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- Written by: Kamran Mofid
- Hits: 1971
Photo: shepheard-walwyn.co.uk
What was it that initially separated us from other primates?
What was different about Homo sapiens 30,000 years ago that predicated our survival and the demise of our closest rivals, the Neanderthals?
Why are we obsessed with the notion that GDP is the only possible measure of progress?
If we are able to predict our own demise, why can we not do anything to stop it?
The Gilgamesh Gene is about the human condition, and in particular what it is in our make-up that has brought us, along with most other species on earth, to the brink of extinction. Ultimately it is a question about human psychology. The author draws on the ancientEpic of Gilgamesh to shed light on our predicament and offer a way out.
The epic is the oldest narrative in existence: it tells the story of a vainglorious king, Gilgamesh, who ruled the city of Uruk in Sumer about 2750 BC. He wished to leave a lasting memory of his feats by building great palaces out of cedar wood, killing the mythical guardian of the cedar forests so that he could “stamp his fame on the minds of men forever”. Dr Russell-Jones compares the different versions of the legend and traces their influence through Bronze Age civilisations to traditions that still dominate human thinking and world affairs today.
The Gilgamesh Gene incorporates the key scientific data that underlies the science of global warming, the decline of coral reefs, and the extreme vulnerability of ecosystems everywhere to global changes in the atmosphere and the oceans. His book is a warning that humanity’s demise is imminent, unless precautions are taken.
Author Details:
Dr Russell-Jones has produced films and co-edited several seminal works on the environment, including Lead versus Health with Sir Michael Rutter FRS, Radiation and Health with Sir Richard Southwood FRS, and Ozone Depletion: health and environmental consequences with Professor Tom Wigley. He chairs an educational charity, Help Rescue the Planet, which is dedicated to minimising air pollution and mitigating climate change.
Visit Dr Russell-Jones’ website, Help Rescue the Planet.
“Robin Russell-Jones tells an epic tale that traces humankind’s apparent predisposition towards environmental destruction. He takes us from the depths of history to the present day, painting a picture rich in data and political insight. Read it before it’s too late.”- Geraint Davies MP, Council of Europe Rapporteur for fracking and air pollution
“… a remarkable mixture of political analysis and accurate scientific information on key environmental issues such as air pollution, fracking and climate change. Henceforth no politician can say they were not warned.” -Dr Charles Tannock, Conservative Member of the European Parliament for London
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- Written by: Kamran Mofid
- Hits: 5480
"Father Forgive": These two words which I discovered at the ruins of Coventry Cathedral in 1973 changed the course of my life.
This is the Story of a Boy from Iran who became a Man in Coventry
Photo: Anne Mofid
This is the story, “My Coventry Story”
Prof. Kamran Mofid
ST MICHAEL'S HOUSE, Coventry Cathedral,
11 PRIORY ROW CV1 5EX
7.00pm Wednesday 26 July 2017
My Story is My Witness: A Story of Hope, Suffering and Hope again
(With special thanks and gratitude to Revd Canon Dr. Sarah Hills, Coventry Cathedral’s Canon for Reconciliation Ministry, for her kind invitation. I also thank the Reconciliation Ministry Team at St. Michael’s House for their support.)
Prof. Mofid and Cannon Hills, St. Michael's House, Coventry Cathedral, 26 July 2017
Photo: Anne Moid
Dear Canon Hills, distinguished guests, friends, ladies and gentlemen,
Good evening. Thank you very much Canon Hills for your very kind words of welcome. It is a great pleasure for me and for my wife, Annie, to be here tonight. I feel very nostalgic about this talk, returning to Coventry Cathedral, where my journey of discovery started all those years ago in November 1973.
Indeed, it is true, life is an incredible journey of discovery. There simply is no way to know everything that will happen in life before experiencing it.
The joy of finding the ‘Coventry Cathedral Story’ has been, as I will explain shortly, very highly motivational to me. There is no fun in life if we presume to know it all. It is this journey into the unknown and finding gems of truth along the way that makes life so interesting, worthwhile and meaningful.
- Details
- Written by: Kamran Mofid
- Hits: 2947
"Father Forgive": These two words which I discovered at the ruins of Coventry Cathedral in 1973 changed the course of my life.
Photo: Anne Mofid
This is the story, “My Coventry Story”
Prof. Kamran Mofid
ST MICHAEL'S HOUSE, Coventry Cathedral,
11 PRIORY ROW CV1 5EX
7.00pm Wednesday 26 July 2017
My Story is My Witness: A Story of Hope, Suffering and Hope again
(With special thanks and gratitude to Revd Canon Dr. Sarah Hills, Coventry Cathedral’s Canon for Reconciliation Ministry, for her kind invitation. I also thank the Reconciliation Ministry Team at St. Michael’s House for their support.)
Prof. Mofid and Canon Hills, St. Michael's House, Coventry Cathedral, 26 July 2017
Photo: Anne Mofid
'...In short, looking back, I believe one experience of that day, has had a major impact on me. That was when Annie (my future wife) and I were at the ruins of the old cathedral. I saw the ruined altar, with a charred cross, a replica of the original, it's burnt blackness in startling contrast to the clean polished wood of most church crosses I had seen in Oxford or London. Then on the wall behind the altar, I noticed two words that had been carved into the red sandstone, their letters a foot high: FATHER, FORGIVE.
I asked Annie: “Who is the Father?” and “Forgive who?” She tried to the best of her ability to answer me. But, I am sure she knew that I was not getting it:
Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, All in one! Forgiving the Germans, who had just destroyed the cathedral and the city! Wow! What next?!
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