sophia Issue 1 Jun 2008 Greek myth in cinema The science behind cubism Cultural barriers to translation Biomedical science in Africa 1 Sophia Issue 1 This issue printed June 2008 Not for commercial distribution Articles are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommer- cial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License. To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/uk/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. Images are copyright and used with permission where attributed. All oth- ers are, to the best of our knowledge, sourced from the public domain or constitute fair use. Typeset in Arno Pro and Caecilia LT For further details see: www.sophiamagazine.co.uk 2 cover image Ben Cowd, UCL Architecture graduate. This architectural drawing was part of a design for an observatory and uses assemblies of laser-cut paper to form 2½-dimensional drawings. The lines burned by the laser are soft, sensuous and baroque yet have the precision and accuracy of the high-tech. See www.saraben-studio.com for more. contents Stubs Robin Clark – Bakerian Lecture, Royal Society ... Professor Horace Engdahl: The Hunger for Tears and The Nobel -Ex perience ... Interculturality, Politics and Society: Lessons from the Nordic Countries ... Don’t Mention Virginia Woolf: Reform in Bloomsbury ... Lovers in Lab Coats – Professor Joe Cain, Lunchtime Lecture (pp. 5–7) Articles The First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Army, Iside Carbone (p. 8) Music on the Mind, Dr David Hardoon (p. 14) Flexible Minds: Gender-Bending Experiments in Language, Dr Stavroula-Thaleia Kousta (p. 21) Moving Borders: a Blog on Migration, Dr Federica Mazzara (p. 25) Pandemic: Don’t Panic!, Professor Robin Weiss (p. 27) Features Homer in Cinema and Television A history of Homeric themes on the big and small screen over the last century Dr Antony Makrinos (p. 10) The Art and Science of Picasso’s Guernica A journey exploring the cultural atmosphere and intellectual influences which led Picasso to create his masterpiece Dr Chiara Ambrosio (p. 16) Tuakana: My Sister, My Brother or My Cousin? The relative importance of cultural or linguistic difference in translation John Mitchinson (p. 22) The Rewards and Challenges of Biomedical Science in Africa Intimidating though it may sound, getting involved in science research in developing countries can be a fantastic op- portunity Dr Tim McHugh (p. 29) 3 Guernica cries out loud an“ unspeakable truth editorial about primitive feelings of fear and pain that the destructive power of hen asked how I found the academic ‘atmosphere’ at UCL war brings about in the I often struggled to find an answer. In larger institutions, it most genuine and crude Wcan feel hard to engage with the community at large as you manner. But what really dig yourself into your own lab or office, oblivious of the research go- makes Picasso’s canvas so ing on in other departments. And so what began for me as a curios- unique?” ity about the world ‘out there’ in the rest of Bloomsbury – a Christmas Chiara Ambrosio holiday daydream – started gathering momentum. Thanks to the hard p. 16 work of a swiftly-assembled editorial team, support and advice from the Opticon1826 editor Gesche Ipsen and contributions and encouragement from various members of UCL’s research community, this pilot issue finally materialised. I originally envisaged Sophia as a cross-disciplinary, rather than interdisciplinary, magazine. Perhaps due to current academic trends, or perhaps because interdisciplinary researchers are inherently attracted to this kind of writing, in the event material submitted for this issue over- whelmingly favoured topics that straddled boundaries of academic dis- Sophia is a new volunteer-run magazine aiming to showcase cipline and of culture: the relationship of science and art; the manner in talent in research, writing and which cultural differences either hinder translation or enrich aesthetics art from current UCL staff and and the universality of certain cultural elements – at least in the western graduate students. world – in cinema. Coming from an interdisciplinary department my- By publishing academic content self, this was especially interesting for me. written for a general readership, I very much hope you enjoy this issue of Sophia which, as the name Sophia hopes to encourage the hints, intends to celebrate the pursuit of knowledge in general and not sharing of ideas and an appre- just in our own increasingly specific fields. Letters, articles, images and ciation of the advances being made in areas of research other opinions are warmly welcomed for the next issue. than our own; and to act as a forum for the discussion of aca- demic issues and current affairs. team In creating Sophia we hope to provide opportunities for gradu- ate students to begin writing about their work and for estab- Editor & Designer Arts and Humanities Editor lished researchers to write more Ed Long, CoMPLEX Elettra Carbone, Scandinavian creatively and for a broader audi- [email protected] Studies ence than in a specialist journal. [email protected] We believe that providing this platform will help contributors Maths, Physical and Computer to develop as writers as well as Sciences Editor Social and Historical Sciences giving readers an insight into Chih-Chun Chen, Computer Editor the diverse spectrum of research Science taking place at the university. [email protected] TBA [email protected] If you are interested in submit- ting content then please contact Life and Medical Sciences Please contact us if you are the editor or relevant section Editors interested in this position. We editor. Submission guidelines are Steve Griffiths & Nicky Booth, would also be interested in listed on our website: Biology Photoshop/Illustrator gurus. [email protected] www.sophiamagazine.co.uk 4 s stubs Robin Clark – Bakerian Lec- quickly approached by a number of keynote speaker at a research seminar ture, Royal Society private owners, keen to establish the organised by the UCL Mellon pro- authenticity of their collection. Clark gramme. In his lecture he discussed A treasure lies hidden, unbeknownst described how an Egyptian collector how tears, often considered the ex- to many, just beneath the great pyra- turned up in Gower Street in a black pression of sorrow in real life, can mid of the Louvre. For fans of Dan limousine with six bodyguards and become an essential part of the act Brown I’m afraid I may disappoint papyri he claimed were worth mil- of reading. Particularly from the 18th you: I’m not talking about the Holy lions of pounds each. An analysis of century, the image of the imperturb- Grail but about an enormous state- the Raman spectra revealed modern able reader has in fact been gradually of-the-art chemistry lab. paints only seen in the 19th century. dismantled in favour of that of the This was one of the surprising A second papyrus collector’s prize emotional reader, able to manifest revelations of UCL Professor Robin item did not even make it as far as the humanity and involvement through Clark’s enjoyable and broad-ranging microscope stage: under a magnify- the act of crying. By the end of the address for the Royal Society’s Bak- ing glass could be seen the charac- seminar, the atmosphere was relaxed erian Prize Lecture 2008: Raman Mi- teristic three-colour dots of an inkjet and familiar and most members of croscopy, Pigments and the Arts/Science printer. the audience confessed which books Interface. Raman microscopy is one had the power to make them cry. of a wide range of techniques which Ed Long Two days later, Professor Eng- uses properties of light reflection and dahl was ready for the big event: a absorption to identify the chemical full-house public lecture entitled makeup of a particular sample. While Professor Horace Engdahl: Canonization and World Literature. two pigments may appear to be the The Hunger for Tears and The He explained how, since its institu- same shade of blue, those with dif- Nobel Experience tion in 1901, the Nobel Prize has been ferent chemical structures will have awarded every year to the author of clearly distinct Raman spectra, help- Every year the world waits with trepi- “the most outstanding work in an ing us to distinguish, say, indigo from dation for Professor Horace Engdahl, ideal direction”, as indicated in Al- lazurite. Clark’s team showed in 2003 the permanent secretary of the Swed- fred Nobel’s will. The interpretations that the Lindisfarne gospels did not ish Academy, to announce the recipi- of this expression have been diverse. use lazurite in their blue pigments, ent of the Nobel Prize in Literature. For this reason, the prize should be which added fuel to the debate over When he came to UCL this February seen not as an attempt to establish a the existence of contemporary trade he had no announcement to make, ‘canon’ but to raise public attention routes between England and Af- but he was listened to by students, on the work of an author, who – for ghanistan, from where lazurite was researchers and professors with no different reasons at different times – obtained. less interest and curiosity. Part of the is guaranteed a presence in the mem- The lecture was well attended by Scandinavian Studies visiting profes- ory of literature. a mix of chemists and art historians, sor scheme, the two events organised Professor Engdahl also referred collectors and restorers and also fea- on occasion of his visit attracted the to the controversy often caused by tured a live video link to the Universi- attention of many members of the the announcement of the prize.