National Windsurfing Champion 2

The Courtauld Institute of Art 2

College Website 2

Alumni Relations Officer 3

UK Nutrition Society 3

The Jerwood Award 3

Architect of Moving Images 4

Darwinian Achievements 4

Darwinian Pairings 5

Book Reviews & Publications 6

College Lecture Series 7

Márai and his Contemporaries 7

Obituaries 8–10

Summer Party pictures 10

Rowing 11

Newsletter ofDarwin CollegeSpring 2005

Inside

Patrick Sissonsbecomes new RegiusProfessor of Physic

Professor Patrick Sissons, a fellow ofDarwin since 1988, has beenappointed as the next Regius Professorof Physic to succeed Sir Keith Peters inOctober 2005. The RegiusProfessorship is a Crown appointmentannounced by the Prime Minister’sOffice and was founded in 1540 byHenry VIII, thus becoming one of theearliest professorships ever founded.The holder is also Head of the Schoolof Clinical Medicine and providesstrategic leadership both within theClinical School and in its relationshipswith the NHS and other organisationssuch as the MRC, Wellcome Trust andCancer Research-UK, as well as withindustrial research partners. Welcominghis appointment Vice-Chancellor Alison

Richard said; “Professor Sissons is anexcellent choice to lead the ClinicalSchool; he brings great strengths to theposition from his outstanding career,combining teaching, research andclinical practice.”

Professor Sissons joined theUniversity in 1988 and established anacademic division of Infectious Diseases.Since 1993 he has been Head of theDepartment of Medicine which hasexpanded to become one of the majoracademic departments of medicine in the UK. In the 2001 ResearchAssessment Exercise it gained 5* acrossall three units of assessment – thehighest score across all units of any UK medical school. It has an annualresearch grant income of £40m.

Image from the 2005 Darwin Calendar by Julia Zaccai.

2

The Alumni Pages of the

Darwin College Website are

being expanded and updated

www.dar.cam.ac.uk is beingupdated. There soon will be a lotmore up-to-date and relevantinformation. Find out what benefitsbeing an alumnus of Darwin canoffer – or just take a walk down‘memory lane’ by going to the linkedCambridge pages.

The new website is still indevelopment, so please bear withus and check back regularly to pickup on the news and see theimprovements as they happen.More details about the site will be inthe next Darwinian.

While on the website, you canbenefit The College Library bypurchasing from Amazon throughour website. Please refer to thearticle by the Librarian on page 6for further details. You can also findout how to save 20% off the coverprice of Cambridge UniversityPress publications.

…STOP PRESS…

Throughout the year, rain or shine, Adamspends his weekends windsurfing eithertraining or racing. He competes in theraceboard discipline, in which a longboard (3.72m) with a large sail (7.5m2) isused. The racing format is the same asthat in other sailing disciplines, andentails sailing around a trapezoidalcourse marked by inflatable buoys. TheNational Rankings are determined by theresult of racing in seven events acrossthe UK, which means that sailors’ abilitiesare tested over a wide range of wind andwave conditions. The highest fourscoring events for each competitor thencount towards the final ranking position.Adam won the Welsh Open (Wales), theBritish Open Racing Championships(Brighton), the Northern Cup (Yorkshire)and the Inland Championships (RutlandWater) in 2004. Therefore he becameNational Windsurfing Champion for thesecond year running irrespective of theresults in the remaining events.

Whilst on a working visit to CSIROAdelaide, Harry Bhadeshia (Fellow) metRichard Hannink who is based at theCSIRO Melbourne. Richard was one ofDarwin’s first students studying a PhD atthe Cavendish starting in 1964. Richard’sdaughter, Nerissa Hannink (1999-2003)also graduated from Darwin and is nowa post-doc in Plant Sciences.

Darwinian appointed as new directorof The Courtauld Institute of Art

Adam Pepelasis – National Windsurfing Champion

Dr Deborah Swallow (1970-77) hasbecome the new Director of theCourtauld Institute of Art in London, oneof the world’s most prestigious arthistory colleges. The Institute is part ofthe University of London and is thelargest centre for studying art history andarchitecture in Britain. It also houses anart gallery renowned for its collection ofOld Master paintings, impressionist andpost-impressionist works. An interviewwith Deborah Swallow can be found atwww.courtauld.ac.uk/newsletter/autumn_2004/swallow.html.

Adam Pepelasis races in the Northern Cup 2004.

Image from the 2005 Darwin Calendar by Paul Castro.

3

I am sitting overlooking the Old Granaryon a sunny autumn day; the Virginiacreeper that covers the building is awonderful deep red colour. Students arecontinually flowing in and out of the area,locking and unlocking bikes. I amcounting my blessings at being given theprivilege to be able to work in such amagnificent location and in such afriendly atmosphere.

Previously I worked in a directmarketing agency, which specialised in charity fundraising. After a careerbreak I have now rejoined the ranks of the paid employed.

My work at Darwin College is to lookafter you, the alumni. I know that wehave many dedicated alumni who holdmemories of their time here as the most

rewarding educational experience of theircareer and who continue to keep incontact with us and their many friendswhom they met here. It is becauseDarwin is held so close to your heartsthat we are currently setting up an officewith the aim of fostering a permanentlink between yourselves and the college.

We aim to keep you up to date withfellow alumni and college life, and will beinviting you to various events throughoutthe year, both at college and, we hope,at other venues where groups ofDarwinians are based. The DarwinSociety already runs successful alumnidinners on a termly basis – if you wouldbe interested in coming to one orreceiving information about when theyhappen then please e-mail me and youwill get a prompt reply. Also, please lookat the alumni pages on the Darwinwebsite, these will give you up to dateinformation about events and what’shappening. In future these pages will bealways evolving and it is worth looking atthem regularly.

Of course, this should be a two-wayrelationship so I very much welcomeyour suggestions, questions or news youmay have – please feel free to phone ore-mail me and I will do my best to help.

I expect my work here to be varied,interesting and challenging. I very muchlook forward to hearing from you and ifyou do visit the college I would love tosee you and hear about your time here.

Sophia Smithsas65@cam.ac.uk

www.dar.cam.ac.uk01223 335690

Darwin appointsits first AlumniRelations Officer

Darwinian succession at head of theUK Nutrition Society

Jim Endersby,the AdrianResearch Fellowat Darwin, hasbeen awardedfirst prize in theinaugural RoyalSociety ofLiterature

Jerwood Awards for Non-Fiction. Hiswork-in-progress, A Guinea Pig’s Historyof Biology, is subtitled The Animals andPlants that Taught Us The Facts of Lifeand is an exploration of the last 200years of biology. It will be published byHeinemann in 2006.

Jim Endersbywins theInauguralJerwood Award

Darwinian Dr Ann Prentice (1975-78,second from right) recently succeededProfessor John Mathers (1972-76, far left)as President of the Nutrition Society, apost formerly held by Emeritus Fellow and

former Vice-Master Professor RogerWhitehead (1973-present). They arepictured here next to their Darwinianpairings Jennifer Mathers (née Brownson,1972-77) and Andrew Prentice (1974-77).

Through a generous donation theCollege has been able to establishThe Al-Said Scholarship fund tosupport students from leastdeveloped countries.

The SeyyidMohammedAbdulla Al-SaidScholarshipFund

Image from the 2005 Darwin Calendar by Chris Holmes

David McKay (Fellow) has beenawarded a personal Professorship inNatural Philosophy and Simon Schafferin the History of Science.

Professor Christopher Bishop(Fellow) has been elected a Fellow of theRoyal Academy of Engineering.

Dr Karalyn Patterson (Fellow) hasbeen awarded an Honorary Chair by theUniversity of Manchester.

Dr Ann Prentice (1975-78) and ProfAndrew Prentice (1974-77) were jointlyawarded the Edna and Robert LangholzInternational Nutrition Award by theAmerican Dietetic Association (picture).

Professor Nicholas Jardine(Fellow) has been elected a Fellow of the British Academy.

4

Cambridge University Moving Image Studio (CUMIS), inaugurated in 1998 and managed by the Department of

Architecture, caters for the needs of all members of the University working in research, teaching, learning and/or

production with synthetic imaging and moving image media. In addition to this University-wide remit, an MPhil in

Architecture and the Moving Image was created in October 1999, followed by a PhD programme which started in

2000. This graduate programme, part of the Department of Architecture Digital Studios and supported by CUMIS,

started to bear fruit when Michael Nitsche, a Darwin student who was our first PhD student as well as part of the first

MPhil cohort, was awarded his Degree at last year’s July Graduation ceremony. As I was sitting in the Darwin Dining

Hall with a sense of déja vu (I graduated in Darwin in July 1983), I had the opportunity to reminisce with Michael and

his family about the last few years.

Architect of Moving Images by François Penz

Screen Studies at the National Film &Television School (UK), now CreativeDirector of CUMIS, to develop theMoving Image Dissertation in thecontext of the research andpresentation of architectural topics. In1995 we organised a conference on theconvergence of architecture and themoving image, whose proceedingswere published in 1997 by the British

The CUMIS story has its origin in thelate 80s when I started to attempt, inthe Department of Architecture, tointegrate digitality into the education ofundergraduates by encouragingstudents to develop fluency in the useof the computer as a creative medium,rather than focusing on it as a technicaltool. In 1992, I began a collaborationwith Maureen Thomas, then Head of

Film Institue. When, in the mid-nineties,the University decided to review thestatus of its Audio Visual Unit, it wasnatural that we should suggest takingthe opportunity to transform a supportservice, by means of digital technology,into an institute where research,education and production in movingimage media could be actively pursued.In November 1998 CUMIS was

DarwinianAchievements

Corlita Babb and Frank Schäfer weremarried on 17th July 2004 (see picture).Corlita studied a PhD in Law between1998 and 2004 and Frank studied for hisLLM in 1998/99.

Steffen Krusch (1995-96 Maths Part III and 1997-2001 for a PhD)married Kelly Kuan on 9th October 2004 and held their reception in No 1Newnham Terrace.

5inaugurated by Dr Livesey under thewatchful eye of Professors Broers,Carolin and Mellor. At the time we werefour staff occupying the basement floorof 1 Bene’t Place on Lensfield Road. In2004 the group consists of thirtypeople, MPhil & PhD students, post-docs, research assistants andproduction staff, spread throughout thefour floors of the building.

Moving image narrativity, spatialexploration and the construction ofvirtual and real environments are crucialareas of investigation, evaluation,experiment and creativity, as well as therelated fields of interactivity andinteraction design. The work of theStudio focuses on three main areas –Research, Education and Production,especially in the environment of cross-fertilisation between synthetic imaging,animation, navigable environments andnarrativity. We are a practice-basedresearch environment where the movingimage is used as proof of concept andthere is no doubt that we havedeveloped a unique institution andresearch methodology at theconvergence of several fields – it isexciting but it has its drawbacks judgingby how difficult it is to position ourselvesin relation to existing RAE panels!

My own research concentrates on thestudy of the relationship between Cinemaand Architecture which is a relatively newacademic field, as it is usuallyacknowledged that as a discipline it wasestablished in the early 1990s. However,historically it is an area of interest as oldas cinema itself, and which dates backfrom the time when the Lumière brotherscaptured on camera the first images ofthe city in 1895. In the 1920s architects

started to experiment with this newmedium and it is Le Corbusier’s film,Architectures d’Aujourd’hui (directed byPierre Chenal , 1930), which promptedarchitectural theorist Sigfried Giedion’sstatement, ‘Only film can make the newarchitecture intelligible’ (1930). Threequarters of a century on, Giedion’s quoteis proving true if we only replace the word‘film’ by ‘digitality’. It is this cross-fertilization of the historical with the digitalwhich has been my original contributionto this field of study, by getting the historyof the relationship between Cinema andArchitecture to inform contemporarydigital moving practice in Architecture and Planning.

One of the areas that has been at thecore of my teaching and research is thenotion of narrative expressive spacewhere the ‘soul’ of an architecturalspace can be captured and conveyed toan audience by means of a narrativedevice, which at its simplest can be apromenade architecturale in space. Forten years now I have experimented withmany locations in Cambridge, mainly inColleges; experimenting with the notionof narrative expressive space as it is afoundation exercise in all our courses.Not surprisingly Darwin has been thebackdrop for several of those and manymise-en-scêne have been stagedaround the islands, in and around theStudy Centre, even last summer in theMalting House before its renovation,while our new glass bridge between 1 Newham Terrace and the dining hallfigures in the opening shot of one of themovies produced during last June’scourse for the architecture students!

Apart from my own research andteaching, I find myself involved in many

new productions which I would not havedreamt of when I was a Darwin studentback in the early eighties. Perhaps notsurprisingly there are many involvementswith the arts; for example I have workedwith a dance company interested in thebody in space as well as co-produced aproject for the Britten Sinfonia which wasa collaboration between an originalmusic composition interacting with ourcreation of a new virtual world. CurrentlyI am working with one of the CambridgeColleges making a short movie aboutwhat a Cambridge interview is, with aview to demystifying it and encouraginga greater number of candidates to haveaccess to Cambridge. Lastly I am alsoworking on a research project on behalfof the NHS which aims to demonstratethe use of the digital moving image as anaid to design and communications inorder to improve the design of futurehospitals in this country.

So what might be the future of thistype of work and research in theUniversity? In the past, the University ledin the cultivation of paper, reading andwriting as the tools and media ofintellectual exploration, discovery andcreative expression. Today, electronicmeans of recording, depicting,representing and delivering experience,ideas and research outcomes are beingresearched, developed and actively fedback into teaching, learning and creativeactivities. In the future, CUMIS anticipatesforming a core unit in the University’s driveto explore and consolidate the optimumintegration of arts, humanities andsciences in its advanced research andteaching environment in the era of digitaltechnology – building on the traditionalmodel of the architect’s studio.

Darwinian Pairings

Darwinians Corlita Babb and Frank Schäfer were married on 17 July 2004

Darwin Publications(see also larger features)

David MacKay’s acclaimed book on‘Information Theory, Inference andLearning Algorithms’ was publishedby Cambridge University Press inSept 2003 ISBN 0 521 64298 1.

James Howley’s lavishly illustratedbook on ‘The Follies and GardenBuildings of Ireland’ is published by YaleUniversity Press. ISBN 0 200 10225 9.

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An IntelligentPerson’s Guideto Genetics

The genetic principles unpicked in thetwentieth century will transform humanexistence beyond all recognition. In AnIntelligent Person’s Guide to GeneticsAdrian Woolfson argues that thequestion of whether geneticists shouldchange human nature and redesign newforms of synthetic life is absurd; ourcuriosity, pragmatism and utopiandesires will ensure that synthetic lifebecomes an inevitability.

Multiple species of humans precededus, each lasting no more than 200,000years. Modern humans have existed for130,000 years, which suggests we aredue for a makeover. This may occur bynatural or artificial means. The DNA recordcan help reconstruct our past, but it willalso help shape our future, as mankind willsoon be able to redesign itself from firstprinciples. But how will such work beguided? What is needed is a manifesto forlife, which the acclaimed author AdrianWoolfson delivers in his examination of lifeand its future possibilities.

Until recently Adrian Woolfson was the Charles andKatherine Darwin Research Fellow at Darwin.

Adrian Woolfson, 2004 Duckworth Overlook, London. ISBN 0 7156-3313 9 £12.99 Hardback

PANDORA’sBREECHESWomen, Science & Power

in the Enlightenment

Science has always been a maledominated field, but Pandora’s Breechesreveals how women in the EnlightenmentPeriod made vital contributions to thework of many of the world’s greatestmale scientists of the period. From LadyPhilosophy, through such women asElisabeth of Bohemia, Emilie du Châtelet,Marie Paulze Lavoisier, and to MaryShelley, each chapter sets out a new andcompelling version of science’s past.

Patricia Fara is a former fellow of Darwin and now at Clare College.

Patricia Fara, 2004 Pimlico/Random House, London.ISBN 1-8441-3082-7 SB £12.50

The Darwin College LibraryCommittee has recently set up areferral arrangement withamazon.co.uk. The scheme givesthose of you who order books, CDsand DVDs through amazon.co.uk achance to help support the Libraryat no extra cost and almost no extraeffort. It’s this easy: simply visitamazon by using this address:www.dar.cam.ac.uk/amazon (orbookmark any amazon page afteryou have come through to thisaddress).

You will be redirected toamazon.co.uk with Darwin’s referraldetails, and for every item purchasedamazon will credit the Library’sbooks account with a 5% referralcredit, which can then be used topurchase more books for the Library.The referral scheme applies to‘marketplace’ orders as well. Anyquestions about the scheme, pleasefeel free to contact the Librarian(email: librarian@dar.cam.ac.uk,phone: 01223 763 547). Thank youfor your support!

Ariane KossackStudent Librarian

Alumni can assist theCollege Library byusing the AmazonReferral Arrangement

Image from the 2005 Darwin Calendar by Jamie Gundry.

Professor Ron Laskey and friendsperforming at the end of the 2004Darwin Lecture Series. The flautistis Sally Hames and theaccompanist is Sarah Drayton, the new Charles and KatherineDarwin Research Fellow.

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An international conference entitled„Márai and his Contemporaries”took place in Darwin College onApril 19-20, 2004. Eleven speakersfrom five countries discussed thework of Sándor Márai (1900-1989)and two other Hungarian writers,Gyula Krudy and Dezso Kosztolányi.Participants included Professor IvanSanders of Columbia University,Ferenc Takács of ELTE (theUniversity of Budapest) andChristina Viragh, Márai’s translatorinto German; Cambridge wasrepresented by Rod Mengham(Jesus College) and conferenceorganiser George Gömöri of Darwin.In the evening of the first day of theconference a reading was attendedby the participants with excerptsfrom the poetry and prose of Máraiand Kosztolányi read by RuthRosen, Peter Wickham and Clive Wilmer.

George Gömöri was a guest ofthe Book Week in Hungary in thefirst week of June 2004. His newbook of essays Erdélyi meritések(Transylvanian Pieces) waspublished in Hungarian by thepublishers KOMP-PRESS of Cluj(Romania), home town of a largeHungarian ethnic minority.

DARWIN COLLEGE LECTURE SERIES 2005CONFLICT21 January Sex Differences in Mind Simon Baron-Cohen

28 January Genomic Conflict David Haig

4 February Demonic Apes Richard Wrangham

11 February Conflict in the Middle East Lisa Anderson

18 February The Roots of Warfare Barry Cunliffe

25 February Reporting Conflict Kate Adie

4 March Conflict and Labour William Brown

11 March Life in a Violent Universe Paul Davies

Fridays at 5.30 pm in the Lady Mitchell Hall

ALL WELCOME

For more information please refer to www.dar.cam.ac.uk/lectures/current/

‘Evidence’ was the theme for this year’swell-attended 19th Darwin CollegeLecture Series. A university is, of course,obsessed by evidence – gathering it,validating it and interpreting it – and theseries had the ambitious purpose ofreflecting on what constitutes evidencefor different disciplines. Karen Armstrongdealt humanely with the vexed notion ofevidence in religion, concluding that itsbasis lies in no more or less thanpersonal faith. The historian CarloGinsburg looked at the origins of anti-semitic myth to emphasise how oursociety is damaged if it misrepresents itspast. Evidence is, of course, central tolegal argument, but the rights of theaccused impose very particular

constraints on what is allowed asevidence. These were discussed byCherie Booth QC to a packed house,focusing on prosecution for infanticideand war-crimes. The evidential difficultiesposed by notions of probability weretaken up by Philip Dawid in a luciddiscussion of reasoning underuncertainty. It was particularly welcomethat he was himself a Darwinian, as wasMonica Grady, a leading authority onmeteorites, who spoke about evidencefor life in space and of efforts to detect itwith the recent ill-fated Mars landing.Vincent Courtillot, a geophysicist,captivated the audience by presentingevidence to suggest that thecatastrophes that have periodicallywiped out most life on earth arose notfrom meteorites but from the shiftingcontinents on the earth itself. No lessvivid were the visual representations ofconcepts at the frontiers of theoreticalphysics used by Professor Brian Greeneto explore the notion of evidence intheory. It was left to the philosopherPeter Lipton to give an elegant overviewof the role of inference in explanation,thereby making sense of the diverseproblems that different disciplines posefor the integrity of the evidence they use.

William Brown

EVIDENCE: The 19th Darwin College Lecture Series

Márai and hisContemporaries

8

Obituaries

Gordon Robin, who has died aged 83,was director of the Scott Polar ResearchInstitute at Cambridge for 24 years,during which he played an importantpart in the measurement of the landsurface below the Antarctic ice cap.

One of his most inspired decisionswas to advance the charting of glacierand ice cap thickness by airborne radioecho-sounding rather than explosionsconducted on the surface. Theinstitute’s radio echo-sound equipmentwas first used successfully from the airin the Canadian Arctic. After thepreliminary results were published in

Nature, Robin and his radar engineertook part in flights over 20,000 miles bya US Navy C-130. The result was theunder-ice mapping of almost the entireAntarctic continent in a folio of mapspublished by the Institute in 1983.

Much of Robin’s success as directorstemmed from both his lucid, accessibleprose style and his shrewdness inrealising that the way to check publiccomplaints about the expense ofmaintaining a polar presence was todraw attention to what came to beknown as global warming.

In 1962, he warned thatmeasurement of the Antarctic continentshowed that a meltdown could raise thesea level all over the world by 150 ftthough, four years later, he suggestedthat if a quarter of the Antarctic ice massmelted the level of the oceans would riseby 50 ft.

The son of an engineer anddescended from a long line of Wesleyanministers, Gordon de Quettesville Robinwas born in Melbourne, Australia, onJanuary 17 1921. He went to WesleyCollege, Melbourne, and after graduatingin Physics from Melbourne University in1940, he was commissioned into theRoyal Australian Navy Volunteer Reserve.He had two years on anti-submarineoperations, then was third hand in thesubmarine Stygian in the Far East whenit towed miniature submarines to attackJapanese warships in Johore Strait.

With the return of peace, Robincame to England as a graduate student to study Physics at BirminghamUniversity. But from 1946 to 1948 he interrupted his studies to becomebase leader and meteorologist at theFalkland Islands Dependencies Survey.He helped to establish a small base on Laurie Island, in the South Orkneys,which was then moved to a formerwhaling station on the smaller SignyIsland, where he carried out valuablepreliminary surveys and wascommemorated by Robin Peak there.

He also persuaded the place namesauthority to accept the name StygianCove. He knew that it would never

Dark Matter(For Emily)

In a city where gravity was held in a man’s hands,where the atom was split, the double helix of lifebuilt to encompass complexity, dark matter foraged for amongst the endless chatter of the universe, a small quiet death can be lost ; one small drop from a pipette falling into the torrent of time.

In a city where knowledge and reason drivemen to struggle with whys and wherefores,push boundaries to those edges from whichwe can glimpse answers that have eludedminds for centuries, there are still questionsthat are only posed in the stillness of loss.

In a city where people bustle about facts,theories, the precise meaning of how it all iswe grow uneasy, restless for understanding,when we have none, simply the fact of death.In the hush of an absence we hear nothingbut our own voice, the monologue of grief.

In a city where a woman cycled in sunlight,drank red wine with gusto, ate cheese,stroked a black cat into purrs of delight,laughed, devoured books and biscuits,we are left with the question of dark matterwhilst she roars out her name amongst stars.

Elegy for Emily Cogill by Andrea Porter.

Emily Cogill was

in her third year of

research at Darwin

when she died on

8 July 2004. Her

family and friends

gathered for a

moving memorial in

the college gardens.

Gordon RobinDirector of the Scott Polar Institute who played a vital part in measuring the land surface of the Antarctic

9

accept such a name after a submarinewhich had never served in Antarcticwaters so he claimed that his suggestionwas based on its "very gloomy aspect".

Robin returned to England tobecome a lecturer at Birmingham, thenwas called away again to join theNorwegian-British-Swedish Expedition toDronning Maud Land where he startedcarrying out controlled explosions toassess the thickness of the Antarctic icesheet. This was done from sledgespulled by a tracked vehicle, supportedby a dog team in case of accidents. Agroup of high rock peaks was namedRobinheia (Robin Heights) after him.

Robin completed his Ph D on hisseismic work at Birmingham beforebecoming senior fellow at theGeophysics Department of the AustralianNational University in Canberra.

On being appointed director of theScott Polar Research Institute in 1958,Robin increased its scholarly output andappointed extra library staff. Since itsbuilding, designed by Sir Herbert Baker,was now too small, he persuaded theFord Foundation to help to finance theerection of a new wing devoted toresearch rooms, laboratories, a coldroom, and more space for the map roomand museum.

Robin stepped down as Director in1982 to become president of theScientific Committee for AntarcticResearch. After retirement he continuedhis research, retaining a room in theInstitute and continuing his studies ofannual layering in ice caps.

Robin’s long career brought him thePolar Medal (with Antarctic clasp, 1950-52); the Back Grant and the Patron’sMedal of the Royal GeographicalSociety, and the Bruce Medal of theRoyal Society of Edinburgh, as well asthe Seligman Crystal of the InternationalGlaciological Society. He was a fellow ofDarwin College, Cambridge.

Gordon Robin, who died onSeptember 21, is survived by his wifeJean Fortt, whom he married in 1953,and their two daughters.Reproduced with permission from The Daily Telegraph

Obituary AnnouncementWe are sorry to announce that Professor David Wheeler (1965-2004), EmeritusFellow (formerly of the Computer Laboratory) died on 13th December 2004. Thenext issue of the Darwinian will feature an obituary. An appreciation of Prof.Wheeler can be found online at www.cl.cam.ac.uk

Sylvia Fitton-Jackson, who died on 30May 2004, was the first female fellow ofthe college. If the language were notobsolete I would call her the first(perhaps only) lady fellow. Her accentwas decidedly upper class, but that wasnot the sense in which she was a lady. I well recall, for example, visiting her inAddenbrooke’s, when she was still inoffice, and finding that she had not onlyinsisted on swapping beds withsomeone who wanted to be able to seethe television, which she did not, butleaping, or at least lumbering, out ofbed, after a major operation, to helpmake the beds.

It is credibly reported that her electionas a fellow resulted from the concerns ofthe first three or four women students, asproperly oriented feminists of theirgeneration, and so deploring the failure ofthe college to extend the fellowship towomen, persuaded the then Dean, quitemendaciously, that they had ‘women’sproblems’ and that a female fellow wasabsolutely de riguer. All credit to them,

Sylvia served for many years asAssociate Dean, and, being unmarried,took the college as her family. No Darwinstudent, male or female, became aparent without Sylvia’s appearance within24 hours bearing a suitable fluffy toy andenquiries as to whether theiraccommodation was adequate.

That was her importance for thecollege. She was also a notable scientist.It was reported that when her Ph.D.thesis came to be examined, it wasjudged to be of Sc.D. standard. Sheworked at the Strangeways Laboratory,on collagen and related materials, and asearch of the literature still throws upmany articles of significance in her field.

After her retirement Sylvia was seldomseen in college. On her last visit, a GuestNight to which Emeritus Fellow areespecially welcomed, she took theprecaution of hanging her gown, noted forits green tinge, out to air. When she wentto collect it, it had totally disintegrated. Sic transit gloria academiae.

Elisabeth Leedham-Green

Dr Sylvia Fitton-JacksonAn Obituary

10

Jack Jacobs, an Emeritus Fellow since1983, and Vice-Master between 1978and 1983, died, aged 87, on 13December 2003 at Aberystwyth, wherehe was an Honorary Professor at theUniversity of Wales and his widow, AnnWintle, has a Chair. I attended his funeralon behalf of the College, and was muchmoved by the affection shown towardshim by colleagues and friends.

Jack was Professor of Geophysics inthis University between 1974 and 1983;in the words of The Times’ obituarist (19February 2004), ‘an inspired and happychoice’ following the very distinguishedSir Edward Bullard in his leadership of theDepartment of Geodesy and Geophysics.

After wartime service in the RoyalNavy, Jack played a leading role overmore than twenty years in thedevelopment of geophysics in Canada,

where, after appointments at theUniversity of Toronto, he held foundationprofessorships at the Universities ofBritish Columbia and Alberta. In eachcase he established large departmentsof high international repute.

The author of 175 publications,including 7 books, much of Jack’sresearch was in the origins of the Earth’smagnetic field. Throughout his career hegreatly encouraged the work of youngercolleagues, and with energy andadministrative skill ensured the well-being of the institutions he established. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada,he was also awarded the CentennialMedal of Canada, the J. Tuzo WilsonMedal of the Canadian GeophysicalUnion, the John Adam Fleming Medal ofthe American Geophysical Union, andboth the Price Medal and the Gold

Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society,of which he was also a Fellow.

Jack became a Fellow of Darwin in1977 – attracted here rather than toother colleges because of its explicitcommitment to graduate students.Delighted by his informal manner, when Ibecame Dean in 1983 I invited him tohave a year as Deputy Dean. Now retiredfrom his Chair, he accepted at once, anddid a brilliant job. Especially good withnew students, after each welcomingparty (which he organised), we woulddrink whiskies into the night, the morefully to assess the potential of our newmembers. And he was good at keepingin touch with them thereafter.

No matter to whom, Jack gave muchin fellowship across the whole College. Adear friend, I miss him very much.

Peter Gathercole

An appreciation

Professor John Arthur (‘Jack’) JacobsM.A., Ph.D., D.Sc., D.Sc. (h.c.)

Old Darwinians catch up at the 2004 Summer Party

11

Rowing

Image from the 2005 Darwin Calendar by Scott Brittain.

No Pennants in Lent: thrice bumped and a Row.“Stride!!” the short-swept oarswirls dark Cam. Puddles stronglengthen out to build the cover moretill smooth settled strokes slip the shell along.Then evermore all life is cheerful bliss – For who can meet more awful fate than this:To row to Railway bridge from Baitsbite dam?Now dream the Old, whose oars once

touched this streamin Lent. The Tough; the Bold; great

Guards of State;or quiet Wise – look back on anguished

wait ...............First Gun, sharp “Start!”; and fearsome

“Row!!!” – Life’s creamrose here in cold wet spring-green

lenten Cam.To you who row, be sure till life is spentno fate can fright the one who’s lost in Lent.

Rowing over? – Bow not to time; while stroke’s a chime.Set not my feet in shoes that pongnor harden thou my heart. The narrow Waywidens then thins, and Grassy’s longgreen banks still waft the scents of May.Two hundred years the Bumps have run– well nearly now, as May is June –Eight hundred times the boats have spunand only wars left May undone.Here we suspend the perfect time,here now enjoy these endless days,here quick catch, the stride, the rhymeof oars in play in charmed Mays.Eight oars front stop, eight oars wait low:Eight godly starts when Cox shouts: Row!

P.A.D. Dellight (1970-74)

remembered his form during this year’sMays. Darwin’s 1st Women bumpedtwice on the first day, putting us into theFirst Division for the first time andearning us a headline in the CambridgeEvening News (success indeed!). Thecrew was particularly strengthened byfour Blues returning after representingthe University in the women’s versions ofthe Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race. Our2nd boat, though unlucky in its drawduring Mays, put in solid performancesthroughout the year and resulted in acore of experienced rowers from whichto draw on this coming season.

We are now concentrating ourfundraising efforts onto the Men’s clubwhich badly needs a replacement boat.We need to raise about £5000 and arekeen to hear from old Darwinians whomay be able to help us with a donation orthrough their business contacts. Darwincontinues to be the only college to putout high-quality crews throughout theyear, on and off the Cam. Sponsoring ushelps current and future generations ofDarwin rowers and also ensures yourlogo is seen by a large number of people,year round and nationwide.

This year a new, enthusiasticcommittee are set to shake up the innerworkings of the club. First to go is thewebsite, now replaced by a smarterversion (http://www.dar.cam.ac.uk/dcbc/)to help us keep old and current membersupdated on DCBC news and results asthey occur. The ‘Friends of DCBC’ societystarted last year and we are always keento get in contact with old Darwinianrowers. Email Jenny (jhb32@cam.ac.uk)to be added to the list and receive noticesof reunion dinners etc.

Jenny Barnett

CEO Darwin College Boat Club

Darwin First Women

Darwin Second Men

The 2004 season turned out to be thebest year yet for Darwin’s rowers. Withfour girls rowing for the University,Blades for the 2nd Men’s VIII, and apromotion to the first division for the 1stWomen’s VIII it was truly an historic year.

The 1st Men started with anexcellent result in Fairbairns: 9th out ofall college crews. This fine formcontinued into the Lent Bumps, with 4bumps in 4 days securing a place in the2nd division. A gutsy row on the last daysaw Darwin just miss out on a tripleoverbump on Corpus, and on blades. Afrustrating May Bumps followed, withequipment problems leading to Darwingoing down one place. On the last dayhowever the crew were able to hold off aSt. Edmunds crew containing two Blues,denying them blades. The men built onthe skill of their senior boat with a quick-learning 2nd boat. Nearly all novices atthe start of the year (many alumni of theSummer Course), the 2nd Men wentfrom strength to strength, culminating ina spectacular Mays where they bumped

every day, earning Darwin its second setof blades in two years.

After fundraising by members,generous donations from Alumni and aloan from the ever-supportive Bursar wewere able last spring to buy a new(second-hand) women’s boat. The‘Phillip Pascal’ had been Head of theRiver in Mays 2003 with Newnham and

View the online Bumps charts at: www.dar.cam.ac.uk/dcbc/bumps2004.html

Rog

er W

hite

head

Editors:

George Gömöri

Richard Jebb

Andrew Prentice

The editors especially welcomeshort articles, pictures, artwork andnews from our overseas alumni.Correspondence to:darwinian@dar.cam.ac.uk

Designed and printed by Cambridge Printing, the printingbusiness of Cambridge University Press.www.cambridgeprinting.org

Calling Darwinians in Paris and FranceParis-based alumni Julien Goodman and Pascalle Chavatte-Palmer are keento hear from other alumni who might be interested in occasional Darwinianget togethers in France. Please email alumni-paris-contact@dar.cam.ac.uk if you are interested.

Calendar of Old Darwinian Events12th March Former Fellows’

Buffet Lunch

18th March Darwin Society Dinner

20th May Darwin Society Dinner

10th June Former Fellows’ Reunion

24th June Darwin Event/Ball

Image from the 2005 Darwin Calendar by Nicholas Hartman.

Darwin College alumni are invitedto a Darwin Society Buffet lunch

To be held during the 15th Cambridge University Alumni weekend

on

Saturday 24th September 2005

at 12.30pm

The 15th University alumni weekend is a time to explore the latestdevelopments and discoveries through a stimulating mix of lectures andtours. The full lecture series takes place on Saturday. So appreciate talksfrom experts in their field, and come along to your College to meet friends,old and new. Enjoy good food, drink and beautiful surroundings.

More details will be available in May. To express an interest in comingalong and to receive more details when they are available, please phoneSophia on 01223 335690 or e-mail her on sas65@cam.ac.uk Thank you.

ADVANCE NOTICE