Academic enrichment: a snapshot of
this year ’s speakers
Dr Adam Rutherford
In a lively talk laced with humour, Dr Rutherford
revealed the intriguing behaviour of certain animals,
and how this, when contrasted with our own
behaviour, can help us understand what makes us, as
a species, distinctly human. Dr Rutherford subverted
the idea that skills like art, pyrotechnics and tool-
making are unique to humans and elucidated some
interesting foraging, sexual and defence behaviours
that some animals have come to possess. Boxer crabs,
for example, use sea anemones by holding them in
their pincers as a deterrent against predators.
Dr Adam Rutherford, geneticist, presenter
of Radio 4’s Inside Science and author of the
bestselling A Brief History of Everyone Who
Ever Lived, shared key ideas from his latest
book, The Book of Humans: The Story of How
We Became Us.
Given the diverse, complex and sometimes shocking
nature of animal behavioural traits, we as humans
cannot claim exclusive rights to many skills, with the
exception of cultural transmission, which remains a
distinctly human attribute.
Megan Ng, Lower Sixth
Ali Smith
‘Every book you’ve ever read is written by all the books
that have gone before it.’
This was one of many beautifully expressed phrases
that captivated the audience during Ali Smith’s talk.
Complex ideas were also expressed as Smith discussed
her new book Spring with BBC producer Emma
Harding, including giving a breathtaking reading of
the opening of the novel, the third in her Seasonal
Quartet.
She also revealed the ways the problems of our
society have influenced her novels, discussing climate
change, the refugee crisis, technology, and of course,
Brexit. Thought-provoking, dynamic and utterly
brilliant, whether you had read all her books or none,
everyone left the talk desperate to read Spring, and
with a different perspective on our society, and in
particular the role of the storyteller within it.
Amy Thomas, Lower Sixth
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ACADEMIC REVIEW