Those Brits come up with the wackiest ideas. Intrepid young cosmologist Andrew Jaffe, at Imperial College London, is participating in a fun scheme from the Royal Society: pairing members of Parliament with scientists, who will follow them around for a few days.
Sorry I’ve been so quiet this week: I’ve just finished participating in the Royal Society’s MP-Scientist Pairing Scheme. They’ve linked 25 youngish scientists from throughout the UK with a member of Parliament, and let us “shadow” them for much of this week (as well as giving us presentations on the way science and scientists interact with the UK Parliamentary system): attending meetings, watching debates, going to the bar, generally absorbing the chaos that goes along with politics and government.
Sounds like a blast. Although I suspect that “going to the bar” doesn’t result in any martinis being served. (Not that this would ever happen in Britain, anyway; a friend relates the story of being tossed out of a London pub for trying to order a martini. Too American, apparently.)
November 17th, 2005 at 4:05 pm
Hi Sean and other CV fans:
Actually, “bar” in this case means exactly what you thought: I had a glass of wine… but as recompense I had to explain the Cosmic Microwave Background to an MP — and she wanted the straight dope, no half-baked metaphors (but I still couldn’t get her to stop using the word “explosion”).
Andrew
November 17th, 2005 at 4:11 pm
Andrew, which MP was that?
Also, what’s the stated raison d’etre for this interesting endeavour? I know what it should be, to my mind, but I’m curious to know what it is stated as.
Cheers,
-cvj
November 17th, 2005 at 4:15 pm
Ah. It is right there on the page that Sean linked to in the post. My oversight. Ok, modify the question: What to you think are the most important reasons to do this?
Cheers,
-cvj
November 17th, 2005 at 4:22 pm
Hi Clifford-
Sorry?
Well, the official aims are:
I think it largely succeeds (but let me mull it over for a while).
November 17th, 2005 at 4:24 pm
Sorry andrew…. an M fell off the MP and then I corrected it. “Which MP?” was my question…. the one asking about CMB….
And did she get what you were trying to say?
-cvj
November 17th, 2005 at 4:44 pm
Clifford-
It was Kali Mountford from North Yorkshire.
I do think it was starting to get through, but I got dragged away before I could explain “last scattering surface”!
(Feel free to edit out the useless quotes/responses from my posts!)
-A
November 17th, 2005 at 7:57 pm
Talking about going to the bar, a good case could be made that a more appropriate title for Sean’s post would be “Stalking Members of Parliament”. Or, more to the point, “Stalking the Holders of the Public Purse”.
November 18th, 2005 at 2:33 am
Martinis are “too American”??? But, but, James Bond liked them shaken and not stirred! And I thought the Twenties and Thirties in Britain was one long party with cigarette-holders and witty effetes and tuxedos and such! Don’t ruin my illusions!
November 18th, 2005 at 11:06 am
Yes, like Frank, I am very surprised to hear that Martinis are considered American. Could someone British please explain this?
November 18th, 2005 at 12:22 pm
See, you can learn something by reading blogs. Between James Bond and a certain aura of sophistication which people find difficult to associate with the U.S., one gets the impression that the martini is somehow connected to Britain. Quite the opposite: it’s the quintessentially American cocktail.
November 18th, 2005 at 12:47 pm
” A friend relates the story of being tossed out of a London pub for ordering a Martini”. At least he was not up north here, in a Glasgow pub say. He would also have been tossed out–through the window! As regards pairing up scientists with british politicians/mps a good physics problem for the scientist would be to determine how the House of Commons walls can withstand so much expanding hot air.
November 18th, 2005 at 5:50 pm
Frank – It is still one long party in Britain. Hurrah! And the last time I went there (but one) I did have to take a “Tuxedo”… and recall from another thread (I forget which one) my tophat and Mark’s monocle.
Cheers,
-cvj
November 18th, 2005 at 6:49 pm
“Or, more to the point, “Stalking the Holders of the Public Purse”.”
Yes, i too noticed in the Official Aims that there was no statement encouraging MP’s and the country’s young elite scientific community to discourse regarding the funding of science, big national projects, and increasing the educational committment. I gather most of that is just assumed to be the core issues of the ‘Scheme’???