And another one. Issue 2 of the Urbis Research Forum Review is now available to download from our website. “Science and the City” brings together the highlights of the Cyber City and Science of the City research forum sessions that were held in October 2009. The issue features articles by Prof. Greg Keeffe and Martin Dodge.

In his article “Synergetic Cities” Prof. Keeffe presents a ‘utopian vision of a Free Energy City set in Liverpool’ while Martin Dodge examines the prevalence of software codes in our everday urban lives.

It’s out. The first issue of the Urbis Research Forum Review is now available to download from the Urbis website. The Review is the online publication of the Urbis Research Forum and this first issue features articles by Julian Holloway and Maureen Ward. The articles are based on presentations given during the “Mancunian Way: The Alchemy of Concrete” panel discussion held on 26 August, 2009.

In the Review Julian and Maureen explore the layered experience of the Mancunian Way – Manchester’s elevated post-war motorway – and its impact on the places and people of the city.

Ready for egg rockets and solar systems? Manchester Science Festival launches in just over a week’s time. Urbis will be running family activities, Science Festival tours and hosting two panel sessions – Science of the City and Cyber City.

Of course, these are only a small part of the events and activities going on throughout the city. For more info about what’s on at the Manchester Science Festival just click on this link: MSF What’s On

The archaeological dig in Miller Street is winding up this week. However, there will be a public open day this Saturday, 10th October. Members of the public are invited to visit the site between 10.00 am – 4.00 pm and take a glimpse into what the BBC recently described as Manchester’s Hell. It should be a remarkable insight into early industrial Manchester. The site itself is making way for a new Co-operative Development.

Poet and novelist, Sophie Hannah, will be leading a workshop at Urbis on 12 October, 2009. Sophie is the author of works including, Hurting Distance, Little Face and The Fantastic Book of Everybody’s Secrets.

The event will be taking place in the Modern on Level 6 of Urbis from 11.00am to 1.00pm. Tickets can be purchased at the information desk in the Urbis foyer or by calling 0161-605-8200. Tickets are £5 and places are limited.

Was Dr. John Dee (1527-1609)a brilliant scientist or misguided mystic? The debate rages on, 400 years after his death in 1609. Earlier this week, scholars met in Cambridge to try an rescue the reputation of the Elizabethian thinker.

Dr. Dee’s career spanned an era when the distinction between modern science and mysticism was not so clear cut. Unlike some of the other big names of that time, John Dee never made a blockbuster scientific discovery. He was an expert on algebra, made contributions to navigation and had the largest private library of his day, but his reputation as a conjurer of spirits and necromancer has stuck. He wasn’t an Isaac Newton (1642-1727)who discovered gravity or introduced a ground-breaking theory of the Universe. Newton, like Dee, wrote exhaustively on alchemy and Biblical codes, but his reputation is preserved because of his scientific discoveries.

It’s interesting that Chetham’s Library (located next to Urbis) has connections to both Newton and Dee, connections that reflect the reputations of both. The library is home to a 1st edition of Isaac Newton’s Principia, a foundational text of western science, while Dee’s connection is much more sinister. According to legend, when Dee was the Warden of Manchester Collegiate Church (1595) he summoned the Devil himself in his office. The scorch mark on the oak table in the audit room remains as reputed evidence of Satan’s hoof print.

The panel dicsussion will take place on 26 October at 6.00pm. It is free of charge and there is no need to book.

The team at Urbis, who run The Modern, are understandably delighted, and with a listing which speaks of The Modern offering ‘verve, cocktails and cooking with intent’ with drinks in the Bar ‘some of the finest in the city’, who wouldn’t be? It’s a great addition to a year which has brought a number of awards and nominations including Tourism Bar of the Year and the Taste of Manchester awards, and is an indication of just how hard they’ve worked since its opening in 2007.

Thom Hetherington, (Managing director of Moorfield Media, responsible for the Northern Restaurant & Bar and Northern Hospitality Awards) said it was “A big success for a very Mancunian, local and regional dining experience.”

And Vaughan Allen, Chief Executive at Urbis, expressed his thoughts on getting into the guide, “Our presence in the guide…shows we have achieved a place in the hearts, minds and stomachs of the restaurant-goers of the city and the north-west.”

Visit The Modern, on the 5th&6th floors of Urbis and sample the fantastic cocktails and new Taste of Manchester menu!

And with the results of the Manchester Food and Drink Festival being announced on Monday 12 October watch this space to see whether we collect the prestigious Restaurant of the Year and Chef of the Year Awards.

www.themodernmcr.co.uk

The focus of the dig is on the slum dwellings that once lined the street, leading up to the old Angel Meadow area. Beneath the ripped up tarmac and excavated soil are the ruins of the cellars. These were once houses unto themselves and reports from the 1870s claim that close to 20 adults, with additional children, would be living in a single cellar residence. Steve, a site archaeologist and our guide, had these reports to hand as well as a series of historic street maps and a copy of Engels’ Condition of the Working Class in England. For archaeologists, having this amount of contemporary documentation about a site before you dig is rare. But that’s what makes digging industrial history different – the details are already there, but the dig brings them back to life physically.

The cellars are primitively built and are typically only one brick thick. This is particularly difficult for the archaeologists as when the soil is removed the walls are liable to fall. Bearing in mind that the privy and messy inner courtyard once lied behind the walls, the squalid living conditions for many people in the 19th century is made more vivid. Steve pointed out the routes of various attempts to improve the drainage in the cellars, which must have been a continual problem. He also showed some of the artifacts found on the site including early 19th century beer bottles (complete with marble stop), a doll’s head and, rather bizarrely, a Masonic pipe.

We hope to visit the site again soon and hopefully return with pictures.