Lovely evening at the Ri with Sandra Mitchell’s talk on Unsimple Truths and how biological complexity changes our ideas about emergency and explanation. From the Newtonian rules of reasoning to honey bees and flocks of starlings, Sandra pointed out the need to rethink downward causation and predictability. Mario Capecchi’s work on knockout mice provided the blueprint for a discussion on robustness and plasticity of biological systems. Sold out event, and a wonderful summer evening in central London.