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As the Royal Society enters its 350th year, its president says its mission is to speak up for science to public and politicians alike.

Tell me about the highlights of the Royal Society’s 350th anniversary celebrations.

The centrepiece will be a at the Southbank Centre in London. We normally have the summer exhibition at our premises but we are raising our game in the hope of attracting a broader attendance. But the core of our work is science; we’re going to have a series of conferences about important problems highlighted by our fellows – extraterrestrial life, ageing, the evolution of culture, and so on.

You also have a book coming out.

Yes, early in the new year, edited by Bill Bryson. It’s on the general theme of science and its practical implications. A variety of people have each written a chapter: some scientists, some novelists, some historians – about 20 in all.

The past achievements of the society and its fellows are many and varied, but do you have a personal favourite?

Charles Darwin. I suppose as a physical scientist I ought to have chosen Newton. He would have won hands down in an IQ test, but if you ask who was the most attractive personality then Darwin is the one you’d wish to meet. Newton was solitary and reclusive, even vain and vindictive in his later years when he was president of the society.

How do you see the Royal Society’s role in the modern world?

To speak up for science, and to emphasise the importance of science to the UK. We are a country with a strong tradition in science and we want to stay that way. We also want to address, with the best expertise we can muster, the key problems facing the world. Young people are growing up in a world ever more influenced by science, and the problems are going to have to be tackled globally: clean energy, feeding the world, dealing with pandemics. All those are areas where scientists need to engage with the public and politicians to ensure that science is developed wisely and used optimally.

Do you get the sense that people listen?

We hope so. We’ve been gratified by the press coverage for our most recent reports, on geoengineering and food supplies. But it is very important that as well as getting through to the general public via the press, we ensure that our reports get on the right desks in government; it’s important that decisions are influenced by the best available science. We can help to gather together groups of experts who can provide the best, most reliable input into political decisions that have a scientific dimension.

How does one become an FRS?

Fellows are selected, almost always, on the basis of individual research achievement. They are people who have made distinctive, original contributions to science.

Do you get to do science any more?

Rather less than I used to. But I’m lucky to be in a science – astronomy – that was very exciting when I started and is just as exciting now.