Science

Jim Al-Khalili

The Joy of Science
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Fri 25 Friday, 25 March 2022 See this event
Ananyo Bhattacharya Interviewed by Tim Harford

The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 10:00am Sat 26 Saturday, 26 March 2022 See this event
David Howe

Extraction to Extinction: Rethinking our Relationship with the Earth’s Natural Resources
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 2:00pm Sat 26 Saturday, 26 March 2022 See this event
Thomas Halliday

Otherlands: A World in the Making
St Cross College 2:00pm Sun 27 Sunday, 27 March 2022 See this event
Rose Anne Kenny

Age Proof: The New Science of Living a Longer and Healthier Life CANCELLED
Weston Lecture Theatre 4:00pm Sun 27 Sunday, 27 March 2022 See this event
Sharon Ruston

The Science of Life and Death in Frankenstein
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Mon 28 Monday, 28 March 2022 See this event
John Bell, Andrew Pollard, Sarah Gilbert, Teresa Lambe and Catherine Green Chaired by Nick Higham

The Race Against the Virus: A Tribute to the Oxford Vaccine Team
Sheldonian Theatre 6:00pm Mon 28 Monday, 28 March 2022 See this event
Peter Stott

Hot Air: The Inside Story of the Battle Against Climate Change Denial
St Cross College 2:00pm Tue 29 Tuesday, 29 March 2022 See this event
Carissa Veliz Interviewed by Stephen Law

Artificial Intelligence: A New Age Dawns. Just How Terrified Should We Be? CANCELLED
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Tue 29 Tuesday, 29 March 2022 See this event
Jo Willett

The Pioneering Life of Mary Wortley Montague: Scientist and Feminist
Bodleian: Divinity School 10:00am Wed 30 Wednesday, 30 March 2022 See this event
Nicholas Crane Interviewed by Nick Higham

Latitude: The True Story of the World’s First Scientific Expedition
Sheldonian Theatre 12:00pm Wed 30 Wednesday, 30 March 2022 See this event
Richard Moxon Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

Brain Fever: How Vaccines Prevent Meningitis And Other Killer Diseases
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 10:00am Thu 31 Thursday, 31 March 2022 See this event
Darren Naish

Dinopedia: A Brief Compendium of Dinosaur Lore CANCELLED
Oxford Martin School: Seminar Room 4:00pm Thu 31 Thursday, 31 March 2022 See this event
Alister McGrath, David Papineau and Christopher French Chaired by Stephen Law

Oxford Debate: Scientism, Religion, and the Limits of Reason
Oxford Martin School: Lecture Theatre 6:00pm Thu 31 Thursday, 31 March 2022 See this event
Johnjoe McFadden

Life is Simple: How Occam’s Razor Set Science Free and Unlocked the Universe
Lincoln College 12:00pm Fri 1 Friday, 1 April 2022 See this event
Martin Rees Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

On the Future: Prospects for Humanity and The End of Astronauts
Sheldonian Theatre 2:00pm Fri 1 Friday, 1 April 2022 See this event
Richard Dawkins Interviewed by Matthew Stadlen

Flights of Fancy: Defying Gravity by Design and Evolution
Sheldonian Theatre 10:00am Sun 3 Sunday, 3 April 2022 See this event
Kathryn Paige Harden

The Genetic Lottery: Why DNA Matters for Social Equality
Weston Lecture Theatre 12:00pm Sun 3 Sunday, 3 April 2022 See this event
Farhan Samanani

How To Live With Each Other: An Anthropologist’s Notes on Sharing a Divided World
Weston Lecture Theatre 2:00pm Sun 3 Sunday, 3 April 2022 See this event
Athena Aktipis

The Cheating Cell: How Evolution Helps us Understand and Treat Cancer
Blackwell’s bookshop 2:00pm Sun 3 Sunday, 3 April 2022 See this event

Festival information:

It was a privilege for me to visit the festival to receive the Bodley Medal. As an incidental blessing I saw Oxford at its most mysterious and atmospheric. It was a day of piercing cold and as I walked through the twilight from the Sheldonian to Christ Church, the streets were empty and the whole city was shutting itself away. Christ Church was silent except for the footfall of unseen persons around corners and the sounds of evensong creeping from behind closed doors. For the first time I understood thoroughly the power of college ghost stories.

I loved the whole atmosphere of the Oxford Literary Festival. From breakfast, alongside some of the attendees, who were talking books with each other a mile a minute, to the public event at The Sheldonian where everyone was lively and engaged – I felt I had arrived in a kind of literary heaven.

The Oxford Literary Festival is intellectual Viagra.

Often as an author, I only occasionally get to meet the public who buy and read my books. The Oxford Literary Festival was a special opportunity for me and certainly one of the highlights of my career – it was an honour I will never forget.

A stimulating and rewarding on-stage conversation; a lively informed and tolerant audience; privileged access to the great treasures of the Bodleian, and finally, wonderfully interesting dinner companions to help me conclude the best day I have enjoyed at any festival – anywhere.

The Oxford Literary Festival has in my mind become the leading literary festival of the year. The organisation, the roster of speakers, the ambience and the sheer quality of it all is superb. May it now go from strength to strength each year stretching its ambition more and more. I believe it will.

I came away buzzing and reassured that we still have in this century a wide ranging community fascinated not just by famous authors (I’ve rarely seen so many concentrated in one place) but by challenging ideas and questions.