Oxbridge Croquet Day, Sunday 2 April 2017

Juan Roberson (Oxford) again kindly organised Croquet for beginners and those with experience at Cammeray Croquet Club. He sent the following report: Finally, after five years (!), we had an Oxford vs Cambridge match…!! In spite of some inclement weather we had an enthusiastic turnout of some 20 players - including a dozen complete novices. Across the five years, this now brings us to a total of just over 100 attendances (80 Oxford / 20 Cambridge) - and allowing for those who have come on several occasions, this equates to 70 different individuals who have either learned the game or re-ignited their interest in it. Following our 2016 format, we had some coaching and informal games in the morning, a sociable lunch break, followed by a friendly tournament in the afternoon. This year we had 16 in the tournament which we played as two blocks of 4 pairs for a round robin - each pair guaranteed three games. The winners of each block played off in a final, the runners up played for 3rd and 4th place. The Final was an epic match with every hoop keenly contested (and each one over many minutes...!) as the cat and mouse tactics swung the advantage to and fro between the pairs. Eventually, at 3 hoops all, the Light Blues (Andrew and Martin) succumbed to the Dark Blues (Robin and Robert) at the last hoop - played right in front of the spectators in the clubhouse. So it finished Oxford 4 : Cambridge 3. A memorable match and hopefully just the first of many such tight tussles in the future. In the play off for the bronze (a novice foursome!), Misako and Ashley (4) defeated Pramod and Asad (2). A good (if occasionally damp) day was had by all and once again thanks to Julian for donating the prizes of some fine bottles of wine for the winners and runners up and to our coaches and mentors this year Michael and David. Look forward to seeing you all again next year….. Juan

Thinking at Twilight, 8 March 2017

Dr Luke Barnes, a research astronomer, keen cricketer and speaker at Vivid, and Professor Geraint Lewis, cosmologist and galactic archaeologist, both Cambridge alumni. The planets, stars and galaxies that fill the night sky obey elegant mathematical patterns: the laws of nature. Why does our Universe obey these particular laws? As a clue to answering this question, scientists have asked a related question: what if the laws were slightly different? What if it had begun with more matter, had heavier particles, or space had four dimensions?

In the last 30 years, scientists have discovered something astounding: the vast majority of these changes are disastrous. We end up with a universe containing no galaxies, no stars, no planets, no atoms, no molecules, and most importantly, no intelligent life-forms wondering what went wrong. This is called the fine-tuning of the universe for life. After explaining the science of what happens when you change the way our universe works, we ask: what does all this mean?

CamSoc NSW Christmas Drinks with guest speaker, Thursday 15 December 2016

Over 40 members and guests attended the 2016 Cambridge Society of NSW Christmas Drinks with guest speaker Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Harcourt AO, Emeritus Reader in The History of Economic Theory, Cambridge, 1998. He spoke about the ABC of G&T (government expenditure and taxation, not gin and tonic!); a serious theme about which our speaker feels strongly, heard his views on our and other countries’ treasurers and politicians. G.C. Harcourt was born in Melbourne in 1931. He is a graduate of Melbourne University (B.Com. Hons. 1954, M.Com. 1956) and of Cambridge University (PhD 1960, LittD 1988). He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia (F.A.S.S.A.) (1971), an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AO) ‘for service to economic theory and to the history of economic thought’ (1994), Distinguished Fellow, Economic Society of Australia (1996), Fellow of the Academy of Learned Societies for the Social Sciences (FAcSS) (2003), Distinguished Fellow, History of Economic Society, USA (2004), Honorary Member, European Society for the History of Economic Thought (2004), Veblen-Commons Award of the Association for Evolutionary Economics, USA (2010), Distinguished Fellow, History of Economic Thought Society of Australia (2012), Distinguished Alumni Award of the University of Adelaide (2015), Fello w of the Royal Society of New South Wales (FRSN) (2016). He is Professor Emeritus of the University of A delaide (1988), Emeritus Reader in the History of Economic Theory, Cambridge University (1998), Emeritus Fellow, Jesus College, Cambridge (1998), and Visiting Professorial Fellow, UNSW Australia (2010–2019). He has authored or edited 30 books, and published over 400 articles, review articles, chapters in books, and reviews.

Golf vs Oxford, Sunday 20 November 2016

The Eighth Annual Golf Match versus Oxford took place on Sunday 20 November at Manly, organised by Chris Golis. Peter Buchen and Chris Golis represented Cambridge and won 61-58.

CamSoc NSW Drinks & Trivia, Wednesday 9 November 2016

On a wet evening, the day Americans voted for President Trump, CamSoc NSW committee members Gautham Srivinas and Alex Palmer hosted the inaugural CamSoc NSW Drinks and Trivia at the Lord Dudley Hotel. With Oxford alumni also in attendance the evening was a great success and there are plans for a repeat in 2017.