Between Rhyme and Reason: Don Paterson

On 7th February 2019, the Royal Society hosted a joint event between the Royal Society, ConSciCom and the Royal Society of Literature. It was a chance to hear our Poet in Residence, Don Paterson, read some of the original work he produced for the project, as well as his discussions with leading geneticist Professor Veronica Van Heyningen CBE FRS FMedSci.

You can listen to an audio recording of the event, Between Rhyme and Reason, here.

^{Poet, Prof Don Paterson, and scientist, Prof Veronica Van Heyningen, discuss the ways in which their professions meet}

Away from labs and fieldwork, scientific theories have long been interpreted and creatively portrayed by the arts. The advancement of technology and increasingly specialised science have made this collaboration more challenging. However, the emergence of citizen science, as well as the burgeoning partnership between art and science, is providing an exciting way forward.

Listen to a conversation between Professor Veronica Van Heyningen CBE FRS FMedSci and award-winning poet Don Paterson OBE FRSL to discuss where science and poetry meet.

Before the discussion, Don Paterson performs poetry from his role as poet in residence on the Constructing Scientific Communities project, based at the University of Oxford, which is run in partnership with the Royal Society. Don is accompanied by acclaimed guitarist Graeme Stephen.

This event was hosted in partnership with the Royal Society of Literature.

^{Don Paterson and Graeme Stephen captivate the audience beneath some of Darwin's most famous words}