Martin Rees, Master of Trinity, Cambridge, where he was a graduate, holds the honorary position of Astronomer Royal and takes a rather gloomy view of the future of our planet in his book Our Final Century. He says: “I think the odds are no better than 50/50 that our present civilisation will survive to the end of the present century.” There are many things we can do, but time is running out, he believes. The possessor of numerous awards and honorary doctorates, he concentrates more these days on broadcasting and writing, particularly on his favourite subjects such as black hole formation, gravitational waves and gamma rays. Last year he was appointed to the House of Lords as a so-called “people’s peer” sitting as a