Download or read book Doubts and Certainties written by Frederick Dainton and published by Bloomsbury T&T Clark. This book was released on 2001 with total page 554 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lord Dainton, known throughout his life as Fred, was the ninth child of a Sheffield stonemason. A lifelong advocate of higher education, he became Professor of Chemistry in Leeds and Oxford, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham during the period of radical student unrest, and Chairman of the University Grants Committee. In retirement, as Chairman of the British Library Board, he persuaded Mrs Thatcher to authorise construction of the new u500 million building for the British Library at St Pancras. He died in 1997, just as the Library opened to the public. In this memoir, written in the last two years of his life, Fred discusses the nature and organisation of education and research, dealing with ethical issues as well as policies and practicalities. He offers shrewd glances below the waterline of government and the establishment, with a veritable roll-call of famous names and a wealth of anecdote to enthuse the scientist, social historian and general reader alike."