There is a real challenge for materials scientists and engineers to understand how their expertise and professional practices can affect environmental performance and contribute towards more sustainable outcomes. In many cases the apparent solutions to solving one environmental impact can increased impacts in another part of the product life cycle or perhaps in another impact category. So how can we make informed decisions in materials selection and new material developments to ensure that progress and solutions are heading in the right direction.

Bach is often praised by scientists for the intricate structures and symmetries in his music. He wrote more than 200 cantatas, a collection of vocal works which explore questions of faith, time and eternity. Taking inspiration from Douglas Adams’ quote that ‘Bach tells you what it’s like to be the universe’, this unusual series from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and The Institute of Physics at Kings Place swaps metaphysics for physics to celebrate extraordinary universe and the music of Bach with some of Britain’s brightest scientists.

The Friends of Senate House Library present their annual Holden Lecture with speaker Dr Julia Walworth, Fellow Librarian of Merton College, University of Oxford.