The importance of being interested!

Backblip from Thursday. Tonight was our first night out since Baby L came into our lives, the first entrusting to a babysitter. But instead of a visit together to the cinema or a romantic dinner for two, we went, apart, to two different events (although in the same arts centre, the Tolbooth in Stirling). While O was upstairs in the Attic room at a singing group end-of-term party, I was in the main theatre being entertained mightily by the well-known science-based comedian Robin Ince. He is probably best-known as the host, along with media-friendly quantum physicist Professor Brian Cox, of BBC Radio 4's The Infinite Monkey Cage, the show that brings science and scientific ideas and discussion to a wider audience. A combination of comedians and excellent science communicators makes for an always entertaining, and often brilliant radio show. Even if Brian Cox usually has it in for biology and biologists (and chemists, social scientists, etc).

But tonight, the show that is the subject of this blipped photo was Robin Ince's solo show, taking a unique, idiosyncratic and extremely funny journey through a layperson's view of a physical, chemical and biological understanding of how the world works, alongside downright curiosity and a thirst for knowledge inspired by such great scientific minds as Charles Darwin and Richard Feynman, both personal heroes of mine. Mr Ince has hours and hours of great material and, I suspect, would have loved to have shared it all with us tonight! The hall was was not full tonight - shame on you Stirling, and you a University town too... I hope that doesn't put him off coming back - maybe the University would be a better venue next time!