17 November 2010

Interdisciplinarity conversation to honour D'Arcy Thompson

Eminent philosopher Mary Midgley and acclaimed contemporary artist Paul Noble will this week join forces in Dundee to pay tribute to D'Arcy Thompson's belief in the fundamental interdisciplinarity of science, the arts and humanities.

Mary Midgley has been one of the UK’s best known philosophers since her first book Beast and Man was published in 1978. Since then she has published numerous provocative and critically acclaimed works which offer a powerful critique of science’s claim to hold all the answers.

With great intelligence and wit, she has argued for the fundamental necessity of philosophy and the social sciences in understanding the human race.

Entering into what promises to be a fascinating discussion with her is the artist Paul Noble, whose epic yet humorous works have combined meticulous craft with a political vision to produce a synthesis of drawing, architecture, philosophy and satire.

The public event, which takes place at the D’Arcy Thompson Lecture Theatre in the University of Dundee’s Tower Building at 5.30pm on Friday, 19th November, is being held as part of a year-long series to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of the pioneering scientist.

Professor Nicholas Davey, Dean of Humanities at the University, will chair the event. Matthew Jarron, one of the organisers of the D’Arcy 150 celebrations, says this event will provide a truly stimulating meeting of minds.

'D'Arcy Thompson believed that the sciences and arts were fundamentally linked,' he said. 'He was as keenly interested in art and literature as he was in science. The great book On Growth and Form which he wrote here in Dundee has been an inspiration to scientists, artists and philosophers alike and his ideas have great resonance with the work of both Mary and Paul.'

Professor Sir D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson was born in Edinburgh in 1860, and went on to become a renowned and influential biologist, mathematician and classics scholar.

As the first Professor of Biology at University College Dundee, now the University of Dundee, he was a pioneer of life sciences in the city. He also spent many years working at the University of St Andrews, and was the author of ‘On Growth and Form’, which has been described as 'the greatest work of prose in twentieth century science'.

Admission to 'Mary Midgley in conversation with Paul Noble' is free. Further information is available by contacting Matthew Jarron on 01382 384310 or Sophia Hao on 01382 388017.

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277