Naturally, we all value our health and wellbeing. Scientific discoveries impinge on our sense of 'wellness', but so too do our social circumstances – our relationships, environment, family and so on. A series of public events organised by the Wellcome Trust featured a range of perspectives on a topic close to our hearts.

The first event, 'What Makes us Happy?', brought insights from science, philosophy and gritty street reality to explore the concept of happiness.

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Music has always been important in self-expression and scientists are now beginning to understand how it affects us. 'Exploring the Rhythms of Life' combined science and psychology with live performance to demonstrate what happens when music meets mind.

'Full Life, Long Life?' used philosophy and science to explore the choices and consequences of the lives we lead. Faced with an over-60s population boom, could we 'cure' ageing to live a longer life? As lifestyle makes more demands on medicine, we may see a new relationship between medicine and culture developing.

Feeling close to the speakers, audiences raised points easily in a non-academic, friendly environment. More than 200 people attended the three July events, which were oversubscribed several times over. As a result, the events were run again (and were again sold out) later in 2006.

These sell-out events augur well for the opening of Wellcome Collection in 2007, which has a similarly intimate 'forum' space.

See also

• Wellcome Collection