A man and his merits

One of the privileges of the job is getting to meet and talk to some remarkable people. This is Sir Michael Atiyah, who is a member of our advisory board and currently the oldest  (and most longstanding) member of the Order of Merit. Here he is standing in front of his photographs of the OM at their periodic lunches with the Queen - all signed by the Queen of course.

I've mentioned him before on blip. Two years on (i.e. pushing 87...) he's as busy and active as ever.

After that, it was back to work, which included a seminar on John Duns Scotus (whose existence prompted someone recently to describe David Hume as Berwickshire's second greatest philosopher...), an introduction to using the wordpress blogging platform, and then a book presentation (about Franklin and arctic disasters). Finally, I had dinner with an old friend who is currently a fellow at the institute.

A typically varied day, you could say.