St John's College News
Fred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
13/09/2011Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionHoyle's Youth Scholarship Examination Papers A copy of the examination papers in arithmetic and English that Hoyle sat in February 1926. Hoyle failed the exam, but it turned out that there had been massive cheating in some areas of the county. Candidates from Bingley were therefore given the chance to be reassessed on appeal, and Hoyle was interviewed for a place at the Grammar School by…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
13/09/2011Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionHoyle's Youth Chemical Balance The young Hoyle became interested in astronomy and physics from books he borrowed from the local library, including Arthur Eddington’s Stars and Atoms. His enquiring mind also became interested in chemistry and his father bought him some equipment. Fred was soon making gunpowder and noxious phosphine gas, and staging explosions that terrified his younger…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
13/09/2011Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionHoyle’s Youth The Hoyle Family Hoyle was born in the village of Gilstead, near the town of Bingley, west Yorkshire, on 24 June 1915. His mother, Mabel, had trained at the Royal College of Music, and later worked as a cinema pianist in Bingley. His father, Ben, was a violinist and wool merchant who served as a machine gunner in the First World War. The Hoyle Family | Chemical Balance |…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
13/09/2011Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionHoyle's Youth Fred Hoyle showed early mathematical promise but preferred to play truant than sit in school. He did, however, manage to win a scholarship to Bingley Grammar School in 1926. Here he excelled, skipping his fourth year, and showing such promise that the headmaster, Alan Smailes, encouraged him to sit the entrance examination at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Hoyle was…read moreHoyle Project Public Events
13/09/2011Hoyle Project Public EventsSeveral public events have been held as part of the Hoyle Project, culminating in the Grand Finale on Saturday 19 March 2011. You can find details of the events below, as well as some recordings, image galleries, and hands-on activities produced for them. Grand Finale (Cambridge Science Festival), 19 March 2011 Therein lies a tale (University of Cambridge Festival of Ideas), 26 October 2010…read moreFred Hoyle: An Online Exhibition
13/09/2011Fred Hoyle: An Online ExhibitionFred Hoyle was one of the twentieth century's most creative and controversial scientists. He is most widely remembered as a populariser of science and as the man who coined the phrase 'big bang'. His most scientifically significant work was in the field of stellar nucleosynthesis, the production of chemical elements inside stars. He was also a science fiction author and a keen mountain climber.…read moreSir Fred Hoyle Project
13/09/2011Sir Fred Hoyle ProjectThe Hoyle Collection Outreach and Schools Astronomy in St John's College Library Contact Information The Collection In 2002 Lady Barbara Hoyle, Sir Fred’s widow, donated his library, artefacts, photographs and papers to St John’s College Library. The collection currently comprises some 680 printed books, 152 archive boxes, 22 cans of film, and…read morePhotographs taken by Thomas Worden French (1917-2001)
13/09/2011Photographs taken by Thomas Worden French (1917-2001)Box 1 Notebook. Negative index. Films ’42-106’. Lists photos taken 1944-45. Notebook labelled ‘Negative index. Films 107-185, 1001-1002, 200-240’. Lists photos taken 1945-61. Photographs taken in Greece and the Dodecanese for the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Sub-Commission of the War Office, 1944-46. Envelope of negatives labelled ‘Greece & Dodecanese’. c. 175 strips of negative film.…read morePersonal and family papers
12/09/2011Personal and family paperslibrary/special_collections/ St John's College Library's Special Collections contain the personal papers of alumni and Fellows of the College relating to their professional and private lives. (Papers created by College officers in their official capacity are kept in the College's institutional archives.) The personal papers date from the sixteenth century to the present day, with the nineteenth…read moreMML - Written Test Sample
09/09/2011MML - Written Test SampleOur written test does not in itself decide the outcome of an application. Its purpose is to give applicants an additional opportunity to demonstrate their skills, and we shall take this into account alongside all the other information we have when we decide who to make offers to. The test is based on a short passage in English, you have one hour to complete it, and it consists of two halves…read moreHistory - Anushka Chakravarty
09/09/2011History - Anushka ChakravartyAnushka attended Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls in Hertfordshire, gaining A-Levels in History, English and Spanish before coming to study History at St John’s in 2005. She is now doing a Graduate Diploma in Law at City University in London with hopes of becoming a barrister.'With this independence also comes greater control over one’s own schedule and an opportunity to get more…read moreHistory - Jennifer Neil
09/09/2011History - Jennifer NeilPrior to commencing study at Cambridge in 2005, Jennifer attended St. Helen’s School, Northwood where she took ‘A’ levels in History, Latin, Mathematics and Theatre Studies. She is about to embark on the very long and demanding road of training to be a barrister, commencing the CPE/GDL at City Law School in September 2008.'As a prospective Cambridge student and with no insider knowledge, I…read moreEngineering Students Success
08/09/2011Engineering Students SuccessEngineering Subject Centre Student Award 2010Franz Ronay was runner up in the Engineering Subject Centre Award 2010.Every year the Engineering Subject Centre provides the chance for all students studying a discipline related to engineering at undergraduate level in a UK higher education institution to submit opinions and experiences in a 1000 word essay. This year students put themselves in…read moreEducation: A Student's Perspective
08/09/2011Education: A Student's Perspective'It was principally the diversity of the course that attracted me towards reading Education and English at St John’s rather than just English. I chose St John’s as a college because of its central location, its incredible academic and sporting facilities and the way St John’s always tries to help students fulfill personal projects by providing the necessary help with various book and travel…read moreGraduate Accommodation
08/09/2011Graduate AccommodationSt John’s College is normally able to offer accommodation to all its graduate students. This accommodation is either in shared houses (Hostels) or in Family Accommodation.St John's College is a member of the ANUK National Code of Standards for larger student developments (educational establishments). More information on this can be found here: http://www.nationalcode.org/HostelsAll hostels are…read moreDean of Chapel - Selected Sermons
08/09/2011Dean of Chapel - Selected SermonsBelow is a small selection of sermons delivered by the Dean:read moreCaltech Exchange - Eric Chang
05/09/2011read moreMIT Exchange - Carl Tilbury
05/09/2011MIT Exchange - Carl Tilbury'I applied for the MIT exchange because I valued the opportunity to study abroad for a year. I especially think it’s a great change of scene if you’re on a 4 year course (I was Chemical Engineering). Boston is an awesome city to live in – it’s much more of a city than Cambridge and is full of college students with the huge number of Universities around and there’s a large amount of inter-…read moreMIT Exchange - Mengwen Zhang
05/09/2011MIT Exchange - Mengwen Zhang'I first heard about the Cambridge-MIT exchange program (CME) from another Cambridge student in my class. Since young, I’ve always heard stories about Cambridge, about its academic excellence, its history, and its people. Darwin and Newton, two of the most famous scientists in history, who used to study here. It is one of the places that I would like to see in person. I realized that…read moreSPS - Salima Virji
05/09/2011SPS - Salima VirjiSalima Virji attended James Allen's Girls' School in Dulwich, South London.'I studied Politics, Latin and German at A level and found it difficult to decide what to read at university. In the end, I applied to St John's to read Classics, and came up in 2000. After gaining a 2:1 in Part I Classics, I decided to switch to a two-year Part II in SPS. The diverse range and different combinations of…read moreSPS - Oly Duff
05/09/2011SPS - Oly Duff'I came from a statistically average state school in Bedfordshire and was lucky to have ambitious teachers who bullied me into applying to Cambridge, then helped me through the process. I somehow got a place to study SPS. The first year was a bit crazy: settling in to a big college and deciding which of the four strains of SPS to pursue in the second year. But John's is friendly and offers…read moreSPS - Nick Charlwood
05/09/2011SPS - Nick CharlwoodSince graduating from St John's with a degree in SPS (2005) and an MPhil in International Relations (2006) Nick Charlwood has qualified as a solicitor and now practises restructuring and insolvency law in London. 'My experience of the admissions process was slightly unusual as I was simultaneously auditioning for a choral scholarship and an academic place. I somehow ended up with both and, after…read moreSPS - Jonathan Yiangou
05/09/2011SPS - Jonathan YiangouJonathan Yiangou studied English, History and Maths at A Level. After graduating he livedin Parisfor a year, and is currently studying for an MSc in International Political Economy at the LSE. He will begin working in the European Commission, DG External Relations, in October.'I came from a school where conformity and mediocrity were more common than academic achievement, and so to do well…read moreSPS - Thomas Griffiths
05/09/2011SPS - Thomas GriffithsThomas Griffiths attended a state comprehensive in the North East for both his GCSEs and A-levels. He took A-levels in History, Religious Studies, Geography and Psychology. He graduated from St John's in 2007 with a 2.1 in Social and Political Sciences (now PPS).'Early into my first term, I discovered that the lackadaisical lifestyle of the SPSer was a Cantabrigian myth. Although lectures did…read moreSPS - Anna Wood
05/09/2011SPS - Anna WoodAnna Wood started Cambridge in 2005 having studied Economics, Government & Politics, English Literature and French. She is currently travelling and working in London.'I chose to study SPS because of my interest in both people and current affairs. By the end of my three years of study, I really felt I had gained a much better sense of how the world works. One of the main strengths of SPS…read more