Patrick & Dusha Bateson
Patrick Bateson was Professor of Ethology at the University of Cambridge (1984-2005) and Provost (Head) of King’s College, Cambridge (1988-2003). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1983 and was its Biological Secretary and Vice-President from 1998 to 2003. He was knighted in 2003, and in 2004 was elected President of the Zoological Society of London. Bateson chairs the organizing committee for the Darwin 2009 Festival. His research is on the behavioural development of animals, and much of his scientific career has been concerned with bridging the gap between the studies of behaviour and those of underlying mechanisms, focusing on the process of imprinting in birds.
Dusha Bateson read History at New Hall, Cambridge University and married immediately after graduating. After spending two years in Calfornia, she returned to Cambridge with her husband. When he later became Head of King’s College she played an active role as hostess for the many visitors to the Provost’s Lodge – from students to royalty. Mrs Charles Darwin’s Recipe Book is her first book.
september 25th / Darwin’s remarkable impact
The year 2009, marking the bicentennial of Charles Darwin’s birth as well as 150th anniversary of the publication of his great work, The Origin of the Species, will see us shift from the science of complexity to the meaning of evolution, with Patrick Bateson, head of the Darwin Festival, and Dusha Bateson, who will speak about Emma Darwin and the domestic context in which the great scientist worked. Apart from revolutionizing biology, Darwin has had an extraordinary impact on many aspects of human affairs. Darwin’s thinking also required substantial reappraisal of religious beliefs by those who were prepared to do so. The Cambridge Festival in July 2009 will celebrate Darwin’s contributions to the humanities, philosophy and the approach to medicine, economics and the social sciences, and will conclude with a look into what the future holds and how climate change and other consequences of human activity affect biodiversity and the world in which we live.
D I S C U S S A N T S
Carlo Modonesi is a zoologist and teaches and teaches the Naturalistic Communications course of the Nature Conservation degree program at the University of Parma, and Animal Biology at the University of Gastronomic Science in Pollenzo (Cuneo). His primary interest is the relation between scientific and technological innovation and the preservation of biodiversity.
Marcello Buiatti who holds a doctorate in Genetics from the University of Pavia and was a researcher at Italy’s CNR and also worked at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (USA). Buiatti was Dean of the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Florence, where he is currently a Professor of Genetics. He also directs various projects for Italy’s Ministry of Education.