EVENTS 2008-2009 Perspectivies of the Arab World
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EVENTS 2008-2009 Perspectivies of the Arab World ................................................................... 47 Jihad and the Surge in Iraq ..................................................................... 47 Images of Saladin: Past and Present........................................................ 48 Reflections of Islamic Art ........................................................................ 49 Islam and the Day of Judgement ............................................................ 50 Writing the First Qur’ans: Running the Early Islamic State ....................... 51 Seven Wonders of the World – The Bell Rock Lighthouse ............................. 53 Regenerative Medicine: How will it change my life? ..................................... 58 Extracts from Celebrating the Achievements & Legacy of James Clerk Maxwell .................................................................................... 64 Our Genetic Inheritance: for better or for worse, in sickness and in health ... 68 Taxation without representation .................................................................. 71 Science and Arbroath in the 21st Century .................................................... 74 The Royalty of the Man: How the Globe read Burns ..................................... 79 Robert Burns in Global Culture .................................................................... 83 Cultural Flagships: Being a ‘National’ – Museums and Galleries ................... 89 UK–Taiwan Workshop on Tidal Current Energy .......................................... 102 Alcohol – Our Favourite Drug: from Chemistry to Culture .......................... 115 The Gannochy Trust Innovation Award Prize Lecture .................................. 128 The i-LIMB Hand - engineering innovation drives business success ............ 132 Meet Danny – The insanity of prison .......................................................... 134 Drugs of the Future: Personalised Medicines for the Over 65s .................... 137 The Higgs boson: what, why, how? ............................................................ 149 Scottish Aquaculture - A sustainable future ............................................... 159 Science, Politics and Drama ........................................................................ 179 After effects of Copenhagen - Fiction or faction? ................................. 179 The Drama of Nuclear Weapons ........................................................... 183 Robert Cormack Bequest Meeting ............................................................. 192 Stem Cells as Therapy. Where have we been; Where are we now and where are we going (and how fast?) ................................................... 194 Today's EU : all passion spent ..................................................................... 206 Ripples from the Dark side of the Universe the Search for Gravitational Waves .............................................................................. 210 Malaria, Mosquitoes and Models .............................................................. 214 45 Review of Sessions 2008/09 and 2009/10 The Financial Sector after the Credit Crunch ............................................... 217 The Enlightenment – the international influence and impact of Scotland and the Scots .......................................................................... 222 The Enlightenment – An 18th Century Revolution of Thought ............. 225 Visual Art and the Enlightenment......................................................... 228 Scotland Exports the Enlightenment ..................................................... 231 Islam and the Enlightenment ............................................................... 234 The Ages of Optimism and Pessimism: Utopian and Dystopian Ideas ... 237 Science and Tolerance........................................................................... 240 Music and the Enlightenment .............................................................. 243 On the Dark Side: Witchcraft and the Theatre ....................................... 244 Science and the Enlightenment ............................................................ 246 The Face of the Enlightenment ............................................................. 249 Moral Universals and Moral Progress: The New Science of Good and Evil....................................................................................... 251 The Enlightenment and the Academies ................................................ 254 Political Economy: Adam Smith and Others .......................................... 256 Engineering Scotland and Japan: Past, Present and Future ......................... 259 Making Eyes – Lessons from Failed Miracles Henry Dryerre Prize Lecture ......................................................................... 264 46 Events 08/09 PERSPECTIVES OF THE ARAB WORD LECTURE SERIES November 2008 – March 2009 Between November 2008 and March 2009 the Royal Society of Edinburgh, in partnership with the Centre for the Advanced Study of the Arab World, hosted a series of five lectures aimed at providing both academics and members of the public with a greater perspective and insight into various aspects of the Arab World. The series drew on the expertise of both leading academics and influential public figures in presenting on areas of the Arab World as diverse as culture, history, politics and religion. As a measure of the series’ success, each lecture was fully booked, with over 600 people attending in total. After each lecture, a question and answer session followed, which gave members of the audience the opportunity to ask the speaker to elaborate on various aspects of the lecture as well as opening up new lines of enquiry. Both the Centre for the Advanced Study of the Arab World and the Royal Society of Edinburgh would like to thank warmly both the speakers and the audience for their participation in this exciting lecture series. Major General Simon Mayall Assistant Chief of the General Staff Jihad and the Surge in Iraq 7 November 2008 Major General Simon Mayall, the interpretation of Jihad has been current Assistant Chief of the altered over time and, more General Staff, opened the series recently, how it has been manipu- with an insightful examination of lated at the hands of militants and the war in Iraq, taken from the extremists. Closely connected to perspective of both a scholar and this problem, General Mayall an experienced military command- assessed the political and histori- er. cal situation of Iraq, noting the General Mayall began his presen- confluence of religious, ethnic, tation with a critical analysis of the and cultural ‘fault lines’ within the concept of Jihad, assessing its country, and how the Coalition’s philosophy and development invasion unleashed many of these since the shattering of the latent tensions. Ottoman Empire and creation of General Mayall then proceeded to nation states within the Middle give a strategic view of the war, East. He discussed how the 47 Review of Sessions 2008/09 and 2009/10 noting the many mistakes made stood strategy which has included by the Coalition: a brilliant military not only a rise in troop numbers, campaign, but a woefully ineffec- but also a coordinated increase in tive occupation. General Mayall economic development, recon- noted the comparative strengths struction, reconciliation, and of the insurgency at this time, transferal of responsibility to the among them a sense of general Iraqis themselves. General Mayall opposition to the invaders, a concluded that, despite many sense of paranoia, and influx of initial mistakes, much progress foreign fighters, observing that has been made, and the future for this combination brought the Iraq looks promising. country to the brink of civil war. Major General Mayall’s presenta- General Mayall moved on to tion exhibited both a deep compare the admittedly dire understanding of the history and situation of the first years of the politics of the Middle East and a occupation to the recent past, wealth of first-hand knowledge focusing on the positive effects of and experience of the region. the ‘Surge’ – a much misunder- Professor Carole Hillenbrand OBE FRSA FRSE Images of Saladin: Past and Present 10 December 2008 The first non-Muslim to be Crusaders. A young noble of awarded the King Faisal Prize for Kurdish origin, Saladin was the Islamic Studies, Vice-President of protégé of the successful com- the British Society for Middle mander Nur ad-Din. He built on Eastern Studies, and Islamic his master’s success, and pro- Advisory Editor at Edinburgh ceeded to construct a strong University Press, Professor Carole powerbase through conflict and Hillenbrand shared some of her intrigue against his fellow broad knowledge and experience Muslims. Professor Hillenbrand about the image and reputation then discussed the darker sides to of Saladin throughout history. this charismatic and passionate Professor Hillenbrand began by figure, whose sense and aware- attempting to separate the ‘myth’ ness of image extended to the from the ‘reality’ concerning the employment of two ‘spin-doctors’. great military leader who, having Saladin’s reputation in the West, united the Arabs behind him, both during and after the Cru- recaptured Jerusalem from the sades, was discussed at length. 48 Events 08/09 Professor Hillenbrand noted the Hillenbrand exhibited a number of adoration and esteem with which intriguing examples of the image authors such