Professor Lord Robert Winston, thepioneering fertility expert, scientific communicator par excellence, broadcaster, author, life peer and all-round
polymath delivered a captivating lecture to a packed audience of Queenswood
students, families and staff on Thursday 17 September.

We were truly inspired by Lord Winston’s indomitable curiosity and
love of learning. He took care to address the girls
directly, speaking poignantly about their vital role in future scientific research.  

He took as his broad theme the question of
Human Ingenuity, and began by considering the first stone tools created by our
proto-human ancestors around two and a half million years ago – a technological
breakthrough that was not to be superseded for another two million years. He
then leapt forward in time to consider the huge advances in human artistic and
scientific achievement that took place in the two centuries after
Shakespeare, and contrasted even these
rapid developments with the almost bewildering pace of progress in the modern
era.

His talk encompassed such disparate topics
as lasers, parthenogenesis in mice, the music of Schubert, Beethoven and Haydn,
eugenics, Hamlet, Marie Curie and Einstein’s brain. One of the most memorable
lessons we took from his talk was that any two members of the audience, in
collaboration, have twice the brain power of even the greatest scientific
genius working alone.

Lord Winston was extremely generous and
selfless. Not only did he answer a range of thoughtful questions from the
floor, both during and after the talk, but also donated his fee to the Genesis
Research Trust, which raises money for scientists and clinicians who are
researching the causes and cures for conditions that affect the health of women
and babies.

We would like to thank Lord Winston
sincerely for sharing his knowledge, philosophy and enthusiasm. Look out for news
of more speaking events by leading academics later in the year.