Imaginary

I thought that taking a photo of, and blipping, this engraving which hangs on the wall of the RSE was quite appropriate today. I chaired my first meeting of the RSE Programme Committee, and the contrast with the early 19th century at this imaginary "men of science" gathering was strong (the plaque below reads that this is "An imaginary assembly in the Upper Library of Royal Institution, of 51 leading scientists and engineers alive in 1807 and 1808"). We were a much more mixed gathering, both in terms of Fellows and staff present, and we were hybrid, with several participants online (and the technology worked well - part of the meeting was even chaired from online).

I worked for most of the day in the RSE. It made a pleasant change from my various other places of work. For starters, the RSE still has paper hand towels in its toilets, and does not require the use of bug spreading hand dryers from brexity companies.