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Date and Time
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Title
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Venue
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Description
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Wed 9 and Thur 10 March, 8pm
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No Small Inheritance
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Live Theatre
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Tom Shakespeare
How much choice do we have in what we inherit from our parents and what we pass on to our
children? Tom Shakespeare was born with a famous name and the genetic condition achondroplasia,
which causes restricted growth. He is Director of Outreach for the Policy, Ethics and
Life Sciences Research
Institute (PEALS).
Ticket price: £10/£7
To book call 0191 232 1232
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Sat 12 March, 9.30am - 5pm
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The Great Debate: Being Human
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Bedson Teaching Centre
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Caspar Hewett and David Large
Do our genes influence our conscious experiences? Do they explain them? Is the human mind
something we can properly study? What can we learn about ourselves through the study of
mind from the perspective of evolution? This one day course will examine modern ideas of
what human nature is and will attempt
to draw some conclusions about these questions.
Pre-booking is essential as numbers
are limited.
Admission £6 (includes lunch)
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Sat 12 March, 10.30 - 12noon
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Building Stones
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Centre for Lifelong Learning
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Centre for Lifelong Learning, Ken Patterson
This guided walk will take a closer look at the geology of the buildings in Newcastle
city centre. Meet at the front of the Hancock Museum.
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Mon 14 March, 6pm
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Designer Floods and Earth Systems Engineering
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Curtis Auditorium, Herschel Building, University of Newcastle
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Jim Hall, Professor of Earth Systems Engineering
Flood disasters have always been an anthropogenic phenomenon. Human intervention on coasts and
rivers has profoundly influenced the behaviour of the
land-water interface. Anthropogenic influence upon the climate is also predicted to change
the sources of floods: sea levels, waves and rainfall.
Earth Systems Engineering involves accepting responsibility for these influences
and attempting to engineer them in order to enhance human welfare and the
functioning of the environment.
This lecture will draw upon developments in flood risk analysis, systems reliability analysis,
and broad scale modelling of coastal evolution, merged with fundamental thinking about the
nature and representation of uncertainty, to propose how flood risk management systems can be
designed and operated under changing and uncertain conditions.
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Mon 14 - Fri 18 March, 2pm
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Behind the Scenes
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Hancock Museum
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Take a look behind the scenes of the Hancock Museum and discover the natural history
treasures kept in store.
For further information or to book a place please call 0191 222 6765
www.twmuseums.org.uk/hancock
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Tues 15 March, 7pm
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The RSPB presents - An Evening with Chris Packham
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Scotswood Suite, Life Science Centre, Times Square, Newcastle
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A chance to meet Chris Packham, presenter of some of television’s most popular
wildlife and science programmes. In this talk, Chris will be passing on
tips and practical advice to help you get more wildlife onto your doorstep. The RSPB will
also be on hand at the event to answer your wildlife questions and with information about
attracting birds and other wildlife into your back garden or yard. Free entry
Advance booking recommended on 0191 243 8292 or request tickets from
info@newcastlesciencefestival.co.uk.
For further information: RSPB North of England Regional Office on 0191 233 4300 or
northengland@rspb.org.uk.
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Wed 16 March, 7pm
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From Harrison's Clock to GPS:
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Discovery Museum
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Institute of Physics Lecture with Dr. Malcolm Cornwall In the mid-1700s, John Harrison's
clock 'H4' enabled a skilled navigator to fix his position to within 30 miles. Today,
anyone can quickly find their location with an accuracy of a few metres, using a Global
Positioning System receiver.
Dr. Malcolm Cromwell will outline the principles of these techniques and describe how GPS
is now used in navigation, surveying, building, transport, weaponry, research and leisure!
For further information or to book a place please call 0191 277 2181
www.twmuseums.org.uk/discovery
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Thurs 17 March, 10.30 - 12noon
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Foxloves and Pharmacy: Medicine from British Plants and Trees.
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Centre for Lifelong Learning
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Centre for Lifelong Learning, Jill Schnabel
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Thurs 17 March, 2 – 3.30pm
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Plants and people
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Moorbank Botanical Gardens, Claremont Road
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Centre for Lifelong Learning, George Wake
A tour of Moorbank botanical gardens and exploration of some of the healing,
hallucinogenic and ritual uses of plants and specimens in the gardens.
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Thurs 17 March, 7pm
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Performance Philosophers At Bay: An Entertainment For The Philosophically Minded
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Quaker Meeting House, Archbold Terrace, Jesmond
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Newcastle Philosophy Society
Spend an evening with the
Performance Philosophers. Lock minds with Dr Paradox who juggles the worlds of certainty
and uncertainty. Engage with Madame Zombie and experience the famous Philosophical Zombie
Detector. Confront Dr Determinism and perhaps put
yourself beyond the law. Sit in judgement with Judge Relentless and decide on matters of
life and death. An evening of debate, discussion and interaction at the frontiers of
philosophy and science for the philosophically minded of all ages.
Admission free.
Click
here for full details
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Thurs 17 March, 7pm
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The RSPB’s Bird Detectives - saving birds with science
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Scotswood Suite, Life Science Centre, Times Square, Newcastle
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The RSPB is dedicated to conserving birds and their habitats, but only by understanding the
science behind the cause of declines in species can we
hope to save them. In this talk, Dr David Gibbons, Head of
Conservation Science at the RSPB, will investigate how science is safeguarding a number of
species helping us understand the likely impacts of climate change
on birds and other wildlife.
Free entry
Advance booking recommended on 0191 243 8292 or request tickets from
info@newcastlesciencefestival.co.uk.
For further information: RSPB North of England Regional Office on 0191 233 4300 or
northengland@rspb.org.uk.
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Thur 17 March, 7 - 8pm
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Science Week Artist Talk
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BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Level 1 Cinema
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Ian Davenport
Artist Ian Davenport will discuss his paintings and current practice, which involve clever,
subtle and extraordinary use of colour.
Booking is essential for this event, please call 0191 478 1810 or
e-mail events@balticmill.com.
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Fri 18 March, 7pm
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The Nature of Being Human
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Bedson Teaching Centre,
Queen Victoria Road
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The Great Debate and Newcastle
Philosophy Society present
Colin Talbot, Caspar Hewett, Inge Rebergen, Adam Bell
What is that defines a human being? Is it a universal nature? Is it consciousness?
Is it our capacity for rational thought? Is it our ecological ability to adapt
our environment rather than adapt to it?
Can we rely on reason alone? What can we learn about ourselves through the
study of evolution? How do these considerations interrelate? Why is it so
popular to apply Neo-Darwinist principles to human behaviour and to society?
These questions and others will be examined through a discussion of what it is
to be human. Come along, hear the discussion and have your say.
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Fri 18 March, 2 - 3.30pm
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Give me Sunshine
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Centre for Lifelong Learning
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Centre for Lifelong Learning, Gordon Moir
Give me Sunshine: how the sun shines and where the chemicals of life were made
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Sat 19 March, 10am – 4pm
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Science Week: Teacher Sessions
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BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
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A chance for teachers to work with LIFE Science Centre and artist Ian Gonczarow exploring
perception and colour. A great CPD opportunity where teachers will take part in practical
art sessions and also work with a scientist exploring how perception works.
Booking is essential for this event, please call 0191 478 1810 or
e-mail events@balticmill.com.
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Sat 19 March, 10 - 11.30am
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The Tyne and the Ouseburn then and now
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Meeting at the Cluny, Byker
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Centre for Lifelong Learning, Kevin O’Hara
The Tyne and the Ouseburn then and now: the changing natural history of our urban rivers.
A guided walk along the Tyne and the Ouseburn with Kevin O’Hara,Wetland Conservation
Officer with the Northumberland Wildlife Trust.
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Mon 21 March, 8pm
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Right at the beginning....of the universe
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Cafe Royale
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Carlos Frenk
This event is part of the popular Cafe Scientifique programme organised by the PEALS
Research Institute. Cosmologists have learned more about our Universe in recent decades
than in the rest of human history.
Using astronomical data in tandem with virtual universes constructed in supercomputers,
we are now beginning to understand how the universe evolved from the early simplicity of
the Big Bang to the present-day structured complexity. We can confidently trace back cosmic
history to about a micro-second after the Big Bang and possibly beyond. Carlos is Ogden
Professor of Physics and Director of the Institute for
Computational Cosmology, University of Durham.
Booking essential - call 0191 231 3000
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Title
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Venue
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Description
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