I think this video about astronomy, spectroscopy and the evolution of the universe from PhD comics is well-worth a look!

Half-term reading

The real joy of teachers' holidays is the ability to read and read and read. Here's what I've been reading over the last two weeks:

Fiction
Allingham   Look to the Lady
Adams   Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Wells   The Island of Dr Moreau
Marsh   Death at the Bar
Stevenson   Treasure Island
Eco   The Prague cemetary
Trollope   Barchester Towers (ongoing) 

Non-fiction
Sequin   The Chemistry of Plants
Cox   The elements on Earth (ongoing)
Kendrick and Davis   Fossil Plants
Stewart   Nature's numbers
Fortey   Survivors (ongoing)

I've also been listening to my John Eliot Gardner Bach cantata piligrimage CDs, but have only reached volume 5 of 27!

Fougères

I have just returned from one of my regular visits with M to the Limousin region of France (where my father-in-law has retired). On this trip we went to visit the Arboretum de la Sédelle in Crozant. This turned out to be a really excellent arboretum as well as a very interesting fern (fougère) site. Most of the planted ferns were fairly ordinary, with Dryopteris dilatata, D. filix-mas, and Athyrium filix-femina in considerable abundance. However, tucked away near a bridge over a small stream, was a mossy bank on which I'm pretty sure Hymenophyllum was also present. I don't often get to see them, and so I wasn't completely sure, particularly from their relatively small size (the fronds were about the size of the top joint of my thumb) and from the fact that I'm not familiar with continental flora so I may have mistaken them for something else, perhaps a large moss. Also of interest were Polypodium spp. on granite outcrops near the river. The first plants I encountered were quite small (10-15 cm) and seemed to have abbortive sori, but no other Polypodium plants were around, which made me think hybrids unlikely. However, further down there was an abundance. Again, I wasn't sufficiently confident to hazard a guess at the species, particularly off of British soil, but the stands were impressive to say the least.

Well worth a visit if you are in the area. My recommendation would be to take (a) a camera (why oh why have I never got one with me?)  (b) a hand lens (that was a careless oversight) and (c) a continental fern flora (if you need one).

Happy ferning.

Boys and their toys

Buchan on Hymenophyllum

I very much enjoy John Buchan's novels and have been getting to know some of the less prominent ones that Polygon have recently brought back into print. I am currently reading John McNab (an old favourite about a group of prominent public men who take up a poaching challenge in the highlands) and in the second chapter occurs this sentence:

"Scrambling in the dell of a burn, he had observed both varieties of the filmy fern and what he knew to be a very rare beast, and, though an ardent botanist, he had observed them unmoved"

So that would be Hymenophyllum tunbridgense and H. wilsonii. The "very rare beast" might be a reference to Trichomanes speciosum as the habitats are similar. However, this might well be considerable artistic license as the distribution of H. tunbridgense is very westerly in Scotland. Nonetheless, it's pleasing to find Buchan talking up these beautiful plants.

Travels to the west

M and I have just returned from a few days in Worcestershire. We enjoyed Worcester and spent considerable time looking at the stained glass in the cathedral: particularly impressive was the west window, depicting creation and the fall; this picture doesn't do it justice.

We also spent an afternoon in Stratford on Avon and attended an evening performance of The Comedy of Errors at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre - a really superb production.

On the way home, we were also able to stop at Fibrex and I know have a beautiful collection of ferns in my garden ... more details to follow.

Travels to the East ...

of England, that is.

My wife and I both have relatives in Norfolk, with the result that we travel to the East of England quite regularly, however we rarely break our journey for anything other than a quick cup of tea. This time was different, though.

On our journey down we stopped at Bressingham gardens. This is an excellent garden which, although it appears quite small on the outside, turns out to be quite extensive. They have an excellent collection of ferns, with many cultivars. Osmunda spp were a particular delight, with O. regalis, O. purpurens and O. regalis grandiceps. There were also many Dryopteris spp (which are my personal favourite) and also a range of Polysticum cultivars. Well worth a visit - we didn't have time to look at the steam exhibits - you should allow several hours to really look round properly.

On the return journey we stopped at Anglesea Abbey Gardens (National Trust). A very well laid-out set of gardens within very extensive grounds. M was a bit disappointed that there were lots of hedges and not enough flowers, but again the ferns were very fine. It's a large estate and although we walked for about two hours, we ran out of time before we'd seen half of it.


I'd love to be able to include pictures, but I just can't seem to get into the habit of taking a camera with me!

In England's green and pleasant land...

I thought this was a very encouraging news item by Mark Easton on BBC News.

It turns out there's really quite a lot of non-urban land out there in the UK. I can't say I was that surprised by the data (I put my guess on around 10% urbanised land) but it is comforting to think that there are still many places where our landscape remains natural.

So little time ...

One of my university friends once said to me (as we took our post-lunch walk around the college gardens)
"If we just had more time we could be such polymaths".

Oh how true: there just aren't enough hours in the day.

Chasing molecules ... and Vitamin C

During the course of this week I have finished both Chasing Molecules and an RSC monograph - Vitamin C - its Chemistry and Biochemistry (Davies, Austin and Partridge).

Whilst Chasing Molecules has prompted me to think more carefully about the leaching of pollutants from plastics, I found the book somewhat frustrating; as a scientist I didn't feel I was being presented with real evidence - just a sort of trust-me-I've-read-the-reports. However, the book is clearly written for the educated layman rather than a trained scientist this is probably an unfair criticism, and it is extensively referenced so I could look these studies up if I had time and appropriate library access. Overall, I thought that it was well-written and well-informed, if perhaps a little paranoid.

The book on vitamin C was a delight and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone wishing to know more about ascorbic acid. Undergraduate-level chemistry is probably needed to make the most of the text, particularly the latter sections on redox chemistry and complex formation, but the early chapters covering the discovery, isolation and structure determination of ascorbic acid, as well as scurvy as a medical condition, would be accessible to the general reader.

Reading update

The trouble with term-time is that I'm often so tired that reading is quite difficult to sustain. Not reading, like not listening to music, tends to make me unhappy. The last five weeks have been quite hectic, yet I have managed to make a little progress with a few books.

Thomas Hardy: A Laodicean was a gripping read, rather different from other Thomas Hardy novels that I've encountered. The notes in my copy suggest that the central character (George Somerset) was, in part, modelled on Hardy's own life. Unusually, this novel has a happy ending, although it is tempered with some sadness. I think it is perhaps the Hardy novel that Austen fans would most enjoy.

F. W. Taylor's Planetary Atmospheres started well, but I've found myself rather bogged down in the mathematics of the Physics. I'm persevering, though, because between the equations there is a great deal of interesting descriptive material. I do feel I've developed a better understanding of atmospheric temperature gradients and the section I've now come to is much more chemical than physical.

Elizabeth Grossman: Chasing Molecules was something that I picked up in Foyles in early January. It describes the dangerous chemicals used in modern materials as well as giving a view of the promise of Green Chemistry. The chemical industry comes in for some pretty hard criticism and she seems to assume that if a study is industry-funded it must  be biased. However, it has made me think a little more about the materials with which I'm in contact and reminded me that chemical exposure is not only found in laboratories. I will write more about this book when I've finished it (I'm currently about half-way through).

Music

It's been quite a good Christmas for getting new music: here are some thoughts on the CDs I've been given (or purchased - I strongly recommend visting Prelude Records if you are ever in Norwich!).

Words and Music is a 2007 release on the Chandos label with vocals and piano by Richard Rodney Bennett. There's a mixture of standards from the American songbook (I won't dance/ How long has this been going on?) and lesser known songs, as well as the title track, a Bennett composition.

Graduation features Richard Hills playing the Dickinson High School Kimball theatre organ with his usual style and flair. I particularly enjoyed his Songs from the British Isles and Viva Mexico - a Mexican fantasy. If you aren't familiar with Richard Hills or with theatre organ music, then watch this video of Hills playing Tiger Rag - I guarantee you'll like it!

I've also acquired a recording of the Bach tocattas (Angela Hewitt [Hyperion]) and Naxos recordings of Dvorak symphonies 3,4,6, and 8, which I'm getting to know for the first time and enjoying immensly. I've also bought a 2CD set of harpsicord suites by Jean-Henry D'Anglebert. I'd never heard of this composer (a friend of Lully) and have yet to listen to the CDs ... more to follow.

Resolution

Each year I make a resolution to write more on this blog. Maybe 1. i. 2012 will be the turning point?

Happy New Year to one and all!