International Poetry Day may seem a strictly literary shindig. But despite the ongoing evocations of C.P. Snow’s 1959 ‘two cultures’ lecture, science and poetry are not-so-strange bedfellows. Nature itself is the perfect exemplar: the journal’s very title is taken from a poem by English Romantic poet William Wordsworth. Read more
An eccentric genius in an impeccable suit and a level-headed young sidekick who have to use their wits to combat a time-travelling automaton and save the Earth. No, this is not the plot of the latest Doctor Who. It is Nikola Tesla and the End of the World, a fun and highly original four-episode science fiction series created by Ian Strang nominated at the 2015 Raindance film festival best British Series category (and available free to view online). Read more
Thomas Pakenham is a historian and arboriculturalist whose books include the bestselling Meetings with Remarkable Trees (2003). His new book, The Company of Trees, chronicles his efforts to establish an arboretum at Tullynally, Ireland, intertwining moments in the history of botany, such as the exploits of Victorian plant hunter Joseph Hooker. His quest for rare trees and other plants took him to Patagonia to view the last vast monkey puzzle trees, to the Himalayas to find the rare Magnolia campbelli alba and beyond. Ahead of his appearance at Write on Kew, the Royal Botanical Garden’s inaugural literary festival, Pakenham talks about the slippery concept of ‘alien’ species, getting lost in a blizzard in Tibet, and pathogens that travel in packing cases. Read more
