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Q8: What Would It Take for Us to Truly ‘Value’ Nature?
What Would It Take for Us to Truly ‘Value’ Nature? Not ‘admire’ or ‘like’ – but truly value. This tree, this hill, the sky, the sea. Can we see their value the way a CEO sees value on a balance sheet? When’s the last time you heard someone say, “You know what… nature is valuable”?…
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Maxwell Knight the Amateur Naturalist – Remembering a Lecture by Prof. John E. Cooper
Introduction In a compelling lecture at the Maxwell Knight Commemorative Symposium, Professor John E. Cooper delved into the captivating world of Maxwell Knight, known to many as a WW2 MI5 spymaster and agent handler, but equally significant (especially to John Cooper) as a pioneering amateur naturalist. Held on 24th November 2018 at Birkbeck College, London,…
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Echoes of the Past: Learning Conservation from Maxwell Knight
What can a spy teach us about nature? In the echoes of history, we often find timeless wisdom. This is particularly true when we revisit the legacy of Maxwell Knight OBE, the legendary ‘Nature Detective’ and MI5 spymaster. Knight, a figure who intriguingly straddled the worlds of espionage and natural history, left behind a legacy…
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3 – “The Four (Changing) Seasons”
Simon, John and Margaret’s theme for today’s podcast is “The Four (Changing) Seasons”. They take a look at spring in terms of natural history – referring to Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” – and then discuss the ever-present art and science connection. But first, we discuss the increasing numbers of FFON readers and contributors. Blogs we refer…
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1 – It’s a great time to be an ‘Armchair Naturalist’
Episode notes: Simon, John and Margaret launch The ‘Armchair Naturalists’ podcast and discuss the art and science of natural history, and they encourage everyone to get involved and explore the natural world – even if that’s only possible from the comfort of an armchair. Please visit http://www.ffon.co.uk to find out more about our ‘Armchair Naturalists’…
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Maxwell Knight Symposium coverage in the IAT Bulletin
Thanks for the generous coverage of the MaxwellKnight Symposium in the IAT Bulletin.
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“The mysterious Mr Knight: spymaster to be celebrated.” – Cage & Aviary Birds magazine July 18.
Thanks, Cage & Aviary Birds for the article “The Mysterious Mr Knight: spymaster to be celebrated” in this week’s publication. Registration for the Maxwell Knight Symposium is via The British Herpetological Society website Organised by the British Herpetological Society (BHS), with support from the British Chelonia Group (BCG), the Amateur Entomologists Society (AES), the Institute…
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LATEST NEWS: Venue/date confirmed for Maxwell Knight Symposium
Latest news 28/6/2018: Birkbeck College (“School of Arts’ annex”) is now confirmed as the venue for the Maxwell Knight Symposium. Further details about the Maxwell Knight Symposium can be found here. John and Margaret Cooper.
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Chapter IV – goodbye to wildlife?
In this heartfelt chapter of The Frightened Face of Nature, Maxwell Knight drops his guard and invites the reader to consider the unthinkable – “the virtual disappearance of nature”. “Does such a question as that heading this chapter stem from the neurotic imaginings of a fanatic,” he asks, “or is it one that can reasonably be…
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M’s (Maxwell Knight) Spectre: The Frightened Face of Nature
During the 1960s Maxwell Knight – the real-life “M” – was working on a manuscript entitled The Frightened Face of Nature, snatching brief moments to record his thoughts on how man had treated nature so unfairly for the first fifty years of the twentieth century. The manuscript documented Knight’s greatest fears that, time was running…
