Discourses

The lectures at London's Royal Institution are given by experts on subjects of their own choosing, mostly science or technology. This collection of poems is the result of inviting nine poets to attend one of a selection of evening discourses given by nine leading contemporary scientists and use their art to reveal their reactions to it. Each poem is preceded by a summary of the lecture that inspired it. For example, in response to Professor Ferguson"s lecture on "Scars, Sex and Alligators: unexpected discoveries in biomedical research and their commercial exploitation," Ruth Padel offers a six part poem entitled "Sex, Scars and Alligators."