Recent Events

AGM & Thinking at Twilight, May 2013

Cambridge Society of NSW — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:44:10 +0000

Cambridge alumni enjoyed Drinks & Canapes with fellow alumni & heard Bill Potter, discuss "The Needham Question: Why was Newton an Englishman and not Chinese".

From Simon Winchester's book Bomb, Book and Compass the following question arises from Joseph Needham's work: given that China was more than three hundred years ahead of the West in the development of technology, why did the scientific revolution not take place in China rather than the west? Put more succinctly, why was Newton an Englishman and not Chinese? This has become known as The Needham Question. Bill Potter explained his theories and his handout enlighted us as to the extent of Chinese invention - air-con fan, callipers, crop rotation, folding chairs & toilet paper to name a few!

Tuesday 26th February 2013, Thinking at Twilight

Cambridge Society of NSW — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 03:39:26 +0000

Alumni gathered at the Union, Universities & Schools Club to hear Michael O'Sullivan, the Director of the Cambridge Commonwealth and Overseas Trust talk about "The Next 25 Years for the Cambridge Brand". He highlighted the forces of the brand spectrum: tradition vs innovation, English vs International, undergraduate vs gradate and how all aspects are vital. Richard Dammery who heads up Cambridge Australia Scholarships & Justine Koster, CAS Administrator were also present.

Annual Christmas Drinks

Cambridge Society of NSW — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 09:59:23 +0000

This was kindly hosted by our Vice President, Christopher Dawson and extremely well attended! Committee Member Rhys Goodey spoke on 'My Idol: Dr Samuel Johnson' which provoked great discussion among the attendees.

Sunday 25th November 2012 Annual Cricket Match vs Oxford

Cambridge Society of NSW — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:34:12 +0000

Alistair Newmarch, CamSoc Committee member and organiser reports: We won! The first time in the history of the fixture (10yrs).Cambridge put Oxford into bat first. Oxford were restricted to 119 runs before being bowled out. Some fine bowling was on display from Matt Hocken, Nick Hill and Ian Greig, each taking several wickets. The teams fielding display was also exemplary (apart for Nick Hill dropping a ‘dolly’ and Richard Baily throwing a few ‘pies’). The recruitment of Daniel Vickerman (ex Wallaby) to this year’s team worked as planned, providing significant ‘physical’ presence at mid off. Cambridge’s batting was also very impressive when play resumed after a well earned water break. Luke Barnes, Greg Loveridge (who flew over from NZ), Dom Katter and Ian Greig (who both flew in from QLD) and Russell Lyons all batted finely, scoring quickly and piling pressure on the Oxford bowlers. Edward Carter scored the winning runs with 10 over’s to spare and 5 wickets in hand. Edward Mallet did a sterling job scoring at 13 man and will push hard for a starting spot in the 2013 fixture. Both teams would like to thanks Middletons for sponsoring the event. A great day was had by all.

Friday 5 October 2012 Annual Golf Match vs Oxford

Cambridge Society of NSW — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 00:21:43 +0000

Unfortunately Oxford were aagin unable to field a team against the 6 Cambridge Society players. So it was decided to have an individual stableford event among the 9 players. Charles Thorburn (Oxford) finally ended the series of Cambridge triumphs with a score of 35 points and afterward drinks and an excellent meal were enjoyed at Royal Sydney Golf Club. The course was in excellent condition and the atmosphere in the Clubhouse was conivial as usual. Thanks to Peter Young for again organising this event.

9 August 2012 Pre-Concert Function Clare Choir Tour

Cambridge Society of NSW — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 23:32:30 +0000

The Clare College Choir in conjunction with the Australian Chamber Orchestra toured Australia’s main capital cities in August 2012 with the support of former Clare alumnus, Daryl Dixon. The program included a stirring rendition of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. On Thursday 9th August they were performing at the Sydney Opera House. Prior the performance, the Society hosted a pre-concert buffet dinner with guest speaker, Anthony John "Tony" Badger the Paul Mellon Professor of American History and Master of Clare College. There were over 70 people attending and Tony spoke on the perils of being a Cambridge College Master ranging from a group Japanese tourists asking for a tour of the Master’s Lodge on Christmas Day to the fatal moment when the Fellows ask to paint your portrait. This is regarded as the tell-tale evidence that the Fellows consider it is time to elect a new Master. Tony also reminded the audience he had played college rugby with the current President (Sidney Sussex ca. 1966) and his final year captained the worst performing rugby team Sidney has produced since WWII prompting the comment from a long suffering spectator that at least we won the war. During question time he made a number of interesting observations about the upcoming US election and the parlous state of American politics. It was great evening followed by a brilliant concert performance.

26 July 2012 Annual Winterfeast

Cambridge Society of NSW — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 23:13:13 +0000

Nearly 100 people attended the Annual Winterfeast at the Royal Sydney Golf Club. Given the upcoming London Olympics it was decided that this year's dinner should have a sporting flavour. The guest speaker was Dan Vickerman, (Hughes Hall 2008) captain of the winning 2009 Varsity Rugby team (underdogs before the match but eventually winning 31-27). Dan gave an excellent talk contrasting his experiences as a Wallaby with playing rugby for Cambridge. His final match prior to arriving at Cambridge was in front of 66,000 South African fans at Kings Park, Durban. His next match was on a windswept and wet Grange Road where he said the substitutes outnumbered the spectators! A toast was made to the future Olympians and it eventuated that three people at the dinner were past Olympians! Finally a bottle of champagne was given to Mary Cahill and Richard Bailey, who first met at last year's Winterfeast and have since become engaged. Congratulations and best wishes to Mary and Richard.

24 May 2012 Thinking at Twilight Seminar #2

Cambridge Society of NSW — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 23:04:01 +0000

Over 50 people attended the second Thinking at Twilight Seminar which was held following the Annual General Meeting of the Society. Paul E. Griffiths gave an excellent talk on "Truth & Evolution: Why Turtles Lay Eggs". Paul (Trinity Hall - 1984) is currently the University Professorial Research Fellow at the Department of Philosophy of the University of Sydney.

29 March 2012 Thinking at Twilight Seminar #1

Cambridge Society of NSW — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 23:25:14 +0000

Einstein’s Greatest Blunder or Is life on Earth due to a quirk in the laws of physics?

Thinking at Twilight is a new innovation for the Cambridge Society of NSW. The intention is to have around three evening talks a year given by a Cambridge Alumni followed by networking. Our first event was given by Professor John Webb (PhD Cambridge) who is a professor of Astrophysics at the University of New South Wales. He has published more than 150 research articles and has appeared on many radio and TV science programs, including "Lateline" with Tony Jones and most recently Discovery Channel’s "Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman". Over 30 people attended the inaugral event and enough praise was given ("stimulating, correct level for the audience") to ensure that the events will continue

3 March 2012 Annual Summer Garden Party

Cambridge Society of NSW — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 23:20:02 +0000

Following last year's successful event Emily Baxter again arranged to start the year off with a Summer Garder Party in the garden court of Sancta Sophia College at the University of Sydney. Due to La Nina the event was postponed one week to ensure that we had indoor backup. This turned out to be a perspicacious move. During the week it rained heavily and while the Saturday evening was fine the grounds were not. So the 50 or so guests who attendend retreated to the Common Room and indulged themselves in wine and canapes listening to the string trio. A good night and again well organised by Emily. Unfortunately Emily is on the move to Singapore and we wish her good fortune