Dr Amy Milton from Cambridge’s Department of Psychology relates how Requiem for a Dream, Hubert Selby’s bleak portrayal of drug addiction, motivated her to dedicate her academic career to finding treatments for addiction.Here she talks about

Novel Thoughts #7: Carol Brayne on Charles Dickens and George Eliot

Jun 3rd, 2015 4m 3s

Having decided to become a doctor at the age of 10, Professor Carol Brayne’s love of the novels of Charles Dickens and George Eliot fired up her determination to tackle social inequalities in healthcare. Today she is Director of the Cambridge I

Novel Thoughts #6: Guy Pearson on Thomas Hardy’s Under the Greenwood Tree

Jun 3rd, 2015 3m 44s

A PhD student in cell biology at the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, Guy Pearson draws a link between the pursuit of Fancy Day in Thomas Hardy’s Under the Greenwood Tree and the pursuit of scientific discovery.Here he talks about th

Novel Thoughts #5: Juliet Foster on Susan Fromberg Schaeffer's The Madness of a Seduced Woman

Jun 3rd, 2015 3m 57s

Dr Juliet Foster’s ongoing fascination with the portrayal of mental illness in literature was triggered by reading The Madness of a Seduced Woman by Susan Fromberg Schaeffer. Today she carries out research in Cambridge’s Department of Psycholog

Novel Thoughts #4: Simon Redfern on Chinghiz Aitmatov's Jamila

Jun 3rd, 2015 3m 38s

As a mineral scientist, Professor Simon Redfern from Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences travels widely, and likes his visits to be about more than just the rocks. A recent trip to Kazakhstan was enlivened by reading Jamila by Chinghiz Ai

Novel Thoughts #3: Karen Yu on George Lucas' Star Wars

Jun 3rd, 2015 3m 20s

Karen Yu’s growing love of science as a young girl was galvanised by reading the novelisation of the Star Wars movies (Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker by George Lucas). Her desire to build her own fusion reactor eventually morp

Novel Thoughts #2: Clare Bryant on AS Byatt’s Possession

Jun 3rd, 2015 2m 32s

Professor Clare Bryant from Cambridge’s Department of Veterinary Medicine explains how reading AS Byatt’s Possession at a crucial point in her early career reminded her of the excitement of research and persuaded her not to turn her back on her

Novel Thoughts #1: Paul Coxon on Jan Wahl's SOS Bobmobile

Jun 3rd, 2015 2m 51s

As a child, Dr Paul Coxon from Cambridge’s Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, was fascinated by the madcap inventions of the boy hero in Jan Wahl’s SOS Bobmobile (illustrated by Fernando Krahn) – and he still likes to tinker with

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