The Garrick Club is likely to hold a vote this year on changing its rules to allow female members. A Guardian investigation into those who will help decide the issue reveals a host of people in public life among its members
April 2022
Other lives
Shahrokh Vafadari obituary
Other lives: Chemical engineer who was also an expert on the Zoroastrian faith and Iranian culture
June 2020
Israel's West Bank plans condemned by leading British Jewish figures
Simon Schama and Sir Malcolm Rifkind among those warning that annexation ‘would have grave consequences’ for Palestinians
March 2020
Observer TV reviews
The week in TV: Breeders; The Trouble With Maggie Cole; Child of Our Time and more
Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard impress in Sky’s sweary parental comedy
March 2019
Brief letters
Why saddle cyclists with number plates?
Bike blog
Should cyclists be licensed and insured?
February 2018
Bike blog
Why are politicians getting away with bike lane claims based on hearsay?
Laura Laker
Laura Laker: Peers use evidence-free anecdotes and cabbie hearsay to claim cycle lanes cause congestion – shouldn’t we demand a higher standard?
January 2018
Outrage over each new education policy does nothing but harm
Richard Russell
The polarised response to the latest Ofsted report is wearing. Teachers and academics should be able to sensibly discuss new ideas, writes primary school teacher Richard Russell
November 2017
Robert Winston wins fourth Royal Society young people's book prize
TV academic’s Home Lab, a collection of scientific experiments that can be carried out at home, won over jury of young readers
July 2016
Children's books
How to make… fizzing bath bombs
Scientist Professor Robert Winston shows you how to create an exciting science experiment that will also give you a very fizzy and deliciously smelling bath time!
March 2016
Children's books
What are the best children's books on science?
From the environmental classic Dear Greenpeace to out of this world books about space, the Book Doctor celebrates science week with book choices to inspire the scientists of the future
November 2015
Children's books
Robert Winston's Utterly Amazing Science – in pictures
To celebrate winning Royal Society Young People’s Book Prize for a third time, Robert Winston shares some of the most exciting experiments and facts from his book Utterly Amazing Science
October 2015
Israel needs cultural bridges, not boycotts – letter from JK Rowling, Simon Schama and others
Letter: Cultural boycotts singling out Israel are divisive and discriminatory, and will not further peace
February 2015
Lord Winston urges MPs to support three-parent babies - video
Lord Winston urges MPs to vote in favour of three-parent babies in a free vote in the Commons on Tuesday
July 2014
Notes & Theories
Do we have the right to shape human evolution, wonders Robert Winston
Watch the IVF expert deliver the Physiological Society summer lecture, 'Shall we be human in the next century?'
June 2014
Accusation of 'white men off the telly takeover' of blue plaques panel
English Heritage has appointed a number of public figures to the panel that selects figures to be honoured by blue plaques
May 2014
Fertility treatments 'threaten our humanity', warns Robert Winston
IVF pioneer says 'we have got carried away' with advancements in reproduction and that rich may be able to pay for designer babies
February 2014
Robert Winston: Send me your IVF questions
Professor Robert Winston is Britain's best-known reproductive health expert. Now 73, he runs a pioneering research programme and is launching an online Q&A for fertility patients confused by the conflicting information available
May 2013
Open thread
Is striving for a first-class degree a waste of time?
Open thread
Open thread: Robert Winston is reported to have said he would rather employ people who didn't get firsts. Tell us what can be done with a third, or if a first is a sure sign of potential
February 2013
TV review
Child Of Our Time; Lightfields – TV review
If you're the type of parent who cries at Toy Story, beware – Child Of Our Time is heartrending, writes Tim Dowling
