After 5pm, Talks & lectures, Science

24 events

Sorted by popularity / date & time

Best of the West: Meet the Ladies

Pecha kucha session featuring women working in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine across Glasgow.

Glasgow City Chambers

Thu 6 Jun

Free

Part of Glasgow Science Festival.

  • 18:00 – 20:30

Bright Club Meets Glasgow Skeptics: Festival Special

An evening of stand-up comedy and science, with Simon Watt, Bright Club, Helen Arney and some of Glasgow's funniest academics.

The Admiral, Glasgow

Mon 10 Jun

£8 / 0141 330 5370

Part of Glasgow Science Festival.

  • 19:00 – 23:00

Leonardo da Vinci: The Mechanics of Man Lecture

Prof Peter Abrahams gives this Heritage Society Festival Lecture about the original Renaissance man's career as an anatomist and his extremely detailed drawings, which came from the study of 23 corpses that the artist personally dissected. Prof Abrahams discusses how the unique concepts found in these ancient renderings…

Surgeons' Hall Museum, Edinburgh

Fri 2 Aug

Free / 0131 527 1649

  • 18:00

Alexander Wilson: Local Hero

Celebrate the 200th anniversary of the death of poet, artist and naturalist Alexander Wilson.

University of Glasgow

Fri 14 Jun

Graham Kerr Building

Free / 0141 330 5511

Part of Glasgow Science Festival.

  • 18:30 – 21:30

Art, Science and Performance

Leonardo is celebrated as both an inspired artist and anatomist. This special event considers how contemporary artists, performers and scientists are informed by each other’s work in their exploration of the human body. Part of the Clod Ensemble’s Performing Medicine programme in collaboration with Wellcome Trust.

The Queen's Gallery, Edinburgh

Fri 23 Aug

£15 (£12) / 0131 473 2000

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Big Ideas

Big Ideas presents big questions, then lets an expert have a stab at answering it before turning it to the audience for discussion. Brief, informal and relaxed, the pub-based event is open to anyone and everyone.

The Wheatsheaf, London W1T

Tue 28 May

Free / 07760 488119

Tonight, the question is 'What Is Gender?' Stella Sandford (Reader in Modern European Philosophy at Kingston University and member of the Radical Philosophy editorial collective) addresses the 'gender/sex' divide, looking at whether or not there is a meaningful difference between 'masculine and feminine' and 'male and female'.

  • 20:00 – 22:00

Tue 25 Jun

Free / 07760 488119

Tonight, the question is 'What sort of things are numbers?' Oxford lecturer Alexander Paseau tackles the abstract concept, determining whether numbers are subjective products of mental processes or if they in fact belong to a 'separate realm of ideal existence', as Plato believed.

  • 20:00 – 22:00

Edinburgh Café Scientifique

Explore the latest ideas in science and technology, outside a traditional academic context, at this forum for debating and promoting public engagement.

Filmhouse Café Bar, Edinburgh

Mon 10 Jun

Free / 0131 228 2688

Tonight: 'MC1R, Red Hair and Evolution in Action' with Professor Ian Jackson. Find out why gingers are so common in Scotland (hint: it has something to do with the gene MC1R) and why this might be the case.

  • 20:30 – 22:30

Mon 8 Jul

Free / 0131 228 2688

Tonight: 'Two Faces of Plastics: Destroying and Saving Our Planet' with Dr. Michael P Shaver. The professor looks at both the good and bad sides of the easily vilified product.

  • 20:30

Edinburgh Lectures: Dalziel + Scullion – Ecology of Place

Matthew Dalziel and Louise Scullion, proprietors of the Dundee-based art studio Dalziel + Scullion, talk about creativity's role in challenging, reflecting and shaping the future. They focus on the interplay between human activity and nature's complexities and the possibility for a more meaningful kinship with the…

Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh

Mon 27 May

£5 / 0131 550 7800

Edinburgh Lectures: Scotland's Forgotten Cats: A Tale of Two Kitties

Dr David Hetherington looks at the two feline species native to Scotland: the Scottish wildcat and the Eurasian lynx. The lynx is extinct, but the wildcat hangs on – although only with help from conservationists like Hetherington, who set up the Cairngorms Wildcat Project.

National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh

Thu 6 Jun

£5 / 0300 123 6789

Edinburgh Skeptics in the Pub

Regular meet-ups of Edinburgh's most enquiring minds, breaking down doctrine with pints and chat.

The Banshee Labyrinth, Edinburgh

Thu 20 Jun

Free / 07896 745991

Tonight: The Myths and Realities of CCTV in the UK.

Thu 18 Jul

Free / 07896 745991

Tonight: Dealing Reasonably with Irrational Fear.

  • 19:30 – 22:00
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From Corneas to Kidneys: Organ Transplantation, its History, Ethics and Art

A symposium exploring the history of organ transplantation.

The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow

Thu 6 Jun

Free / 0141 241 6210

Part of Glasgow Science Festival.

  • 18:00 – 21:00

Gavin Francis: Empire Antarctica – Ice, Silence and Emperor Penguins

Although he went to Antarctica as an on-base medical doctor, Gavin Francis ended up spending a lot of time amongst emperor penguins during his fourteen months on the most icy and isolated of continents. Hear him talk about his life-changing experience amongst the birds.

Harmony Garden, Melrose

Thu 13 Jun

£10 (£8) / 0844 357 1060

Part of Borders Book Festival.

Largo and Newburn Church, Leven

Thu 4 Jul

£10

Part of East Neuk Festival.

The Gifford Lecture

An annual lecture that looks at the study of Natural Theology in broad terms, with the goal to advance modern theological thought.

McEwan Hall, Edinburgh

Wed 29 May

Free

This year's lecture is 'The Better Angels of Our Nature: A History of Violence and Humanity', about the decline of violence in what are often perceived be highly violent times. Given by Prof Steven Pinker of Harvard University, who studies cognition and language.

Glasgow Café Scientifique

Explore the latest ideas in science and technology, outside a traditional academic context, at this forum for debating and promoting public engagement.

Tron Theatre, Glasgow

Mon 10 Jun

Victorian Bar

Free / 0141 552 4267

Today, a Glasgow Science Festival special. All over the world, many species of animals and plants are threatened with extinction, but especially amphibians. Herpetologist (amphibian expert) Professor Roger Downie outlines the evidence for amphibian decline, and its possible causes.

Mon 7 Oct

Victorian Bar

Free / 0141 552 4267

Topic: 'Life = H2O: Six (or perhaps seven) things you did not know about water' by Colin Adams.

  • 19:00

Interfaces: Technology and the Soul

Psychiatrist Andrew Powell explores the ways that technology affects relationships. As depression rapidly becomes the greatest burden of illness in developed countries, he examines safeguards for emotional and spiritual well-being. Chaired by Reverend Richard Coles, writer of TV comedy Rev. Speech-to-Text Reported event.

The Hub, Edinburgh

Wed 14 Aug

£6 / 0131 473 2000

Part of Interfaces.

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Life Among Feathers

Professor of Zoology Edward Burt gives a talk and 3D look at the creatures that live among – and eat – feathers on living birds, as well as the ways in which birds defend themselves. Probably not for the ornithophobic.

University of Glasgow

Wed 12 Jun

Graham Kerr Building

Free / 0141 330 5511

Part of Glasgow Science Festival.

  • 19:00 – 20:00

Philip Dee Memorial Lecture: The Large Hadron Collider and the Higgs Boson

Dr Aidan Robson from the University of Glasgow talks about the largest scientific instrument ever built, and the science and significance of last year's discovery of a new particle thought to be the Higgs boson. Age 18+.

University of Glasgow

Fri 14 Jun

Kelvin Building

Free / 0141 330 5511

Part of Glasgow Science Festival.

  • 19:30 – 21:00

Professor Andrew Whiten Lecture

Professor Andrew Whiten, monkey and ape specialist extraordinaire, reveals the most recent research on the social and learning culture of the creatures in both the wild and the zoo. Booking is essential.

Edinburgh Zoo

Thu 20 Jun

£7 (Members £5) / 0131 314 0379

  • 19:00 – 21:00

Richard Holloway and Frank Close in Discussion

Close, Professor of Physics at Oxford University, and Holloway, a former Bishop of Edinburgh and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, talk science and religion, pitting the God Particle against God. Chaired by Sally Magnusson.

Harmony Garden, Melrose

Fri 14 Jun

£10 (£8) / 0844 357 1060

Part of Borders Book Festival.

Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow: Soddy Lecture

2013 is the centenary of the first appearance in print of the word 'isotope'. Professor David Sanderson talks about the past, present and future of isotopes.

University of Glasgow

Thu 13 Jun

Free

Part of Glasgow Science Festival.

  • 19:00 – 20:00

Tasty Science: The Art of Coffee

From a cup of instant coffee to a brew made from beans that have passed through the bowels of a civet, the flavour of coffee is all about chemicals. Find out how the chemicals in your coffee are key to its aroma and taste, with demonstrations from scientists from the University of Glasgow.

Artisan Roast, Glasgow

Wed 12 Jun

£5 includes coffee / 07776 428409

Part of Glasgow Science Festival.

  • 18:30 – 20:00

Why We Die

Biologist Simon Watt investigates the science of why we die, in a talk featuring immortal jellyfish and the story of how Charles Darwin came to attend a seance (Darwin's verdict: 'rubbish').

Blackfriars, Glasgow

Tue 11 Jun

£6 / 0141 552 5924

Part of Glasgow Science Festival.

  • 19:00 – 20:00

Winchester Skeptics in the Pub

Guest speakers rap on science, skepticism, rationalism and critical thinking.

Winchester Discovery Centre

Thu 30 May

£3 donation / 0845 603 5631

  • 19:30

Thu 6 Jun

£3 donation / 0845 603 5631

  • 19:30

Thu 27 Jun

£3 donation / 0845 603 5631

  • 19:30
…and 3 more dates until 26 Sep

Paul Davies: What Is Cancer and How Can We Control It

For this New Scientist Live talk, author and physicist Paul Davies looks back through evolution to find the causes of cancer and suggests alternative approaches to treatment based on these findings.

Conway Hall, London WC1R

Wed 5 Jun

£5 in advance; £7 on the door / 020 7242 8032