There is increasing recognition over the last decade that conservation, while conserving biodiversity of global value, can have local costs. Understanding these costs is essential as a first step to delivering conservation projects that do not make some of the poorest people on the planet poorer. Using examples from Madagascar and Bolivia, we explore the challenges of quantifying the impact of conservation on local wellbeing.
Julia Jones is Professor in conservation science at the School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography, Bangor University. Julia is interested in how people interact with natural resources and how incentives can be best designed to maintain ecosystem services; for example the growing field of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) and how schemes such as REDD+ can effectively deliver global environmental benefits while also having a positive impact on local livelihoods. She also has a strong interest in the design of robust conservation monitoring using different types of data, and in analysing the evidence underpinning environmental policies and decisions.

Telegraph writer Helen Yemm brings her column Thorny Problems to life by answering your gardening conundrums and dispensing invaluable advice in the picturesque setting of the Botanic Garden.

Britain’s most famous mathematician explores the limits of human knowledge, to probe whether there is anything we truly cannot know. Are there limits to what we can discover about our physical Universe? Is time before the Big Bang a no go arena? Are there ideas so complex that they are beyond the conception of our finite human brains? Are there true statements that can never be proved true? Prepare to be taken to the edge of knowledge to find out what we cannot know.

Ludo, snakes & ladders and draughts are all popular pastimes, but in the past couple of decades a new generation of board games from designers with backgrounds in maths and science has begun to break the Monopoly monopoly. Perhaps the most successful of these is multi award winning Reiner Knizia, who joins mathematician Katie Steckles and board game lover Quentin Cooper to discuss how you develop a game which is easy to learn, hard to master and fun to play time after time. With a chance to have a go at some of Reiner’s latest creations and other top games afterwards.

Book here: http://www.oxfordshiresciencefestival.com/tuesday.html

Join us for a sensational evening of cabaret – an alchemy of acts delivered by Science Oxford’s network of creative science performers. If you love science, stage and stand up, you’ll be in your element with our periodic table-themed cabaret including science presenter and geek songstress Helen Arney and compered by award-winning science communicator Jamie Gallagher. See the everyday elements that make up the world around us in a new light, watch in disbelief as gold is created before your eyes, and learn about their origins and how they behave inside our bodies. Get your tickets now – once they are gone they argon!

Get your game face on – it’s poker night at Science Oxford.

Brush off your pack of cards and outplay Lady Luck with an evening of poker probability and psychology. Learn more about the head games that define what happens at the poker table with mathematician and author of The Perfect Bet Adam Kucharski and psychologist Danielle Shore, who’ll show how your poker face can affect your opponents’ decision-making. Their talks will be followed by a friendly poker tournament – the perfect opportunity to put into practice the science of poker.

Chips included as part of ticket price.

Prime numbers are fundamentally important in mathematics. What can bracelets reveal about the distribution of the primes? Join us to hear Dr Vicky Neale discuss this topic, discover some of the beautiful properties of prime numbers, and learn about some of the unsolved problems that mathematicians are working on today!
This is a free event with no pre-booking required.

British Science Association Oxford Branch
http://www.oxfordscibar.com/
twitter @oxfordscibar
facebook ‘British Science Association Oxford Branch’

A twenty minute talk to introduce the topic, followed by Q&As and about an hour’s discussion. All welcome.

Martin Barker (Professor Emeritus of Film Studies at Aberystwyth University, Director of the Global Hobbit Project) will be visiting Oxford to discuss the results of the landmark Global Hobbit Project, a research initiative examining the popular reception of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit Film trilogy.

Synopsis:
“Tolkien aficionados may have disagreed somewhat among themselves about the value and achievements of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. But any frustrations – or celebrations – over the 2001-3 films were nothing compared to the overwhelming sense of let-down occasioned by the Hobbit trilogy. But your disappointments are, I am afraid, grist to the mill of an audience researcher like me. In 2014 I led a consortium of researchers in 46 countries across the world, to gather responses to Peter Jackson’s second trilogy. We managed to attract just over 36,000 completions of our questionnaire. Of course, when we conceived and planned the project, we couldn’t know what the films would be like, or what range of responses and debates they might elicit. In this presentation I will (briefly) explain why and how we carried out the research, and offer some of its major findings. These can act, I hope, as a kind of mirror to the depths, and also the significance, of the sense of disappointment experienced by even the most hopeful and forgiving viewers. And they open an important agenda about the changing role of ‘fantasy’ in our contemporary culture.”

Evgenia Emets, Katerina Loschinina and Oliver Gingrich from Analema Group will talk about their ongoing research and artistic project KIMA, exploring sound through its visual counterpart – geometry and light. They will speak on how relationships between art and mathematics have developed through history and bring examples from contemporary art. Through a series of video documentation, they will present the development of project KIMA, and invite audience to think about connections between sound and vision and possible trajectories these might take. Find out more at www.facebook.com/analemagroup.

Please join us at 7pm on Thursday of 7th Week (November 24th) for a presentation by Daniel Castro Garcia and Thomas Saxby on their recent publication ‘Foreigner: Migration into Europe 2015–2016’.

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“The photographs are a protest against those who so
readily attack refugees and migrants entering Europe
without taking into consideration the dangers faced
during the journey.” (Foreigner: Migration into Europe 2015–16 by John Radcliffe Studio www.johnradcliffestudio.com)

For more information please read the press release below:

‘Foreigner: Migration into Europe 2015–2016’, is a photography book that documents the lives of people at various stages of their migration to Europe. The book is divided into three sections, focusing on migration to Italy from North Africa, migration to Greece and through the Balkans from the middle east, and the migrant camp in Calais known as ‘The Jungle’. Alongside the photography, written texts serve both as a context, and a means to share the stories of the people we met during the project.
The book was created in response to the imagery used in
the media to discuss the issue of migration, which we felt was
sensationalist, alarmist and was not giving people the time and
consideration they deserved. We wanted to approach the subject from a calmer perspective, using medium format portrait photography as a means of meeting the people at the centre of the crisis face to face – and of learning something about their lives.

John Radcliffe Studio is the creative partnership of Thomas Saxby and Daniel Castro Garcia. We specialise in photography, film and graphic design and have spent the last year documenting the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe.

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The Moser Theatre is fully accessible, with access to gender netural toilets, and the event will be **FREE** to attend. Oxford for Dunkirk will be collecting donations before and after the event in aid of La Liniere Refugee Camp, Dunkirk, France: please see our page for more details! (www.facebook.com/oxfordfordunkirk)

A twenty minute talk to introduce the topic, followed by Q&As and about an hour’s discussion. All welcome.

Jenny Josephs & Why eating insects might soon become the new normal

By 2050 the global population will reach 9 billion and this will put ever increasing pressure on food and environmental resources. It will be a challenge to ensure global food security without further damaging the environment with intensified farming practices.

One UN backed solution is to focus on alternative sources of protein, such as insects for food and animal feed. About 2 billion of us already include insects in our diets, though it is still a growing trend in the west.

Insects are described as having a variety of different flavours, from mushroomy to pistachio or pork crackling. They are comparable to beef in protein and contain beneficial nutrients like iron and calcium. Their environmental impact is also minimal, requiring far less water and feed than cattle, and releasing fewer emissions.

During this talk, Jenny will explain how insects might replace some of the meat in our diets and also give some tips on how to cook them. You will be invited to sample some tasty bug snacks after the talk!

Bio: After completing a PhD in Visual Cognition at the University of Southampton, Jenny changed course and started The Bug Shack – a business promoting and selling edible insects. Jenny is a regular speaker at Skeptics events and science festivals and she recently returned from a trip to research attitudes towards eating and farming insects in Thailand and Laos.

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7.30PM start at St. Aldates Tavern, and entry is free, although we do suggest a donation of around £3 to cover speaker expenses. We tend to get busy, so arrive early to make sure you get a seat. Come along and say hello! All welcome. http://oxford.skepticsinthepub.org/Event.aspx/8101/Why-eating-insects-might-soon-become-the-new-normal

Join the Facebook event and invite your friends: https://www.facebook.com/events/1317127301666085/

A twenty minute talk to introduce the topic, followed by Q&As and about an hour’s discussion. All welcome.

Lord Browne of Madingley is presently Chairman of L1 Energy, the Chairman of Trustees of both the Tate and the QEII Prize for Engineering, and Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University.

Science, Medicine and Culture in the Nineteenth Century Seminar Series. All welcome, no booking required.

Ursula Martin, Professor of Computer Science at the University of Oxford, will be speaking on Ada Lovelace in Her Mathematical Context

Ada, Countess of Lovelace, 1815 – 1852, the so called “first computer programmer”, is famous for her 1843 paper, which combined technical detail, and farsighted reflections, in describing Charles Babbage’s unbuilt analytical engine, a mechanical computer which, in principle, would have had the same capabilities as a modern machine. Lovelace’s broader reflections include the complexity and difficulty of programming, the potential for mathematical experiment, algebra, or composing music, and even, as noted by Alan Turing, the limits of machine thought.

Celebrated as an icon of women in science, Lovelace has been the subject of many popular accounts, with intense debate as to her ability and contribution to the 1843 paper. The only biography to study Lovelace’s mathematics is detailed, confident, but mathematically incorrect: the only edition of the letters is somewhat unscholarly and leaves out the mathematical content, stressing notions of poetical science.

Our recent work (with Christopher Hollings and Adrian Rice) is the first study of Lovelace by historians of mathematics, ad describes her eclectic childhood education, and her private study in 1840, at university level, with the eminent mathematician Augustus De Morgan. We identified her increasing insight, tenacity with details and desire to grasp abstract principles – the skills required for independent mathematical work.

One might assess such varying accounts of Lovelace’s life and contribution against changing contexts of class, gender, or mental stability; changing perceptions of mathematics amongst both professional mathematicians and the general public; changing perceptions of how to present women scientists; or better understanding of the misremembering or composure of women’s contributions. Despite her reputation, we lack a scholarly account of the 1843 paper, and the trajectory of its ideas, rooted in the relevant mathematical context, or a biography that treats her as a member of a scientific community, alongside Babbage, De Morgan and Somerville, rather than constraining her as marginal or exceptional.

Join us for the first in Blackwell’s free summer series of lunchtime events, where we will be joined by Greg Garrett author of ‘Living with the Living Dead’.
The zombie apocalypse is one of the most prominent narratives of the post 9/11 West, represented by popular movies, TV shows, games, apps, activities, and material culture. Greg explores why stories about the living dead serve a variety of functions for consumers and explains how representations of Death and the walking dead have appeared in other times of great stress and danger, including the Middle Ages and World War One.
Greg Garrett blogs on books, culture, religion, politics, travel, and food for The Huffington Post. He is the author or co-author of twenty books and one of America’s leading authorities on religion and culture.

Numerous free talks, walking tours and workshops over two days.

A Fortunate Universe: Life in a Finely Tuned Cosmos

Over the last forty years, scientists have uncovered evidence that if
the Universe had been forged with even slightly different properties,
life as we know it – and life as we can imagine it – would be
impossible. Join us on a journey through how we understand the
Universe, from its most basic particles and forces, to planets, stars
and galaxies, and back through cosmic history to the birth of the
cosmos, to the conclusion that we truly live in a fortunate universe.

Professor Lewis is a Professor of Astrophysics at the Sydney Institute
for Astronomy, University of Sydney. An internationally recognized
physicst with hundreds of published papers on topics such as
cosmology, gravitational lensing, galactic cannibalism and large-scale
structure.

Dr. Barnes is a postdoctoral researcher at the Sydney Institute for
Astronomy. With a university medal from the University of Sydney, he
completed a Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge. He has published
papers in the field of galaxy formation and on the fine-tuning of the
Universe for life.

Terezinha Nunes is Emeritus Professor of Educational Studies and a Fellow of Harris-Manchester College. She started her career as a clinical psychologist in Brazil and moved to a research career by obtaining a doctorate in Psychology at City University of New York, where she was supported by a Fulbright Scholarship.

Her work spans the domains of children’s literacy and numeracy, including both hearing and deaf children’s learning, and her focus of analysis covers cognitive and cultural issues, with a special interest in educational applications. Her work on “street mathematics” in Brazil uncovered many features of children’s and adults’ informal knowledge, and her subsequent work in the U.K. investigates how this informal knowledge can be used in education. Her literacy research focuses on the connections between morphological awareness, spelling and vocabulary growth.

Free for OUSS members; £2 for non-members.
Membership can be bought on the door: £10 for a year or £20 for life. Includes membership of Cambridge Uni SciSoc
Refreshments will be served afterwards.
See you there!

What does it mean to be a feminist? Who can be a feminist? And is there a right and wrong way of doing it?

Join us on a unique journey through feminist history, adding your voice as we discuss key moments in literature, art, politics, music, sport, and science to develop our understanding of feminism.

You’ll discover knowledge you didn’t realise you had as we join together the pieces of feminist history and women’s achievements in this fun, interactive workshop.

We will identify different stages and criticisms of feminism and consider intersections with race, LGBTIQ, age, and disability politics. We look for silences and unacknowledged voices, and consider the privileges and biases in our own perspectives.

A juggling demonstration with hilarious explanations of the mathematical details of the practice.

Juggling has fascinated people for centuries. Seemingly oblivious to gravity, the skilled practitioner will keep several objects in the air at one time, and weave complex patterns that seem to defy analysis.

In this talk the speaker demonstrates a selection of the patterns and skills of juggling while at the same time developing a simple method of describing and annotating a class of juggling patterns. By using elementary mathematics these patterns can be classified, leading to a simple way to describe those patterns that are known already, and a technique for discovering new ones.

Those with some mathematical background will find plenty to keep them occupied, and those less experienced can enjoy the juggling as well as the exploration and exposition of this ancient skill.

Free for OUSS members; £2 for non-members.
Membership can be bought on the door: £10 for a year or £20 for life. Includes membership of Cambridge University Scientific Society.
Refreshments will be served afterwards.
Contact oxforduniscisoc [at] gmail [dot] com with queries.
See you there!

Juggling has fascinated people for centuries. Seemingly oblivious to gravity, the skilled practitioner will keep several objects in the air at one time, and weave complex patterns that seem to defy analysis.

In this talk the speaker demonstrates a selection of the patterns and skills of juggling while at the same time developing a simple method of describing and annotating a class of juggling patterns. By using elementary mathematics these patterns can be classified, leading to a simple way to describe those patterns that are known already, and a technique for discovering new ones.

Those with some mathematical background will find plenty to keep them occupied, and those less experienced can enjoy the juggling as well as the exploration and exposition of this ancient skill.

Andy will take you on a journey from the creation of ghetto’s to the rise of Hip-Hop as a critique against social and racial injustice. He will discuss the empowerment that has emerged through this form of art the consequences of its commercialisation. His talk will also question ‘what makes something a piece of art?’ and ‘how can creative wealth arise from financial poverty?’

Andy Ninvalle is a versatile artist, entrepreneur and renowned educator. In addition to leading the Dutch dance company Massive Movement. He has recently collaborated with Curtis Richardson, songwriter for Jeniffer Lopez and Rihanna and wrote and produced for the latest album of Polish Jazz Legend Michał Urbaniak. As a rapper and beatboxer, he breaks down barriers between different art forms through his collaborations with Earth Wind and Fire, the Polish National Philharmonic Orchestra and Jazz musician Candy Dulfer.

Growing up on the streets of Guyana, hip hop was Andy’s first language for self-expression. He is passionate about sharing his love for art, as well as advancing the education of black history and culture. He is a frequent speaker at high-schools throughout the Netherlands. He has given guest lectures and workshops at Penn State University and University of Troyes.

www.andyninvalle.com

Mike Mesterton-Gibbons grew up in Coventry and graduated in 1974 with a BA in Mathematics from the University of York and in 1977 with a DPhil in Applied Mathematics from the University of Oxford. He moved to the US in 1982 for a tenure-track position in the Department of Mathematics at Florida State University, where he has been a full professor since 1996 and recently became an emeritus professor. His research develops game-theoretic models of animal behaviour, on which he has published numerous articles. He is also the author of three texts on modelling and optimization, and until recently was an editor for Journal of Theoretical Biology.

Abstract: I joined Florida State University as an assistant professor in 1982 to teach mathematics and to do research on fluid dynamics, a natural enough progression,since my DPhil thesis was on magnetohydrodynamics and I had later worked on helicopter dynamics. Yet I have done no research on fluid dynamics ever since. Improbably, given that I have never taken a course in biology, my career has instead been dominated by models of animal behaviour known as games, usually developed in collaboration with biologists in an effort to answer questions raised by their field studies. I will begin my presentation by describing the work that I ended up doing (in a wholly non-technical fashion). I will then talk about how I got there, sharing my perspective on life abroad in academe.

Ever felt like there was something you really wanted to say but you just weren’t sure how? We’re exploring the why and how of women’s speech and writing with the help of some amazing women writers and gender experts.

This is our fabulous launch for a feminist writing course to run in Oxford in early 2018.

The event will include presentations from rising-star feminist writers sharing their work and discussing what it means to express their gender in their writing.

There will be a chance to share your ideas about what feminist poetry means to you, how gender is expressed through poetry and language, what it means to write as your gender, and some of the challenges of writing women’s experiences, platforming a variety of voices in conversation.

We also invite presentations from YOU of your own work and/or that of your feminist heroes.

Kids and people of all genders welcome.

East Oxford Community Centre
Doors open 7.30pm (the bar will be open)

CARU | Arts re Search Annual Conference 2017

“What does it mean to research art / to research through art?”

CARU brings together artists and researchers for yet another day of cross-disciplinary exploration into arts research! The event will consist of an exciting mixture of talks and performances from a variety of creative and academic disciplines, including Fine Art, Live Art, Social Practice, Art History, Anthropology, Education, Science and Technology, to question and debate various areas of arts research, such as themes, material/form, documentation and practice methodology.

Keynote talk: ‘Resonances and Discords’
Speaker: Prof. Kerstin Mey
PVC and Dean, Westminster School of Media, Arts and Design, University of Westminster
“The presentation will explore research in art at the interface to other epistemological systems and approaches. Drawing on case studies, it will explore key strategies and tactical manoeuvres of knowledge making in order to explore the hermeneutics of practice led inquiry in the space of art.”

Presentations include:

“The artist in the boardroom: Action research within decision-making spaces”

“Exploring the Art space as fluid cultural site through the immediacy of the performance and its inherent collaborative ethos”

“Chapter 1 (draft): Using text in performance: a range of strategies”

“Memory and identity within Bosnia’s Mass Graves”

“Fermenting conversations”

“Arcade Interface Art Research”

“Making sounds happen is more important than careful listening (with cups)”

“Shadow:Other:myself / photographic research from 2010”

“Un-knowing unknowing in painting as research”

“Developing an artistic epistemology”

Register at: www.ars2017.eventbrite.co.uk

Our Marriages: When Lesbians Marry Gay Men 奇缘一生 —Documentary Screening and Talk with Director He Xiaopei and Dr Bao Hongwei

The Oxford Chinese Studies Society welcomes all to an exclusive screening and discussion of “Our Marriage: When Lesbians Marry Gay Men” with Director He Xiaopei and Dr Bao Hongwei.

How do gays and lesbians negotiate their social identities in postsocialist China? Are the so-called “fake marriages 形式婚姻” between them a pragmatic choice made out of social pressure or a queering act of subversion against the traditional institution of marriage? How do these phenomena tie into China’s revolutionary past and connect to Asia’s current wave of gay marriage legalisation and rising pink economy? These are the questions provoked by Dr. He Xiaopei’s documentary Our Marriage.

“The film, Our Marriage, is an exploration of the lives of four lesbians who decided to marry gay men in order to secretly pursue their relationships with their girlfriends and at the same time fulfil their families’ deep-seated desire that they get married. The sense of respect and responsibility that the marriage partners feel towards their parents, and the avoidance of social ridicule and tricky questions about their child’s sexuality, also play a large role in their decision to stage elaborate and glamorous sham ceremonies…In China, as one of the women in the documentary explained, nobody is allowed to be single. Whilst a burgeoning lesbian social scene is becoming more visible in large cities, heteronormative attitudes force people, heterosexual and homosexual alike, into marriages which they would rather avoid. Marriage can provide social acceptance, but it also gives you certain economic benefits such as access to social housing. Whilst homosexuality is not illegal in China there are no plans to introduce same sex marriage. Activists like He have argued against campaigns for same sex marriage suggesting that the institution of marriage itself should be challenged as it supports patriarchal norms and is detrimental to all people, whether they are gay, straight or bisexual.” — Kate Hawkins, Sexuality and Development Programme International Advisory Group

This event will be of interest to those of you who work on Chinese society, queer studies, film studies, as well as gender studies. The documentary is 45 minutes long, followed a brief talk on queer filmmaking and LGBT activism in China by Dr Bao Hongwei from the University of Nottingham, and then both of them will engage in audience Q & A and discussions.

Speaker biography:
Dr He Xiaopei completed a PhD at the University of Westminster in 2006, titled ‘I am AIDS: Living with the Epidemic in China’. She co-founded an NGO called the Pink Space Sexuality Research Centre in Beijing to promote sexual rights and sexual pleasure among people who are oppressed.

Dr Hongwei Bao is Assistant Professor in Media Studies at the University of Nottingham, UK. He holds a PhD in Gender Studies and Cultural Studies from the University of Sydney, Australia. His research primarily focuses on gay identity and queer politics in contemporary China. He is author of Queer Comrades: Gay Identity and Tongzhi Activism in Postsocialist China (Copenhagen: NIAS Press, forthcoming in 2018).

Rediscovered Taiwanese Film Screening with Prof. Chris Berry: Dangerous Youth 危險的青春 (1966)

2018/Feb/07 Wednesday 7-9:30PM Lecture Theatre, Lecture Theatre, China Centre, St Hugh’s College, Oxford

Supported by: Oxford Chinese Studies Society

For our third film screening event in Hilary Term, we have invited renowned Chinese film scholar, Professor Chris Berry from King’s College London, to screen one of Taiwan’s lost commercial films from the Martial Law period and discuss the relevant issues of language politics and cultural censorships with us. This event is part of the project, Taiwan’s Lost Commercial Cinema: Recovered and Restored, directed by Prof. Chris Berry and Dr. Ming-yeh Rawnsley, which includes a symposium (7 Oct 2017) and a film screening tour of old Taiwanese cinema in the UK and Europe throughout October and November 2017.

Synopsis
Shi Ying is a deliveryman for a cosmetics company. He is a womaniser and dreams of making a quick buck. He meets a romantic 20-year-old girl, Qingmei (Zheng Xiaofen), who feels trapped by her mother’s small restaurant and is eager to escape. Kueiyuan earns a commission fee by introducing Qingmei to a cabaret, run by Yuchan (Gao Xingzhi). Qingmei falls in love with Kueiyuan and sleeps with him. However, under pressure from Kueiyuan and Yuchan, Qingmei agrees to become a mistress to an old millionaire. Meanwhile, Yuchan seduces Kueiyuan and controls him with money and sex. When Qingmei discovers that she is pregnant by Kueiyuan, the latter demands an abortion. Qingmei runs away and hides. When Kueiyuan proposes marriage to Yuchan and is rejected by her, he finally realises that he is in love with Qingmei and goes out to look for her.

Commentary
‘The stark, dark social realism of this film is rendered through a modernist, even avant garde form, reminding audiences of French New Wave or early Nagisa Oshima (in particular Cruel Story of Youth, 1960): a long take of an angry young man on his motorcycle circling, its engine howling; a variety of pop songs raging on soundtrack; a montage of neon lights at urban night; composition-in-depth in conflict scenes; a daunting shot overlooking a sex act done on the floor; an open ending. Dangerous Youthremains a classic of Taiwanese cinema.’

This event will be of interest to those of you who work on Taiwanese history, Sinophone studies, translation studies, and film studies. The film is 95 minutes long and Prof. Berry will talk for around 10 minutes afterwards and we will leave plenty of time for critical dialogues, Q & A and discussions. There will be information handouts designed by Prof. Berry available on the day for all participants.

Speaker biography:

Prof Chris Berry is Professor of Film Studies at King’s College London, and his academic research is grounded in work on Chinese-language cinemas. Prof. Berry has recently served as a judge for the Golden Horse Awards 金馬獎 2017 in Taiwan. Primary publications include: (with Mary Farquhar) Cinema and the National: China on Screen (Columbia University Press and Hong Kong University Press, 2006); Postsocialist Cinema in Post-Mao China: the Cultural Revolution after the Cultural Revolution (New York: Routledge, 2004); (co-edited with Luke Robinson) Chinese Film Festivals: Sites of Translation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017); (co-edited with Koichi Iwabuchi and Eva Tsai) Routledge Handbook of East Asian Popular Culture (Routledge, 2016); (edited with Nicola Liscutin and Jonathan D. Mackintosh), Cultural Studies and Cultural Industries in Northeast Asia: What a Difference a Region Makes (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2009); and (co-edited with Feii Lu) Island on the Edge: Taiwan New Cinema and After (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2005).

They say you never forget your first love. David Acheson believes you never forget your first moment of real excitement in mathematics, either. So why not join him for an informal and off-beat look at mathematics at its very best, with a bit of romantic guitar playing thrown in for good measure.

David Acheson is an Emeritus Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, and author of the best-selling popular maths book ‘1089 and All That’, which has now been translated into 11 languages. His new book The Calculus Story was one of New Scientist’s ‘picks for Christmas’.