Matthew Cobb is Professor of Zoology at the University of Manchester where he studies the sense of smell and the history of science. He has spent most of his career investigating the role of genes and evolution in the behaviour of insects. He has made regular appearances on BBC Radio and is the author of a number of popular science books, including The Idea of the Brain (2020).

Talk: The Idea of the Brain

The human brain is the most complex object in the known universe, the focus of some astonishing science and yet we know remarkably little about it. This talk looks at our changing ideas about what brains – not just human brains – do, where those ideas have come from, and reveals the mind-boggling challenges that face us in trying to understand just what brains do, and how they do it.