A Level

A century of biochemistry

Science is usually taught in school as three separate subjects, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. It may seem that they are three distinct areas of study. In the real world of scientific research, the boundaries are often blurred as shown in the two discoveries celebrated here. Chemicals of Life Until the… Read More

Fresh perspectives on A-level Biology

What are these articles for?  You will be hard pressed to find much in any of the A-level specifications which relate to an extensive knowledge about Tetrapod evolution!  There are other considerations however.  This series of articles introduces material which certainly is within the A-level cannon and in a context… Read More

The rise of the single life and solo living

In the last 20-30 years sociologists have been interested in looking at the changing shape of the family such as the increase in single parents, cohabiting couples, same sex relationships and reconstituted families, but there seems to be another type of household and way of life on the rise; that… Read More

Analysing monogamy and the rise of polyamory

Louis Theroux’s most recent BBC documentary on polyamory: ‘Altered states: Love without limits’ has got the general public and the sociological world talking. Polygamy, polyamory or non-monogamous relationships in general have long been considered to be structures that are confined to the past or in parts of the non-western world,… Read More

12 influential and inspirational films for Sociology students

It has never been easier to consume media and in particular TV series and documentaries, in a time of binge-watching though I am often asked by students for advice on actual films to watch rather than just series, in particular films that are both inspirational and useful for Sociology. So,… Read More

The 2018 Nobel Prize for Chemistry

The study of living organisms is biology, but the processes of life are carried out in cells by molecules. The study of those molecules and their reactions is a branch of chemistry called biochemistry. The 2018 Nobel Prize for Chemistry has been awarded to scientists who have speeded up evolution… Read More

When fish wore armour

Armour was all the fashion of the day in the Silurian and Devonian periods and is particularly associated with a group of heavily armoured fish, the Placoderms. This group of highly successful animals lived from early Silurian through to the end of the Devonian (443.8 – 358.9 Ma ago). In… Read More

Getting discussions and debates flowing with new students

If you are like me then following the well-earned summer break you return to teaching in September and feel like you have forgotten everything from how to explain an idea to how to write on a whiteboard and that comes after forgetting all your passwords and how to log in… Read More

Fritz Haber’s Nobel Prize

In the autumn of 1918 the First World War was at last approaching an end. In neutral Sweden the committee for the Nobel Prize for Chemistry met.  As in 1916 and 1917 they decided that there had been no discovery that “conferred the greatest benefit on mankind” so did not… Read More