Written primarily for a non-specialist audience, these essays describe contributions made by some of the University of Cambridge’s most colourful and able characters in a number of academic disciplines. The essays reveal particularly fertile periods of development and chart voyages of discovery which have occurred all over Cambridge, under group or individual leadership. Approaches vary, from the presentation of historically significant discoveries to the explanation of current research ‘contributions’ in the making. The interweaving of academic lives of Cambridge figures has done much to enrich understanding within and between disciplines, and to influence their development in particular ways. The enthusiasm with which these figures and disciplines are presented will ensure that readers continue their own investigations into the contributions and contributors included here.