acidification, according to a new “emerging issues” paper released today by the Royal Society of New Zealand. Surrounded by cold oceans which absorb CO2 faster than warm waters, and with a $300 million shellfish industry based on mussels, [...]

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Hot Topic shortlisted for Royal Society of NZ science book prize

by Gareth March 25, 2009

I am very pleased(*) to report that Hot Topic has been shortlisted as one of five finalists for the first Royal Society of New Zealand Science Book Prize. The competition’s stiff. HT is up against four extremely good books: The Awa Book of New Zealand Science, edited by Rebecca Priestley (Awa Press), Falling for Science, [...]

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Coppiced willow farming here

by Bryan Walker January 4, 2009

This column appeared in the Waikato Times in August 2008.  I have altered some of the wording to update it for this Hot Topic post. The change to renewable energy sources can seem daunting. Those with stakes in fossil fuels are often negative, claiming change will be too expensive, too difficult, or not yet necessary. [...]

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When Gray turns to blue/Flung a dummy

by Gareth July 17, 2008

In a dramatic announcement today, Vincent R Gray, the retired coal researcher and diligent proof-reader of IPPC Working Group Reports (he’s inordinately proud of the fact that he submitted over 1,800 comments to the fourth report) has resigned from the Royal Society of New Zealand because of its recent statement on climate change. Given that [...]

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Long shot kick de bucket (no warming since 1958)

by Gareth July 14, 2008

At last, the NZ Climate “Science” Coalition publish their response to the Royal Society of New Zealand’s recent statement on climate change. As I predicted, they’ve made my day. Let’s consider the circumstances. We have the nation’s leading science organisation, and a panel of the nation’s leading climate scientists – including a few Nobel prizewinners [...]

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