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2007: Manchester

Celebrating our sixtieth anniversary

University of Manchester, UK

Thursday 28 June - Sunday 1 July 2007

The BSHS celebrated its sixtieth anniversary in fine style with this meeting, the largest ever to be organised in the name of the Society alone. Over three full days and three nights, no less than a hundred papers, plenary addresses, special events and visits were enjoyed by over 180 attendees from across the world.

BSHS 2007: the movie!

A collection of some of our favourite moments from the conference. (If the embedded Youtube video above fails to display, you can open this video on a new page.

More news from the conference

  • Our sixtieth-anniversary competition was won by Aileen Fyfe of NUI Galway, who submitted the first correct solution to the mystery. If you missed the conference, or had your mind on higher things during the event, you can download The Forty-Seven: a mystery in scientific communication here (pdf format) and try your luck. For those who confess themselves puzzled, we have made available a key to the mystery which makes the solution clear (don't be tempted...) Please send any queries to forty-seven [at] bshs [dot] org [dot] uk.
  • Death and the City, the role-playing history of medicine exercise trialled at the conference by the BSHS Strolling Players for the Outreach and Education Committee, was enacted for schools groups at the BA Festival of Science in York in September 2007. Further performances and similar events are planned...
  • The Manchester Urban Walk, for which many participants defied the adverse weather on Saturday afternoon, will be running again with volunteers from CHSTM as part of the Manchester Science Festival in October.

Organisation

Local organisers (Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine, University of Manchester): Michael Worboys (Director), Carsten Timmermann, James Sumner, John Pickstone, David Kirby, Jeff Hughes, Aya Homei, Vanessa Heggie

BSHS Programmes Committee: Sally Horrocks (Chair), Vicky Blake, Sabine Clarke, Gowan Dawson, Fern Elsdon-Baker, Andy Hammond, Frank James, Josipa Petrunic, James Sumner

Local assistance and stewarding: Jo Baines, Holly Ennis, Laura Gaither, Val Harrington, Lizzie Hayes, Katherine Lane-Serff, Tom Lean, Ray Macauley, Paul Marshall, Ian Miller, Chris Plumb, Melissa Smith

Conference co-ordinators: Fern Elsdon-Baker (BSHS Programmes), James Sumner (CHSTM)

Acknowledgments

Administrative assistance: Philip Crane (BSHS Executive Secretary), Gill Mawson (CHSTM Secretary)

Museum of Science and Industry liaison: Laurie Graham, Ian Griffin and Robin Holgate

Manchester Museum liaison: Sam Alberti and Anna Davey

Venue management, Hulme Hall: Chris Shuff, Liz McIlroy and Matt Foulkes

Guest speakers: Ian Morison (Jodrell Bank Observatory), Brian Cox (Sunshine)

Second-hand bookstall: Sharston Books

BSHS Strolling Players: Terence Banks, Mike Brown, Sabine Clarke, Fern Elsdon-Baker, Melanie Keene, Tom Lean and James Sumner

Cake: Jill Marshall