Cambridge University marks 800th birthday with a first-class illuminations show

Well, it is Cambridge so you would exp­ect something a bit classier than Gail Porter’s bottom.

But the grand old university really upped the standard with its light show to mark its 800th anniversary.

Pictures of mouse skin and zinc oxide platelets were beamed onto King’s College Chapel while the Gibbs Building showed images from galaxies and neb­ulae to fruit flies and plant cells.

‘Eight centuries of achievement have left Cambridge with plenty to celebrate,’ said organiser Geoff Morris.

The Transforming Tomorrow show, which ends this evening, aims to show how research at the university is changing the future.

It was produced by Ross Ashton, who has worked on a number of large-scale projections. But not, we hasten to add, the 1999 FHM stunt which saw TV pres­enter Porter’s derrière beamed onto the Houses of Parliament.

Mirror image: Pictures of the Senate House are projected on to the historic Cambridge building heralding the start of the Transforming Tomorrow light show Pictures: Geoff Robinson

The celebrations marked Cambridge University's 800th birthday Photo: MATT KIRWAN

The university was founded in 1209 by scholars from Oxford Photo: MATT KIRWAN

It has been home to some of the most important scientific breakthroughs in history, including the splitting of the atom and the invention of the jet engine Photo: MATT KIRWAN

Less renowned alumni are also projected onto the university buildings Photo: MATT KIRWAN

Hundreds of church bells from Australia to Costa Rica rung out in unison as the images of John Milton, Charles Darwin, Isaac Newton and Frank Whittle were projected onto the Senate House building.