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Peter Forbes

@heliconiuscydno.bsky.social
388 followers 1.1K following 178 posts
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Last place on Narrative Non-Fiction at City St George’s starting Oct 6: “Terrific teacher! Encouraging, practical, demystifying and lots of specific feedback” (recent student) www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-...
citystgeorges.ac.uk
Non-Fiction Writing Course | City St George's, University of London
This Narrative Non-fiction Writing online evening short course supports you in writing non-fiction, from biographies to memoirs or travel writing blogs.
000
Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
City St George’s Narrative Non-Fiction alumnus Edward Morgan: Chasing Mallory's Dream: “a gripping book, full of flawed characters and philosophical questions” (Country Life) www.amazon.co.uk/Chasing-Mall... Course with a great publication record starts Oct 6 www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-...
amazon.co.uk
Chasing Mallory's Dream: The Race Between Britain and Germany to Climb the Himalayan Peaks: Amazon.co.uk: Morgan, Edward: 9781851246618: Books
Buy Chasing Mallory's Dream: The Race Between Britain and Germany to Climb the Himalayan Peaks by Morgan, Edward (ISBN: 9781851246618) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery o...
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Just published by City St George’s Narrative Non-Fiction alumnus Edward Morgan: Chasing Mallory's Dream www.amazon.co.uk/Chasing-Mall... Join the class (starts Oct 6) with a great publication record: www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-...
amazon.co.uk
Chasing Mallory's Dream: The Race Between Britain and Germany to Climb the Himalayan Peaks: Amazon.co.uk: Morgan, Edward: 9781851246618: Books
Buy Chasing Mallory's Dream: The Race Between Britain and Germany to Climb the Himalayan Peaks by Morgan, Edward (ISBN: 9781851246618) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery o...
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
With a terrific record of publishing success, Narrative Non-Fiction at City St George’s is the course to take. Book by Aug 31 and save £45: “Terrific teacher! Encouraging, practical, demystifying and lots of specific feedback” (recent student) www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-...
citystgeorges.ac.uk
Non-Fiction Writing Course | City St George's, University of London
This Narrative Non-fiction Writing online evening short course supports you in writing non-fiction, from biographies to memoirs or travel writing blogs.
000
Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Book by Aug 31 and save £45 on my Narrative Non-Fiction course at City St George’s: “Terrific teacher! Encouraging, practical, demystifying and lots of specific feedback” (recent student) www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-...
citystgeorges.ac.uk
Non-Fiction Writing Course | City St George's, University of London
This Narrative Non-fiction Writing online evening short course supports you in writing non-fiction, from biographies to memoirs or travel writing blogs.
000
Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
City St George’s Narrative Non-Fiction course starts Tuesday 6 October: “The diversity of the group was fantastic for challenging and extending my own writing.” (recent student). Book before August 31 for a £40 discount. www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-...
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Reposted by Peter Forbes
New Humanist @newhumanist.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
In the world of culture, @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social seeks a revival of the artistic energy of the 1990s, @keithkahnharris.bsky.social asks if metalheads could save the world, and @samiraahmeduk.bsky.social explores Gen Z’s love of analogue.
newhumanist.org.uk
How to fight hate: New Humanist’s Autumn 2026 issue is out now
With race riots on the rise and the populist right gaining traction, we ask how the UK can push back
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
For me, there was a place where all the strands of ’90s optimism came together, in the projected King’s Cross Knowledge Quarter.
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Biology and technology teamed up in the 1990s - what happened next? My article Painting the World in the Autumn New Humanist, out now.
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
The 1990s was a time or cross disciplinary creativity in biomorphic architecture, biomimetic materials, witty design. The King’s Cross Knowledge Quarter, then building, exemplified all this. What happened?
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
There's a gigantic arena of action inside every living cell, despite the whole cell being a thousand times beneath human vision. Thinking Small and Large www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKW4... www.amazon.co.uk/Thinking-Sma...
youtube.com
Inner Life Of A Cell - Full Version.mkv
YouTube video by selcon82
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
The 1990s was a time or cross disciplinary creativity in biomorphic architecture, biomimetic materials, elegant and witty design. The King’s Cross Knowledge Quarter, then building, exemplified all this. What happened? Read my longform ‘Painting the World’, in New Humanist tomorrow, Aug 20.
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Reposted by Peter Forbes
New Humanist @newhumanist.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
How To Fight Hate. Our new issue is out this week! Featuring: 🎤 Stewart Lee on comedy and cruelty ⛪️ Former archbishop Rowan Williams on Christian nationalism 🌱 Caroline Lucas on a new vision for England And much more. Subscribe now to get it as soon as it lands: newhumanist.org.uk/subscribe/
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
My ‘Painting the World’, out in the Autumn New Humanist on Thursday, parallels Jill Lepore’s Guardian Long Read on the history of IT: “Things could have turned out differently. my piece makes the same point re 30 years of the Knowledge Quarter at Kings Cross. www.theguardian.com/news/2026/au...
theguardian.com
Democracy v the machine: the birth of the digital age and the warnings that were ignored
The long read: Many hoped that the march of technology would usher in a utopia – but some foresaw the threat it would pose to liberal society. Why did nobody listen?
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
We encounter some strange twists in our arms races with dangerous situations. After decades of research into micro air vehicles as small as insects, packed with nanoelectronics, we're now strapping the electronics to the back of a real live cockroach. medium.com/p/1826d12a79...
medium.com
Medium
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
If you've heard about that AI-developed virus you should know that the organism is a very special kind of virus called a bacteriophage and that this is what AI was made for: www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
theguardian.com
Science funding and unnecessary fear | Letters
Letters: Prof Stephen Blundell on the plight of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, and Peter Forbes on bacteriophages and AI
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Coverage of Stanford University’s AI breakthrough calls the organism a “virus”. This is misleading. It's a bacteriophage (or phage): the natural enemies of bacteria used in medicine for over 100 years. For a backgrounder read my 2019 piece. newhumanist.org.uk/articles/tur... I’ll be updating.
newhumanist.org.uk
Turning the phage: a new front in the war on antibiotic resistance
Long overlooked in the West, could bacteriophages be the secret weapon in tackling our growing resistance to antibiotics?
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Reposted by Peter Forbes
Stefano Palminteri @stepalminteri.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
What keeps us posting on social media? [@georgiaturner.bsky.social, Gunschera, Subrahmanya, Salecha, Eichstaedt, Me & @orbenamy.bsky.social] www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Why do we keep posting on social media, when the cognitive processes behind ordinary posting have been so hard to measure? We adapted a model from the animal reward-learning literature and fit it to real posting histories from thousands of Twitter/X users, including a preregistered replication. Posting is best explained by a blend of goal-directed reward learning and habit, and the balance between them shifts with how often people post and with who they are.
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
A terrific piece in a very good journal from one of my alumni on the City St George’s Narrative Non-Fiction course. www.elsewhere-journal.com/the-end-of-t... Book before August 31 for a £40 discount. www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-...
elsewhere-journal.com
All shall be well — Elsewhere: A Journal of Place
By Alice Kent Out here in the edgeland, borderland, hinterland, whatever you choose to call it, I came to realise the problem: nobody could hear us scream.
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
City St George’s Narrative Non-Fiction. New course starts Tuesday 6 October: “The diversity of the group was fantastic for challenging and extending my own writing.” (recent student). Book before August 31 for a £40 discount. www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-...
citystgeorges.ac.uk
Non-Fiction Writing Course | City St George's, University of London
This Narrative Non-fiction Writing online evening short course supports you in writing non-fiction, from biographies to memoirs or travel writing blogs.
100
Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
City St George’s Narrative Non-Fiction. New course starts Tuesday 6 October: “It was a real joy getting to work alongside people from all over the world" (recent student). Book before August 31 for a £40 discount. www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-...
citystgeorges.ac.uk
Non-Fiction Writing Course | City St George's, University of London
This Narrative Non-fiction Writing online evening short course supports you in writing non-fiction, from biographies to memoirs or travel writing blogs.
000
Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
What is the connection between Paul McCartney and the great academic guardian of English Literature F. R. Leavis? heliconiuscydno.medium.com/scanning-pau...
heliconiuscydno.medium.com
Scanning Paul McCartney
I once met Paul McCartney. It was a party on 10 September, 1997, held in a Mexican restaurant in the heart of Soho, celebrating Buddy Holly…
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Paul McCartney's way with words medium.com/@heliconiusc...
medium.com
Scanning Paul McCartney
I once met Paul McCartney. It was a party on 10 September, 1997, held in a Mexican restaurant in the heart of Soho, celebrating Buddy Holly…
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
The paperback Thinking Small and Large is published today: “I began to read it casually and found that I couldn't stop ...” Stephen Greenblatt, Pulitzer Prize winner for The Swerve www.amazon.co.uk/Thinking-Sma...
amazon.co.uk
Thinking Small and Large: How Microbes Made and Can Save Our World: Amazon.co.uk: Forbes, Peter: 9781837732067: Books
Buy Thinking Small and Large: How Microbes Made and Can Save Our World by Forbes, Peter (ISBN: 9781837732067) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
The paperback Thinking Small and Large is published today: the 4 billion year Great Convergence of life on earth www.amazon.co.uk/Thinking-Sma...
amazon.co.uk
Thinking Small and Large: How Microbes Made and Can Save Our World: Amazon.co.uk: Forbes, Peter: 9781837732067: Books
Buy Thinking Small and Large: How Microbes Made and Can Save Our World by Forbes, Peter (ISBN: 9781837732067) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
This euphorbia produced a nest of concentric inverted cones instead of a smooth mound. Cause? Months of rain followed by a hot period on heavy clay soil heliconiuscydno.medium.com/plant-goes-b...
heliconiuscydno.medium.com
Plant goes berserk
This spring I noticed a strange growth pattern in a recently planted euphorbia ‘Ascot petite’. It attracted attention through astonishing…
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Thinking Small and Large, out in paperback 2 July: “For readers unfamiliar with microbial ecology, it will be eye-opening. For scientists, it offers a unifying narrative that connects disparate fields”. Nature www.amazon.co.uk/Thinking-Sma...
amazon.co.uk
Thinking Small and Large: How Microbes Made and Can Save Our World
Buy Thinking Small and Large: How Microbes Made and Can Save Our World by Forbes, Peter (ISBN: 9781837731701) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Why did cars get so ugly. Remember the elegance of the Tigra and Ka heliconiuscydno.medium.com/elegant-anim...
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Eureka! A Wikipedia page - not before time. And the paperback Thinking Small and Lage appears July 2: "For readers unfamiliar with microbial ecology, it will be eye-opening. For scientists, it offers a unifying narrative that connects disparate fields" Nature en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_F...
en.wikipedia.org
Peter Forbes (author) - Wikipedia
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Reposted by Peter Forbes
New Humanist @newhumanist.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
@heliconiuscydno.bsky.social on the "fantastic odyssey of our languages and the migrating peoples that carried them"
newhumanist.org.uk
Book review: Proto – How One Ancient Language Went Global
Proto-Indo-European gave birth to a plethora of modern languages, but there remains a question mark over its origins
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
City St George’s Narrative Non-Fiction. Course starts Tuesday 20 January “It was a real joy getting to work alongside people from all over the world and the diversity of the group was fantastic for challenging and extending my own writing.” (recent student) www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-...
citystgeorges.ac.uk
Non-Fiction Writing Course | City St George's, University of London
This Narrative Non-fiction Writing online evening short course supports you in writing non-fiction, from biographies to memoirs or travel writing blogs.
000
Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
“To writers seeking a jumpstart, I recommend the Narrative Nonfiction course taught by @heliconiuscydno“ - Ciaran Thapar, Penguin author and former student. Starts Jan 20 www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-...
citystgeorges.ac.uk
Non-Fiction Writing Course | City St George's, University of London
This Narrative Non-fiction Writing online evening short course supports you in writing non-fiction, from biographies to memoirs or travel writing blogs.
010
Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
City St George’s Narrative Non-Fiction. New course starts Tuesday 20 January: “Peter is a really good, experienced tutor with a long and distinguished publishing history; the perfect teacher for this course” (recent student). www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-...
citystgeorges.ac.uk
Non-Fiction Writing Course | City St George's, University of London
This Narrative Non-fiction Writing online evening short course supports you in writing non-fiction, from biographies to memoirs or travel writing blogs.
000
Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 30/12/2025
City St George’s Narrative Non-Fiction. New course starts Tuesday 20 January: “To writers seeking a jumpstart, I recommend the Narrative Nonfiction course taught by @heliconiuscydno“ - Ciaran Thapar, Penguin author and former student. www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-...
citystgeorges.ac.uk
Non-Fiction Writing Course | City St George's, University of London
This Narrative Non-fiction Writing online evening short course supports you in writing non-fiction, from biographies to memoirs or travel writing blogs.
000
Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
Now booking: Narrative Non-fiction (NNF) at City. Alumni books books from Penguin, Faber, Granta etc. New course starts Tuesday 20 January: “Terrific teacher! Encouraging, practical, demystifying and lots of specific feedback” (recent student) www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-...
citystgeorges.ac.uk
Non-Fiction Writing Course | City St George's, University of London
This Narrative Non-fiction Writing online evening short course supports you in writing non-fiction, from biographies to memoirs or travel writing blogs.
102
Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
A great book list from Shepherd on the Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything. Declaration of interest: I'm one of the recommenders shepherd.com/books-like/t...
shepherd.com
Love The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything? Readers pick 100 books like The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything...
Readers who loved The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything share their favorite books like The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything (by Peter Brannen). 
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Q&A for the Sunday Post on my book Thinking Small and Large: How microbes made and can save our world. www.pressreader.com/uk/the-sunda...
pressreader.com
PressReader.com - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions
Digital newsstand featuring 7000+ of the world’s most popular newspapers & magazines. Enjoy unlimited reading on up to 5 devices with 7-day free trial.
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
My W&A in the Sunday Post (print) today on Thinking Small and Large: How microbes made and save our world www.sundaypost.com
sundaypost.com
The Sunday Post
All the latest Scottish news, investigations, features, opinion and analysis from the team at The Sunday Post,
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
The astonishing deep role of carbon dioxide in 4 million years of life revealed in several powerful books recently. Every living thing is made from CO2 and our industrial civilisation depends on the CO2 captured and stored by many milliennia of ancient photosynthesis: shepherd.com/best-books/n...
shepherd.com
The best books on the new understanding of carbon dioxide’s pivotal role in 4 billion years of Earth history
Peter Forbes shares the 5 best books on new understanding of carbon dioxide’s pivotal role in 4 billion years of Earth history. Have you read The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything?
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
The deep history of carbon dioxide is powerful explainer for 4 billion years of earth history and a vital way of understanding the world now. It’s at the heart of my Thinking Small and Large and the 5 books highlighted here: shepherd.com/best-books/n...
shepherd.com
The best books on the new understanding of carbon dioxide’s pivotal role in 4 billion years of Earth history
Peter Forbes shares the 5 best books on new understanding of carbon dioxide’s pivotal role in 4 billion years of Earth history. Have you read The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything?
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Seven years ago I wrote a backgrounder on Huntington’s disease at a time of great hope for treatment and/or cure: medium.com/mosaic-scien... Those hoped were dashed but now there is a real breakthrough: www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
medium.com
How close are we to a cure for Huntington’s?
Twenty-five years after the discovery of the gene behind Huntington’s disease, Peter Forbes reports on the potential first treatment for…
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Dramatic news of a treatment for Huntington's disease www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time
One of the most devastating diseases finally has a treatment that can slow its progression and transform lives, tearful doctors tell BBC.
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Last 7 places on City St George’s Narrative Non-Fiction Sept 30. “To writers seeking a jumpstart, I recommend the Narrative Nonfiction course taught by @heliconiuscydno.bluesky.social” - Ciaran Thapar, Penguin author and former student. www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/prospective-...
citystgeorges.ac.uk
Non-Fiction Writing Course | City St George's, University of London
This Narrative Non-fiction Writing online evening short course supports you in writing non-fiction, from biographies to memoirs or travel writing blogs.
010
Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
The great synthesis - earth history as the story of energy, firstly biological and then human-industrial using fossil photosynthesis - is everywhere now. This is very similar to Peter Brannen's The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything www.quantamagazine.org/how-humanity...
quantamagazine.org
How Humanity Amplified Life’s Quest for Energy | Quanta Magazine
A planetary perspective on the relationship between life and energy, and the emergence of a life form whose influence extends across the entire biosphere — presenting us with an awesome opportunity.
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
The Gecko’s Foot is still going strong at 20 but J. E. Gordon’s Structures: Or Why Things Don’t Fall Down is still in print at 47. And he still outsells me! www.amazon.co.uk/Geckos-Foot-... www.amazon.co.uk/Structures-T...
amazon.co.uk
The Gecko's Foot: How Scientists are Taking a Leaf from Nature's Book
Buy The Gecko's Foot: How Scientists are Taking a Leaf from Nature's Book Revised ed. by Forbes, Peter (ISBN: 9780007179893) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
The Gecko’s Foot still going strong at 20. My inspiration was J. E. Gordon’s Structures: Or Why Things Don’t Fall Down. He was THE biomimetics pioneer; I'm pleased his book and mine are both on the Cambridge Engineering syllabus. www.amazon.co.uk/Geckos-Foot-... www.amazon.co.uk/Structures-T...
amazon.co.uk
The Gecko's Foot: How Scientists are Taking a Leaf from Nature's Book: Amazon.co.uk: Forbes, Peter: 9780007179893: Books
Buy The Gecko's Foot: How Scientists are Taking a Leaf from Nature's Book Revised ed. by Forbes, Peter (ISBN: 9780007179893) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible...
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 16/09/2025
Thank you very much - it’s been a pleasant surprise to see it’s longevity
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Celebrating 20 years of The Gecko’s Foot ‘The Gecko's Foot is an act of two-cultures healing. One page quotes Miroslav Holub, "immunologist and poet", the next Vladimir Nabokov, "Russian novelist and serious amateur lepidopterist".’ (The Independent, 2005)
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Twenty years of The Gecko’s Foot. “Forbes is consciously trying to blur the distinction between a proper awe for the intricacy and beauty of Nature's nanostructures and an appreciation of the ingenuity of human engineers who try to emulate them.” (the 2005 Guardian review)
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Peter Forbes @heliconiuscydno.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Narrative Non-Fiction at City St George’s. Open taster evening this Thursday. If you sign up for this there's a 10% course fee discount available until midnight the day after the open evening. Full details of registering are here: www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/news-and-eve...
citystgeorges.ac.uk
Short Courses Online Taster Evening | City St George's, University of London
Join a free taster session for one of our Short Courses.
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