s sophia Issue 3 June 2009 Tales from the folk bible The impact of tsunamis Why did altruism evolve? Dreams and the cinema 1 Issue 3 • June 2009 s Contents 4 Editorial 5 Stubs 17 Articles Florentina Badalanova Geller • The Folk Bible 8 John Hardy & Ruth Mace 12 If: An Evolutionary Perspective on Altruism, Religion & Self-Sacrifice Matilde Nardelli • Dream Houses 15 Rachel Armstrong • Protocells & Plectic Systems Architecture 17 Ingrid Charvet • The Destructive Impact of Tsunamis 20 Julian Evans • Approaches to Creativity & Discovery 23 Arata Yamamoto • Democracy Begins at Home? 26 28 Ambika Aiyadurai • Development & Wildlife Conservation 28 Sophia Issue 3 Karolina Kendall-Bush • Walking in the City 31 This issue printed June 2009 Anna Barros • Breaking Eve 33 Not for commercial distribution Photos Articles are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution- Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License. 18 Erin Gutierrez • Sequel To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/uk/ 32 Elettra Carbone or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, The Sámi Magic Drum San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. 18 Images are copyright and used with permission where attributed. All others are, to the best of our knowledge, sourced from the public domain or constitute fair use. Cover image: The pair of images is derived from a series of photographs Typeset in Arno Pro and Caecilia LT exploring the placement of my body onto one of my sculptures. By capturing this recontextualisation I aim to focus on the dialogue between ‘object’ and For further details see: ‘creator’; a complex relationship that does not entirely abstract my body nor anthropomorphise the sculpture but meets somewhere between the two. www.sophiamagazine.co.uk Ryan Riddington , MFA student, Slade School of Fine Art 2 3 Issue 3 • June 2009 s Editorial Stubs he structure of modern research is like the Eiffel Tower. This intriguing image was cited in the inaugural lecture of newly installed The twisting paths of our T The Kindly Ones nist’s sexuality (Aue has an incestu- as On the Origin of Species in 1859. In Professor Hasok Chang of the Department of Science and Technology “footsteps have given shape ous relationship with his twin sister) this house and in its surrounding ar- Studies. Although Eiffel’s engineering wonder might seem something to to the City’s spaces, weaving together disparate places in American/French writer Jonathan and private crimes (it is strongly im- eas – this year’s UK World Heritage aspire to, Professor Chang pointed out what it had at the bottom: a gaping an urban narrative. Taking Littell’s debut novel, The Kindly Ones, plied that Aue murders his mother Site nomination – Darwin also car- hole. While the pinnacles of modern academia rest on purportedly sturdy part in this walking tour we written in 2006 and winner of the and step father), as if these particular- ried out most of his experiments and legs, is the broad base from which it grew forgotten because it was wrong have become practitioners prestigious French literary prize Prix ities preclude Aue from being a char- observations. Today a national icon or simply because it was mislaid? Chang also evoked a time when the of the City Goncourt, is the fictional memoir acter the reader can identify with. But and a fascinating museum, almost two public played a more participatory role in research in the pages of an early ” of Max Aue, a Nazi SS officer who, it is precisely this characterisation of centuries ago the house in Downe 19th-century journal: William Nicholson’s Journal of Natural Philosophy, Karolina Kendall-Bush p. 31 having escaped justice after the war, a man capable of evil but not entirely was first and foremost a home. In Chemistry and the Arts. Compared with the austerity of later, peer-reviewed is wholly unrepentant for his role in monstrous that Littell puts forward as this house, which he bought in 1849, journals, Nicholson’s featured broad and lively debate on observations sent the Holocaust. At over 900 pages and his image of the Holocaust perpetra- Darwin lived with his wife and seven in by amateur experimentalists across a wide range of fields. This pluralism divided into only seven chapters, The tor: a human being who is neither a children and died in 1882. is what (visibly) excites Chang and it may be no coincidence that the first Kindly Ones is an unrelenting and state-controlled automaton nor an in- The captions accompanying the plans for Sophia began shortly after I took part in his Philosophy of Science Sophia is a volunteer-run magazine aiming to showcase often oppressive read, reflecting the human monster. Without the slight- pictures at the exhibition emphasise workshop series. talent in research, writing and complexity of its subject and bril- est glimmer of a cathartic resolution, how Darwin’s interest in nature had Cultural evolution is a field in which this dichotomy between precise art from current UCL staff and liantly fulfilling Littell’s ambition to The Kindly Ones demands that we a great influence on his family. Even method and intuitive understanding can be at odds. Although large data graduate students. draw the reader into the dark world discard the abstract notion of inhu- his wife’s much-loved piano became sets and statistical tools are our surest way to test hypotheses, the collection of the perpetrator. manity and examine evil as a human the perfect place for experiments: on of the data must be done with care and sensitivity. In this issue, John Hardy By publishing academic content written for a general readership, No event is spared from Aue’s ac- phenomenon with complex, real-life this instrument Darwin placed a jar discusses the evolutionary origins of altruism with Ruth Mace and Anna Sophia hopes to encourage count of his life as an SS officer: from causes. As Aue tells the reader at the of worms to monitor their reaction to Barros wonders what kind of evolutionary argument could explain rape. In the sharing of ideas and an his conversations with Himmler in beginning of the novel ‘you’ll see that music. With a father so dedicated to addition, the need for cultural insight in anthropological study is expertly appreciation of the advances Berlin to crude reports of his bowel this concerns you’, and one cannot the observation of nature and scien- taken up by Florentina Badalanova Geller and Ambika Aiyadurai. being made in areas of research movements while serving in Stalin- help but take Littell’s hint that, for all tific research, it is not surprising that Finally, in cooperation with UCL’s Grand Challenges scheme, other than our own; and to act as a forum for the discussion grad. Within the texture of this dense the uniqueness of the Holocaust, our some of Darwin’s children followed Sophia is delighted to be running a writing competition on the theme of of academic issues and current description, the well-educated Aue human capacity to do evil unto others in his footsteps: Francis became ‘Sustainable Cities’. Please see page 35 for the details. affairs. attempts an intellectual rationalisa- is still at play today. Professor of Botany at Cambridge; In creating Sophia we hope tion of his crimes. He grasps at vari- Horace founded the Cambridge Sci- to provide opportunities for ous ethical philosophies to explain Ronan McFadden entific Instrument Company; George Team graduate students to begin his actions, but never quite shakes became Professor of Astronomy and Editor & Designer Arts & Humanities Editor writing about their work and the feeling of having transgressed Darwin at Down Experimental Philosophy at Cam- Ed Long, Elettra Carbone, for established researchers to into evil. For all his cool-headed de- bridge; Henrietta Emma edited her write more creatively and for CoMPLEX Scandinavian Studies tachment, Aue is literally sick at the As part of the intense Darwin 200 father’s manuscript of The Descent [email protected] [email protected] a broader audience than in a specialist journal. We believe that thought of his crimes, suffering from programme to celebrate the bicen- of Man. The other children achieved providing this platform will help vomiting, nightmares and mental tenary of Charles Darwin’s birth, the notoriety in their own field, but still Maths, Physical & Social & Historical contributors to develop as writers Computer Sciences Editor Sciences Editor breakdown after acting in the mass Horniman Museum in Forest Hill is benefited from their father’s support. as well as giving readers an murder of Jews in the Ukraine. Shar- displaying a series of photographs of William Erasmus decided for instance Laura Fenner, Anna Bailey, SSEES insight into the diverse spectrum Chemistry [email protected] of research taking place at the ing Aue’s perspective, the reader is left Darwin and his family taken at their to be a banker and received his start- [email protected] university. unsettled by the narrative’s oppressive house in Downe, Kent. The exhibi- ing capital from Darwin himself. Sophia is seeking a candidate weight and its conflicting, unsatisfac- tion, which will be on until June 7, Like many parents today, Dar- Life & Medical Sciences to take over the role of If you are interested in submitting tory justifications for genocide. includes nine family portraits kept by win wanted to give his son William Editor designer for the next issue. content then please contact the Littell’s novel is an exceptional Darwin’s wife Emma in her album, a Erasmus a meaningful present for Stephen Griffiths, You should have experience editor or relevant section editor.