University of Cambridge

Using sparks, fire, microwave ovens and many more demos, Dave Ansell shows the science and engineering that has allowed humans to shine light into the darkness from the stone age to the present day. This is Dave's 21st Cambridge Science Festival, in that time he's been an a physics undergraduate and a research student, has worked in science radio, built a hands on science museum, and started a sci...

Whether it's about the risks of eating burnt toast or changes in sexual habits, numbers get used to give weight to a media story. But statistics are frequently abused, with exaggerations and misunderstandings disguised by the illusion of hard facts. Professor David Spiegelhalter shows how to identify the naughty numbers and the shabby stats, and how some basic mathematics can take apart scare stor...

Mobile devices are often with us 24/7. Intuitively, we understand these mobile companions must know a lot about our interests and friends but sensors embedded in these devices offer a incredibly rich window into the lives of individuals and society as a whole. Is this information reliable? For what and how can this be used? How can we exploit it while respecting user privacy? Cecilia Mascolo, Prof...

Dr David Belin, Department of Psychology, discusses our current understanding of the psychological and neural basis of impulsive/compulsive disorders such as drug addiction and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). He will offer an overall framework within which to understand how goal-directed behaviour, initially aiming at experiencing euphoria, pleasure, or performing better at the exam, in the c...

Meet the new Course Director of the Faraday Institute. Eleanor Puttock talks with Prof. Hugh Rollinson about his interests, scientific career and future with the Faraday. Find out more about the Faraday Institute at http://www.faraday.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/index.php Find out more about our courses at http://www.faraday.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/Courses.php

Lucy Delap: protest tactics of the suffrage movement by University of Cambridge

Lucy Delap: the women's colleges at Cambridge by University of Cambridge

Lucy Delap: the suffrage publicity machine by University of Cambridge

Lucy Delap: lessons from the suffrage movement for today's feminist activists by University of Cambridge

As the Brexit negotiations proceed, who will win the PR battle over Brexit and who will be the losers? What will the outcome be for Britain's future relations with Europe? Join a debate about the ramifications of Brexit for European politics and the broader issues of how narratives are formed in public discourse. With Paul Whiteley, Catherine Barnard, Robert Tombs and Leonie de Jonge. See related...

Yes, we really do! Vladimir Putin has been running Russia since 2000 and it’s a fair bet (if anyone is still betting about politics these days) that he will win another six-year term in the 2018 elections. Yet in the West we know little about Putin or his remarkable country that has roller-coasted along since the collapse of the USSR in 1991. David Reynolds (History Faculty) and Kristina Spohr (Lo...

If all cultures and concerns are equally valid then surely it follows that truth is subjective? Or is this a meaningless caricature of relativism? Join Simon Goldhill, Caroline Edwards, Priya Gopal and Frank Furedi as they discuss what relativism can and can't tell us about the 'post-truth' world. Chaired by Simon Blackburn. See related Feature article www.festivalofideas.cam.ac.uk/relativism-enem...

Have the people really had enough of experts? With economic experts taking a particular bashing since the recession, what does the future hold for economics and can it reforge its links with politics? Join economist Ha-Joon Chang, political scientist Helen Thompson, journalist Aditya Chakrabortty and editor Victoria Waldersee as they discuss whether we can improve the way research is used in infor...

Professor Sir Richard Evans was the principal expert witness against Holocaust-denier David Irving when he sued American historian Deborah Lipstadt for libel. Here he reflects on the case and the recent film – Denial – based on the events. See related Feature article www.festivalofideas.cam.ac.uk/denial

Refugees often have to give the most personal details to prove their past and receive asylum. But how easy is it to be open and truthful in a climate of mistrust when governments are looking to keep numbers down? Lucy Popescu, editor of A Country of Refuge, speaks to asylum seekers and writers Noo Saro-Wiwa and Hassan Abdulrazzak, and Tim Finch, writer and former director of communications for the...

Insufficient sleep affects all stages of a person’s live, from their development as a child and teenager, to their ability to function as an adult at home and work. You are what you sleep takes attendees through all the different effects of insufficient sleep, from the impact on individual health and performance, to the impact on businesses and the wider economy. The session looks at what can be d...

In a polarised world, populist leaders with narratives of grievance promote global schisms based on religious and cultural differences. How can this be prevented? Andrew Preston, Julian Hargreaves, Sara Silvestri and Esra Ozyurek will discuss the situation in the US, Turkey and the UK, how it might be feeding a rising intolerance of different cultures and religions and how it can be challenged.

Leaks and hacks are both praised as tools of transparency and accountability or condemned as espionage and manipulation by malevolent powers. How safe is our data in the digital age…and what is the worst that could go wrong? Discussing this topic are Richard Dearlove, former head of MI6, MI5 historian Christopher Andrew, journalist Nick Davies and Martha Spurrier, head of Liberty. Chaired by BBC C...

False statistics can spread around the world in an instant. Politicians are open to manipulation by hostile government hacking. Masses of data on citizens is widely available and open to surveillance and misuse. How can politics and government keep up? With social anthropologist Beth Singler, Law lecturer Nora Ni Loideain, author George Zarkadakis and Will Moy from Full Fact factchecking charity.

Is history always written by the victors? Panelists Ruth Dudley Edwards, Kehinde Andrews, Maximilian Sternberg and Yesim Yaprak Yildiz will discuss how history is used to advance nationalist and colonialist ideas and how different sides can fervently believe different versions of the same events. Their contributions will cover decolonisation, Irish history, torturers’ confessions in Turkey and how...

We know that populists can be sloppy with facts and speedy with promises that are impossible to deliver. Yet populist leaders also tend to highlight real inequities and to persuade followers that they are in possession of some greater truth. Followers often outsource their judgment to the populist leader on the basis of this belief. What, then, is the relationship between populism and truth? What...

Earlier this week, Professor Stephen Hawking and the University of Cambridge made his 1966 PhD thesis available to anyone, anywhere in the world via Open Access. You can read more about the story and download the PhD thesis here: https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/step-inside-the-mind-of-the-young-stephen-hawking-as-his-phd-thesis-goes-online-for-first-time And, to whet your appetite, Professor H...

Herodotus is referred to as the 'father of history' - and he was that, and also much more besides: the father of comparative ethnography, and the father of cultural history of civilisations among others .... But much of his life remains a mystery, and there are a ton more things to be discussed about his superb work, The Histories. Join translator Tom Holland and Herodotus expert Professor Paul Ca...

Nehru's Tryst with Destiny speech, August 14/15 1947

Dr Michelle Oyen, Reader in Bioengineering Dr Michelle Oyen will discuss the carbon footprint of popular building materials like steel and concrete and approaches for substituting new bio-inspired materials instead.