Waterman’s with Words: Scientific Pioneers

Watermans with Words: Scientific Pioneers

In a double bill of two fascinating talks, we discover the true stories of Scientific Pioneers who have changed our world in very different ways from two excellent speakers.

7pm Talk: The Butchering Art – Lister’s Quest to Transform Victorian Medicine with Lindsey Fitzharris (1hr incl Q&A)

Surgeons are miracle-workers. But it was not always so. In her book ‘The Butchering Art’ (Daily Mail, Guardian and Observer Books of the Year 2017 and winner of 2018 PEN/E.O Wilson Prize for Literary Science Writing) and this accompanying talk, medical historian Lindsey Fitzharris recreates the turning point when pioneering surgeon Lister transformed the harrowing practices common in Victorian operating theatre – known as the ‘gateways of death’ – ultimately leading to the vaunted surgical profession we know today. This is the story of a visionary British surgeon whose quest to unite science and medicine delivered us into the modern world – the safest time to be alive in human history.

Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris is a bestselling author, and medical historian with a doctorate from the University of Oxford. Her debut book, The Butchering Art, won the PEN/E.O. Wilson Award for Literary Science in the United States and was shortlisted for both the Wellcome Book Prize and the Wolfson History Prize in the United Kingdom.

8.30pm Talk: Black Scientists and Inventors with Tony Warner (1 hr 15 mins incl Q&A)

Back by popular demand, Tony Warner from Black History Walks will present a talk which gives a fascinating and comprehensive run down of everyday appliances which were developed by Black people, and phenomenal scientific achievements that have gone unnoticed by the mainstream. He will speak of Black people’s involvement and innovations in computer games,  car safety, secret technology, vaccinations ,torpedoes, computing, optometry, biology, mechanics…; he detail the origins of African castles and ancient African astronomy and name Black inventors who got ripped off. With an audio-visual presentation and an interactive style, tony’s talks are illuminating, important, and truly memorable.

The talks work well as a double bill (get 25% off when you book both together) or as standalone talks. In order to book both together, please select the first talk and then select your seats, and then return to the booking page to select the second time. Unfortunately you can’t select both times at once.