A posh-sounding Northumbrian

The Rev. Michael Reiss will doubtless be feeling bruised as he worships today. The last week has been torrid for the, now former, Director of Education of the Royal Society - the UK's national academy of science and Fellowship of the finest scientific minds of our age.

Michael Reiss and I overlapped only briefly during my time working for the Society, but I would say that he was a man of kind instincts, good judgment, a passion for improving education, and a truly scientific mind. That he was also a man of the church, and that a comment on religious matters should bring about his downfall, may well have ensured his place as a footnote in the Royal Society's varied 350 year history.

The Royal Society perceives that its greatest asset is not its opulent buildings on Carlton House Terrace, nor its ability to make the news almost at will, nor even its distinguished scientific Fellows. The Society's greatest asset, in its own mind, is its reputation. 350 years of unblemished scientific leadership, the finest scientific minds of the day leading the way.

Reiss was forced to fall on his sword for threatening that reputation - his remarks on the teaching of creationism in schools were, in the words of the Society, "open to misinterpretation". His quote that "creationism is best seen by science teachers not as a misconception but as a world view" appears to have been taken out of context, a media storm in a test tube followed, and the Society pushed the Rev. Reiss out of the door.

It is surely Reiss's bad fortune that he wasn't President of the Royal Society. Lord Kelvin, former President, was a man also prone to getting his remarks noticed. Kelvin advised the Victorians that "X-rays will prove to be a hoax", that "radio has no future" and that "Wireless [telegraphy] is all very well but I'd rather send a message by a boy on a pony!."

While Kelvin's name is inscribed in gold leaf on the walls of the Society, Michael Reiss's is being expunged from websites, letterheads and publications as we speak. It is the way of contemporary communications that those who slip-up, the gaffe-givers, are quickly and quietly expunged not only from an organisation's present, but from its past also.

It was something of a standing joke during my time at the Royal Society that no-one got fired at the RS. The ineffective were, so it was said, either quietly recommended for an honour or two to keep them happy, or tucked away in a quiet office off one of the lesser-used Nash staircases to keep them out of the way. Thus the circumstances of Reiss's departure are shocking.

I would not be surprised if Michael Reiss himself drew on the spirit of the biblical Job and offered to take up sackcloth and ashes in deference to the higher cause of the Society's reputation. But by far the most interesting thing for Royal Society watchers is that the Fellows, sidelined in RS matters on a day to day basis, found their voice and forced him out. Professor Sir Richard Roberts FRS succesfully re-deployed a method used in 2005 - an open letter to the President of the Society- to force the officers' and senior managers' hands, with much greater success this time than in 2005. It is worth noting that Roberts was a signatory to both letters - clearly a man uncomfortable with the road the Society is on.

This is a major success for one grouping of the Society's Fellows, and represents a shift in the balance of power within Carlton House Terrace. Unfortunately it comes at the cost of the loss of a good man who was misquoted, misinterpreted, and eventually hung out to dry when the Society shut down, rather than encouraged a debate.  The apparent fact that the Society is no longer prepared to back up its staff when a group of the Fellows turns on them will reverberate around the building for months.

The ultimate irony is that the Society's motto, Nullius in Verba, roughly translates as "on the word of no-one" - a clarion call to evidence based analysis, discarding reportage and hearsay. Ultimately, it was the untimely death of this principle which cost Reiss his job, and which will do the most damage to the Society's cherished reputation.

You can be sure that in a Fellowship of so many great minds, not all of them agree with Roberts and his fellow signatories. It appears on this occasion that those who shouted loudest, won. This does not bode well for future debate, and it means, unfortunately, that when the Society seeks to hold up Nullius in Verba as a badge of honour on its 350th birthday in 2010, there will need to be rather more resignations at the top if we are take them seriously.

More reading:

• Times: Leading scientist urges teaching of creationism in schools
• Times: Royal Society to be called to account for creationist view
• Times: Royal Society's Michael Reiss resigns over creationism row

Breaking news from the Sky News website... Howard Brown pontificates on super-bank strategy from atop a horse.*

*They may have meant the Prime Minister

I have used the First Scotrail sleeper five or six times now for trips between London / Inverness or London / Edinburgh.  I thought I'd mastered the art of gettig a good night's sleep on-board, but there are limits!

On my old blog I wrote a list of Caledonian Sleeper tips, most of which you can find elsewhere on the Internet, but here's a new one - avoid cabins 1-4, and 21-24 in any carriage. They're above the wheels, and 23/24 is next to the carriage host's room.  Sometimes this is fine, but on Sunday night my attempts at sleeping had to contend with the carriage host's door clattering open and shut all night, and heavy knocking and vibration from the train suspension I was sleeping on top of.

It sounded at times like there was someone hammering on my door. In the constant hope that it might have been someone amorous, I checked regularly. Alas, I was disappointed.

Result: a dreadful night's sleep and an all but wasted day at work on Monday. I've written to First Scotrail asking for a refund, and I'll post progress here.

But here, thanks to the wonders of modern technology (my mobile's voicemail), is just a sample of what it was like trying to get some sleep on the 23.15 from Edinburgh to Euston

PS and call me a grump, but the ticket cost includes a hot breakfast. Any time the train is diverted down the east coast main line, this is replaced with corn flakes and warm UHT milk. Given the west coast main line is being closed frequently, but on a regular schedule, for maintenance why can't Scotrail get their act together and continue the provision of this essential service?

I remain yours,

Outraged etc etc

19.38 departure from Liverpool Street, delayed during the journey due to signal failure (according to journeycheck, no announcements), total delay: 20 minutes

10.34 departure from marks tey 9 minutes late, then broke down at shenfield. On board announcements good. Forced to change at romford ( romford stop added to following train). Total delay so far, 30 minutes

Update: following train was four carriages shorter than ours, which was eight carriages and standing room only. physically unable to board it

Update 2: Total delay, 45 minutes

1938 departure from london. Norwich bound train failed and taken out of service at Shenfield. 20 minute delay.

UPDATE: connecting service at Marks Tey didn't wait. Total delay 60 minutes. No information from journeycheck.

From the bbc.co.uk/bbctwo home page:

And here's that quote in full:

train prior to 0824 cancelled, 0824 running 4 carriages short, due to earlier broken down train, according to screen. Standing room early. No on-board announcements.

Update: announcement at Liverpool St said it was a fatalitity at Harold Wood, not broken down train

I was delighted to welcome Bristol-based creative company Silicon 19 (website perpetually under construction!) Silicon 19 to the University to produce a promotional web video of our graduate degree shows.

These annual exhibitions are a showcase of the best creative talent to graduate that year, and we wanted to not only show them off but be able in future years to give people a sense of what it is like to visit a degree show. Universities are not always good at welcoming the general public in off the street, so anything that gives a snapshot of what life is like behind the walls of Higher Education can only be a good thing.

Silicon 19 have recently launched an agressively priced 'baby projects' offering for one day's filming, and one day's editing by a single multi-skilled operative. Though we upgraded slightly to a 'toddler project' with a two-man team, I think the video below shows that they are real value for money.

What I particularly like about Silicon 19 is their ability to take a brief and work in a natural, organic way to achieved the desired result. None of the interviews in the video above are scripted. They're all the result of natural conversational questioning by Greg Browning, a video producer I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to others. He's a pleasure to work with.

You can see the video in situ here, along with a photo gallery from each of the degree shows.

Their greatest hits

Other work I've seen by Silicon 19 include their videos for the Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibitions of 2005 and 2006, and rather more ambitiously the film The Full Monteverdi - a must see for fans of renaissance polyphony. Such people do exist, and I'm one of them!

To Christ Church Spitalfields last night for 'Alchemy', a joint concert by London's Renaissance Singers and Amsterdam's Lelikoor.

This was my first visit to this venue and its warm and embracing acoustic. The two performances of my favourite work, Tallis's Spem in Alium, washed over the audience and moved more than one person to tears.

If you don't know Tallis's awesome 40-part motet, have a listen to the Tallis Scholars' performance below (sound starts after 13 seconds - enjoy the silence):

It is a truly awesome work, and very demanding of the singers and conductor. Last night's performance was just about flawless.  I've heard Spem performed in all sorts of places, from St Paul's Covent Garden, to the Royal Albert Hall (twice). Splitting the eight choirs creatively between the floor and gallery levels of Christ Church Spitalfield allowed a natural 'call and answer' between the choirs and was certainly the most rounded performance I've heard to date.

If you would like to get together with thirty-nine prodigiously talented musical friends, you can find the full score here.

Other works included the lyrical Myn hert altyt heeft verlanghen by Pierre de la Rue, Britten's Chorale on an old French carol and Rober Parsons' Te Deum from "The Great Service" - all new to me, all performed with a purity of tone and clarity of diction that is quite special.

Frank Martin's Mass for Double Choir brought us up to date, and was the cornerstone of the second half of the evening.  Though it didn't reach me to the same extent that some of the other pieces managed, it was fascinating to hear an unconvential, dare I say downbeat, interpretation of Mass.  The programme notes (which were also excellent) say that

"The opening of the Gloria speaks more of hushed awe than blazing glory"

I would share that assessment, and it was certainly interesting to have my expectations of the Gloria and Sanctus challenged.

In short, a concert worth every penny. You'd be mad to miss the Renaissance Singers' next concert on Sunday 12 October at the Temple Church, featuring Allegri's Miserere.