Matthew Cobb
@matthewcobb.bsky.social
Professor Emeritus (University of Manchester), writes on biology, history of science & French Resistance. Biography of Francis Crick, out in Nov 2025.
Link to publications: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8258-4913
Link to publications: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8258-4913
@adamroberts.bsky.social did you see this interview with David Szalay in The Observer? Not sure if it has 'long been a source of speculation' but you nailed it!
November 16, 2025 at 5:34 PM
@adamroberts.bsky.social did you see this interview with David Szalay in The Observer? Not sure if it has 'long been a source of speculation' but you nailed it!
My attempt at Deightoning
November 16, 2025 at 12:48 PM
My attempt at Deightoning
Len Deighton, the king of cool, apparently the first author to use a word processor (the thing that takes up the right side of the photo), working on his novel BOMBER with cutaway images of a Ju88 and (?) a Beaufort.
November 16, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Len Deighton, the king of cool, apparently the first author to use a word processor (the thing that takes up the right side of the photo), working on his novel BOMBER with cutaway images of a Ju88 and (?) a Beaufort.
Getting ready for my talk; I can never remember names. Here are two names I want to remember. Your starter for 10: why?
November 13, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Getting ready for my talk; I can never remember names. Here are two names I want to remember. Your starter for 10: why?
If you like mind-bending, gut-wrenching books, this is for you. But not for the faint-hearted. I’d be interested in the opinion of @adamroberts.bsky.social.
November 12, 2025 at 5:12 PM
If you like mind-bending, gut-wrenching books, this is for you. But not for the faint-hearted. I’d be interested in the opinion of @adamroberts.bsky.social.
You wouldn’t think two pages consisting virtually entirely of redacted text would be powerful but I assure you it is. From @qntm.org’s THERE IS NO ANTIMEMETICS DIVISION.
November 12, 2025 at 2:11 PM
You wouldn’t think two pages consisting virtually entirely of redacted text would be powerful but I assure you it is. From @qntm.org’s THERE IS NO ANTIMEMETICS DIVISION.
Half way through this by qntm. Very disturbing and claustrophobic, and very well written. Urgggh.
November 11, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Half way through this by qntm. Very disturbing and claustrophobic, and very well written. Urgggh.
Happy US publication day to CRICK, from @basicbooksgroup.bsky.social Different cover, shorter title, same content!
November 11, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Happy US publication day to CRICK, from @basicbooksgroup.bsky.social Different cover, shorter title, same content!
Xmas shop display of Bethlehem in Coronation Street at The Curious Fox, Beech Rd, Chorlton. All made by Stewart, the co-owner. Zoom in for the details.
November 10, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Xmas shop display of Bethlehem in Coronation Street at The Curious Fox, Beech Rd, Chorlton. All made by Stewart, the co-owner. Zoom in for the details.
You may recall a post about an upcoming Crickiana auction. Here are the results. The 'diaries' are in fact lab notebooks from his first PhD, on 'the most boring subject in the world' (the viscosity of water under pressure) which he abandoned when he was conscripted in 1940.
November 10, 2025 at 9:50 AM
You may recall a post about an upcoming Crickiana auction. Here are the results. The 'diaries' are in fact lab notebooks from his first PhD, on 'the most boring subject in the world' (the viscosity of water under pressure) which he abandoned when he was conscripted in 1940.
These brave men. The end of Scott’s last expedition. Read these diary entries; they will sober you up.
November 8, 2025 at 11:22 AM
These brave men. The end of Scott’s last expedition. Read these diary entries; they will sober you up.
Grifters gonna grift.
From the fabulous Polar Museum in Cambridge.
From the fabulous Polar Museum in Cambridge.
November 8, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Grifters gonna grift.
From the fabulous Polar Museum in Cambridge.
From the fabulous Polar Museum in Cambridge.
To the memory of the good Jim. From the RAF bar of the Eagle which is where they used to drink.
November 7, 2025 at 8:15 PM
To the memory of the good Jim. From the RAF bar of the Eagle which is where they used to drink.
Terrific day @mrclmb.bsky.social - tea, lovely homemade cakes, chats with young and old, signed and sold all the copies of my book (32! should have brought more) and had a lovely time giving a talk about Francis Crick. Thanks to all, especially Shahana Ahmed who organised it all and made the cakes!
November 7, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Terrific day @mrclmb.bsky.social - tea, lovely homemade cakes, chats with young and old, signed and sold all the copies of my book (32! should have brought more) and had a lovely time giving a talk about Francis Crick. Thanks to all, especially Shahana Ahmed who organised it all and made the cakes!
The opening paragraph to Crick’s thesis - about protein structure - from July 1953. Ok, he was 37, but even so the writing is so clear. Those last two sentences effectively set out a global research programme that would last decades.
November 6, 2025 at 8:34 AM
The opening paragraph to Crick’s thesis - about protein structure - from July 1953. Ok, he was 37, but even so the writing is so clear. Those last two sentences effectively set out a global research programme that would last decades.
UK publication day for this wrist-spraining beauty! Appropriately, I’m travelling to Cambridge, where I’m doing a book launch talk at the LMB tomorrow afternoon.
November 6, 2025 at 6:26 AM
UK publication day for this wrist-spraining beauty! Appropriately, I’m travelling to Cambridge, where I’m doing a book launch talk at the LMB tomorrow afternoon.
The draft of the never-completed 'Scale' book included a poem that Crick composed in the bath, about the Moon and Earth seen from the point of view of a lunar colonist who lived on the far side. Here is the beginning and the end.
November 5, 2025 at 6:17 PM
The draft of the never-completed 'Scale' book included a poem that Crick composed in the bath, about the Moon and Earth seen from the point of view of a lunar colonist who lived on the far side. Here is the beginning and the end.
Crick bemoaning (to children) the absence of a poetry of the vast gulfs of space.
November 5, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Crick bemoaning (to children) the absence of a poetry of the vast gulfs of space.
Draft of part of Crick's planned children's book on 'scale' (1975).
November 5, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Draft of part of Crick's planned children's book on 'scale' (1975).
Some good guessing here. The announcement was made two days later…
November 5, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Some good guessing here. The announcement was made two days later…
Fun fact: 'pedigree' comes from 'pied de grue' - 'crane's foot' - because of the way that early pedigrees were drawn.
November 5, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Fun fact: 'pedigree' comes from 'pied de grue' - 'crane's foot' - because of the way that early pedigrees were drawn.
Brenner's copy of a New Yorker cartoon that was repeatedly moved around various noticeboards (note the pin holes)
November 4, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Brenner's copy of a New Yorker cartoon that was repeatedly moved around various noticeboards (note the pin holes)