Glasgow born and bred, Gordon Rintoul is director of the National Museums of Scotland. But it鈥檚 a project at the opposite end of Britain that he鈥檚 currently reading about in Tim Smit鈥檚 Eden (Bantam 2001). Smit鈥檚 book charts the development of the Eden Project, the biosphere park in Cornwall, and Rintoul is finding it 鈥渋nspirational鈥�. In terms of visitor numbers, the Eden Project has clearly triumphed over the sceptics, though he questions whether its long-term scientific aspirations will be met.
A lecture given by Richard Dawkins inspired him to dip into The Next Fifty Years: Science in the first half of the 21st century, edited by John Brockman (Vintage), which tackles the problematic topic of futurology. 鈥淣o doubt in ten years we will say all the predictions were wildly wrong,鈥� observes Rintoul. He is also engrossed in Margaret Atwood鈥檚 鈥渕agisterial鈥� Booker prizewinning novel The Blind Assassin (Bloomsbury, 2000). The evenings see Rintoul sitting down with his two-year-old son to read Jez Alborough鈥檚 Duck in the Truck (Picture Lions, 2000). 鈥淎mazing stuff,鈥� he says.