Art is the Tree of Life, Science is the Tree of Death William Blake

When man ate from the tree of knowledge he elected to find a short-cut to the Godhead. He attempted to rob the Creator of the divine secret, which to him spelled power. What has been the result? Sin, disease, death Henry Miller - cf the Ascent of Science - Silver

Imagine the 17 th Century – in London the Plague; Vienna ravaged by syphilis; many women died in chilbirth – Rousseu wrote in 1762 “Half of all children will die by the age of eight. This is an immutable figure. Do not try to change it”. We in the developed world live in an age liberated from the fear of (early) death by infectious disease. from - Gustav Born; AvH Magazin 72/98

Voltaire wrote to Newton: I do not see why the study of physics should crush the flowers of poetry. Is truth such a poor thing that it is unable to tolerate beauty?

The beauty in form of a plant or animal is not made less but more apparent as a whole by more accurate insight into its constituent properties and powers - Wordsworth

At least 50% maybe 70% of the world lives on staple crops, such as wheat, grown with fertilisers made by the Haber–Bosch process. Imagine the benefits of but one holy grail of GM technology – wheat that can fix its own nitrogen.

To insert your company logo on this slide From the Insert Menu Select “Picture” Locate your logo file Click OK To resize the logo Click anywhere inside the logo. The boxes that appear outside the logo are known as “resize handles.” Use these to resize the object. If you hold down the shift key before using the resize handles, you will maintain the proportions of the object you wish to resize. vega presentation.ppt Politicians and Students

Some Problems Attitude to Science of some very influential people - eg politicians Attitude to Science of students Attitude of some in the Arts Attitude to Science of the Media

In the San Francisco a few years ago I saw a beaten up old Volvo with a bumper sticker which said...

Not all those who wander are lost J R R Tolkien

By language I do not mean just our spoken language but also mathematics, formulae in science, musical sounds, colour in art and patterns and rhythms poetry. Without these various languages, elegant patterns of all kinds remain hidden and we remain ignorant and never realise our full potential as creative human beings.

By our Universe I mean not only Nature and the Physical world - the stars in the sky, life, fundamental particles - but also all manifestations of our Universe including, in particular, our amazing brains.

Language Language - in all its forms - is the key to unlocking the mysteries and beauty of our Universe.