2021 - 2022 Programme

MEMBERS’ MEETING 

4 October, 2021 @ 6:45 pm – 9:00 pm

The members’ meeting was followed by a recital by The Bardi Clarinet Quartet hosted by Mr David Calow.

Raphael and the Reinvention of Drawing

18 October, 2021 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Martin Clayton LVO FSA

Head of Prints and Drawings for Royal Collection Trust at Windsor Castle

The Head of Prints and Drawings for the Royal Collections Trust at Windsor Castle, Martin Clayton LVO FSA, will give his talk to the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society’s first lecture of 2021/22 Season.  During Raphael’s short career of 20 years, he transformed the way artists designed their paintings through drawing.  His influence continues to this day.

Most of the drawings, prints and watercolours are kept at the print room at Windsor Castle in the original lay out created by Prince Albert.   The collection was created by three Monarchs over 500 years – Charles II, George III and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.   In fact, it was Prince Albert who started the Raphael collection.

Lecture In partnership with the Leicester Museum & Art Gallery [postponed from October 2020]

An Approach to the Principles Of Medical Ethics

1 November, 2021 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Attribution: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raanan_Gillon

Professor Raanan Gillon FRCP is Professor Emeritus of Medical Ethics Imperial College London and past President of the British Medical Association

 Professor Raanan Gillon argues that the four prima facie principles—beneficence, non-maleficence, respect for autonomy and justice—afford a good and widely acceptable basis for ‘doing good medical ethics’. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2014-102282

Professor Gillon has published extensively on medical ethics and his book, ‘Philosophical Medical Ethics’ is in its 13th print and a second edition continues in his words, ‘its very prolonged gestation’.

Sponsored by De Montfort University [postponed from March2020]

Science and Conservation at The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

15 November, 2021 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Professor Pete Hollingsworth FRSE

Director of Science​ and Deputy Keeper Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) was founded in 1670 and is a world-leading scientific botanic garden. Following COP26, in 350th anniversary year of the garden, the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society are pleased that Professor Peter Hollingsworth, Director of Science and Deputy Keeper, will talk about its science and conservation on Monday 15th November at the Leicester Museum and Art Gallery.

Professor Hollingsworth’s research focuses on understanding and conserving plant biodiversity, and he will give an overview of the Royal Botanic Garden from its origin as a physic garden through to this current science programme.   Other research interests include understanding pest and pathogen threats to the natural environment and the conservation of genetic diversity.  He has also played a major role in the ‘International Barcode of Life’ project aiming to build a unified DNA-based index of life on earth.

Sponsored by the British Science Association [postponed from November 2020]

A Cardiologist’s Journey

29 November, 2021 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani FRCP FMedSci DL

BHF Chair of Cardiology at the University of Leicester and Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation

Heart Matters | Wardour Comms Medical director of the British Heart Foundation Sir Nilesh Samani, photographed at the BHF head quaters in London. 20th February 2017 Pic – Gareth Iwan Jones

I will describe some of the key advances that have happened in cardiovascular medicine and care in the three decades that I have practised as an academic cardiologist and discuss some of the advances I can see happening in the next three decades.

Sponsored by The University of Leicester [postponed from 30 November 2020]

The Planners Say “No” and an Inspector Calls: Public Inquiries and the Implementation of Planning Policy

10 January, 2022 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Alexander Johnston BSc (Econ) Dip TP MRTPI (rtd)

Former Chief Planner Leicestershire County Council

Synopsis

The talk is titled “the Planners say NO and an Inspector calls: Public Inquiries and the implementation of planning policy”. After an outline of the planning/public inquiry process three inquiries of National significance are considered: a regional out-of-town shopping centre (Centre 21), the dismissal of which provided the context for the subsequent regeneration of Leicester City Centre; a large housing development proposal which when dismissed provided the impetus to save and restore an historic garden and its adjoining Parkland (Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens); and the dismissal of a superstore proposal which paved the way for the development of a science park (Loughborough Science Park).

Finally, Alan draws conclusions on the importance of and conduct at Public Inquiries.

Alexander Johnston

Alexander Johnston, known as Alan, attended the Belfast High School and Queen’s University Belfast.  He read Economics and Economic History at Queen’s followed by Town and County Planning at the Edinburgh College of Art.

Alan then worked as a town planner in the Scottish Development Department and Edinburgh City Council before moving to the West Midlands.  On reorganisation of Local Government he moved to Leicestershire and became Chief County Planning Officer with responsibility for planning, economic development, a training agency and waste regulation.  When he retired from the County Council he took up a consultancy with the East Midland Airport, where he helped to prepare the Airport Master Plan and chaired the Airport’s Strategic Development and the Ground Transport Forums.  Alan was responsible for the preparation of the Airport’s Noise Action Plan, which was required by the EU. He also represented the Airport at Public Inquiries and Examinations-in-Public.

Alan has been an expert witness at 10 public inquiries one of which considered 8 development proposals and has participated in several Examinations in public.  He has had a number of articles published on planning, economic development, housing and related matters.

Cricket Country: An Indian Odyssey in The Age of Empire

24 January, 2022 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Dr Prashant Kidambi

Associate Professor in Colonial Urban History, University of Leicester.

My lecture is about the story of the first Indian cricket team, which travelled to Britain in the summer of 1911. It is about how the idea of India took shape on the cricket pitch in the age of empire.

Dr Prashant Kidambi trained as a historian at the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, where he completed an MA and an MPhil before proceeding to the University of Oxford to undertake a doctorate. After holding a Junior Research Fellowship in History at Wolfson College, Oxford, he took up a lectureship in the School of History, University of Leicester, where he has taught ever since. He am also a member of the Centre for Urban History, a key research centre within the School. His books include:

• Cricket Country: An Indian Odyssey in the Age of Empire (Oxford: OUP, 2019).
• Cricket Country: The Untold History of the First All India Team (Delhi: Penguin Random House India, 2019)

You can see a short video about Dr Prashant Kidambi’s work by clicking here.

The Wellbeing of the Citizens of Leicester and Loughborough Depends on the Blue Economy

7 February, 2022 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Rear Admiral Nick Lambert

Cofounder and Director NLA International Ltd.

At 70 miles, the Ordnance Survey defines Coton in the Elms, Derbyshire as the UK’s furthest settlement from the sea.  Leicester and Loughborough lie approximately 25 miles to the southeast and east of Coton in the Elms respectively; they and other Midlands populations including Nottingham, Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham are at the heart of terrestrial UK.  They all depend upon the marine environment and the Blue Economy to tackle the challenges of climate change and to derive the socio-economic benefit of the resources residing in our seas and oceans.

A UK National Hydrogropher until 2012, Nick Lambert commanded the ice patrol ship HMS Endurance in Antarctica from 2005-2007.   He is also Chairman of the Friends of the Scott Polar Research Institute, Chairman of the James Caird Society and he is co founder and Director of NLA International Ltd.

Sponsored by Loughborough University

Celebrating The University of Leicester’s Centenary

21 February, 2022 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Professor Nishan Canagarajah

President and Vice-Chancellor University of Leicester

The F. L. Attenborough Lecture

In 1921 the University of Leicester welcomed the first students. The university had been founded in Leicester, funded by local people and supported by the Leicester Lit&Phil, as a living memorial to honour those who made sacrifices during the Great War. So that they may have life.  

This year the university will celebrate 100 years since those first students started.

“Since our founding, the University of Leicester has always been about our place, our people and our purpose. We want our centenary to be a chance to pause and celebrate these, reflect on our past and also be a time to look forward.”

Professor Nishan Canagarajah, President and Vice-Chancellor

Impacts of Modern Agriculture on Birds

7 March, 2022 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Professor Ian Newton OBE FRS FRSE

Ornithologist.

This talk will discuss the major changes in agriculture that have occurred in Britain since the mid-20th century, and the effects of these changes on bird populations. Crucial changes have included the massively increased use of pesticides and fertilisers, the switch from spring-sown to autumn-sown arable crops, the increasing growth of silage, and the loss of mixed farms due to increasing specialisation. The majority of bird species that live on farmland have declined over recent decades, some by more than 90%. Causal factors include the loss of habitats and food-supplies, and the greater destruction of nests and chicks within crops

Professor Ian Newton OBE, FRS, FRSE is an ornithologist with a particular interest in the things that limit bird numbers, with research at different times on seed-eating birds, waterfowl and birds-of-prey. Throughout his working life, he was employed by the Natural Environment Research Council, and for many years he was head of a unit at Monks Wood Research Station which studied the effects of pesticides and pollutants on birds. He has authored eight books on different aspects of avian biology, and published more than 300 papers in the scientific literature. He has also served as President of the British Ecological Society and the British Ornithologists’ Union, and as Chairman of the Royal Society for Protection of Birds and the British Trust for Ornithology.

Before retirement, he was Senior Ornithologist at the United Kingdom’s Natural Environment Research Council. He has also been head of the Avian Biology Section at the Monks Wood Research Station (1989–2000), Chairman of the Board of The Peregrine Fund, Chairman of the Council of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and visiting professor of ornithology at the University of Oxford. Newton has also held the positions of President of the British Ornithologists’ Union and the British Ecological Society (1994–1995).

This is a Joint Lecture with the Natural History Section

Exploring Protein Folding Landscapes – How Do Proteins Fold And Why Do They Need To?

21 March, 2022 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Professor Jane Clarke FRS FRSC FMedSci

President Wolfson College University of Cambridge and Emeritus Professor of Molecular Biophysics

Proteins are, perhaps, the most important of all biological molecules. Our genes, essentially, simply carry the instructions for cells to make proteins. But newly formed proteins are just linear disordered chains: for them to function properly they have to fold into complex 3-dimensional shapes, and it is this shape that determines their function.

During my research career I have been fascinated with fundamental questions on protein folding:

• WHY: does a given protein always fold to the same shape
• HOW: do proteins fold to the correct shape every time, and so rapidly?
• WHAT happens when things go wrong?

Many diseases, particularly those of ageing, are associated with failures in protein folding – Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, many cancers, cystic fibrosis. By understanding the principles of protein folding, we hope to get some insights into disease.

During my talk I will also discuss my somewhat unusual career, and why I have spent a lifetime supporting and encouraging more women and girls to pursue STEM.

Sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry

From Greenhouse to Icehouse, From Forests to Frost: Antarctica’s Climate History

4 April, 2022 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Professor Dame Jane Francis DCMG FRS

Director, British Antarctic Survey.

Antarctica is a frozen white world of ice and snow in a remote region of our planet. Despite its remoteness, it has a profound impact on global climates and sea level that affect us all today.

About 100 million years ago, however, Antarctica was not white but green, even though the continent was situated over the South Pole. The climate was warmed naturally by carbon dioxide from volcanic eruptions, allowing dinosaurs to live in lush polar forests that spread from Patagonia, across Antarctica to Australia.

The plants in those forests can now be found as fossils in exposed rocks amid the ice sheets of Antarctica. The fossils of wood, leaves, pollen and even flowers show that the vegetation consisted of trees and shrubs that were the ancestors of the modern Southern Hemisphere vegetation.

Forty million years ago Antarctica turned from green to white as the greenhouse climate cooled, ice sheets formed across the South Pole and the continent became the icehouse that we see today.

Now scientists see evidence of warming climates and melting ice sheets in Antarctica. The fossil plants may thus provide us with a window into life at high latitudes in our future warm world.

Joint Lecture with the Geology Section Joint Lecture

‘The Voice of the North’ Ossianic Tourism and the Discovery of the Highlands, 1773-1820

25 April, 2022 @ 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Professor Nigel Leask FBA FRSE FEA

Regius Professor of English Language and Literature, School of Critical Studies/ Sgoil an Oilein Sgrùdaich, University of Glasgow/Oilthigh Ghlaschu.

Despite the scepticism of Dr Johnson, the enthusiasm for Macpherson’s Ossian inspired the romantic generation to tour the Scottish Highlands, hitherto little known to outsiders. Assessing the relationship of Macpherson’s ‘translations’ to authentic Gaelic tradition, this lecture offers an overview of the romantic Ossian tour, with a focus on British and European travellers Faujais St Fond, John Leyden, and Sarah Murray, considering their links to topography, natural history and local history. Click below to find out more about:

• The Hunterion
• Thomas Pennant and the Welsh and Scottish Tour (1760-1820)

The Arthur and Jean Humphreys Lecture