Royal Society

I looked at the sign, and paused.

“The Royal Society”

What was I doing here? I’m not a qualified mathematician, I’ve no degree in natural science, and I’m definitely not royalty…

As it happened, I was in London for work (the IT kind, not the flying kind) and had been looking for something to do in the evening when the snappily entitled IMA-LMS David Crighton Award Lecture and Medal Presentation 2024 caught my eye.

I’d never been to The Royal Society and never been to a maths lecture, so to say I was a little apprehensive was a massive understatement! However, I’d pushed the button and confirmed my attendance, so here I was. I’m not sure what I expected, except that to think that I wouldn’t fit, but I’ve always felt a bit of imposter syndrome so this feeling of unease was nothing new for me. However, I was in for a nice surprise…

From the moment I walked in to the grand old historic surroundings (Newton, Pepys, Rutherford and many other famous scientists are all former presidents) I was made to feel quite at home. I collected my badge from the friendly IMA representatives and wandered around soaking up the historic atmosphere and enjoying a cup of tea.

The lecture room was beautiful and decorated with lavish oil portraits.  Alison Etheridge was the speaker and I caught sight of her as she made her last preparations near the lectern. From the abstract this was a lecture on Modelling Genes and in Alison’s words, she was going to discuss some of the ways “in which apparently simplistic mathematical models can capture some of the essence of evolution and, moreover, display a rich and beautiful mathematical structure.”

I had no idea if I would comprehend any of the language or terminology being used, but from the outset the lecture was hugely accessible. Even to me, grade C GCSE Dan… Granted I’ve done a bit of mathematics study lately, but nothing above year 1 university level. And yet I followed the whole lecture as it linked genetic and evolutionary mechanisms using a mathematical model. Alison Etheridge’s lecture style was patient, understanding and clear. I’ll definitely be looking out for any future talks by her.

After the lecture concluded and the medal presentation had been done, there was a buffet laid out and a drinks reception. I ended up speaking to several people, including two fellow undergraduate students, one of whom is also studying at the Open University like me! This was something, again, I didn’t expect. I actually met up with Nathan at this weekends M500 Society maths revision weekend in Milton Keynes – more on that in a future post.

The icing on the cake was a chat with Alison toward the end of the evening about all things Wolverhampton as we have both spent significant time there. To chat with an accomplished professor of mathematics like that was really inspiring and enjoyable – even while her daughter rolled her eyes at our native West Midlands accents!

Everyone from the IMA was extremely friendly and welcoming, from undergraduates to experienced mathematics professors and everyone in between and I can’t stress enough what a superbly run and accessible event it was.

I feel privileged to have attended and will be on the look out for more IMA events in the future.