I will be giving my inaugural lecture on the topic of “The computer is the new microscope.” It’s traditional when appointed a full professor in the UK (strictly speaking, when appointed full prof for the first time) to give an open lecture on a topic of your choice. Because the lecture is open to anyone, they have to be very accessible (well, as accessible as the academic can make it, which often diverges from the normal meaning of “accessible”). My choice of topic follows on from a subject I’ve been thinking about for a while, that computers change both the way we do science and the science we do, and that this needs to be more fully understood within both communities. Date: 7 December, 2011 Time: 1715 Venue: Lecture theatre, Medical and Biological Science Building, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife Followed by a reception in the School of Computer Science next door. [UPDATE 16Dec2011: the slides are now available.]