In this final section, the author looks at how the skyline of Cambridge has been transformed as new areas such as the Cambridge Biomedical Campus have sprung up. During the twentieth and early twenty-first century, the city has expanded rapidly in size, population and wealth as it has gained a world-class reputation in science, technology and innovation. The author examines the achievements of scientists in the field of molecular biology, including Crick and Watson’s discovery of the structure of DNA, and Fred Sanger’s role in the Human Genome Project. She also considers the forging of links between University and industry, the emergence of the Cambridge Science Park, hi-tech success stories such as ARM, and the forerunners of the hi-tech boom, including Pye, Acorn and Sinclair. Student life in the University today and the iconic Boat Race, Bumps, May Balls and Footlights are clearly explained. Issues affecting the town include the growth of car ownership, the importance of tourism, the development of Lion Yard and the Grand Arcade, and the origins of Petty Cury. At its core, Cambridge remains recognisably medieval, centred on the town and university church of Great St Mary’s.

Chapter 3: This chapter charts the intersections between theatre and science and explores how experience and experiment are interlinked in each domain. Looking at three key scientific ideas and theatrical moments, the chapter draws out contextual aspects of the science that reflect the scientific concerns of their moments. Exploring first a play from the early years of the recent resurgence in the interest in theatre and science, the chapter investigates how the biological and medical sciences with their obvious link to genetic testing and human experience are represented, and moves on to consider how science, gender, and life become crystal clear in early twenty-first century theatre. It concludes by looking at how theatre is shaped by the experience of climate change and its science in the 2010s through two very different plays, one a staged lecture and the other a production whose deliberate excess results in an expansive ‘epic’ theatrical form that appears to take precedence over the science.