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Welcome to the IanVisits Calendar of lectures, talks, heritage events, organised walks and other random miscellany which Ian thinks would be of interest.
Disclaimer: I do my best to keep the information up to date and accurate, but caveat emptor applies and you are advised to check with the venue before travelling.
 | = Event is free of charge (sometimes a donation is appreciated) |
 | = Pre-Booking required. |
Tue, 9 Feb, 2010
| 01:00 PM | Trains and Boats and Planes (Barbican) |
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A look at the mathematics of energy efficiency in transport systems. |
| 01:15 PM | Wet dreams: making urban water systems sustainable (Bloomsbury) |
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Understanding the reliatinship between society and technology in managing water supplies. |
| 05:00 PM | Engineering the Olympics (South Kensington) |
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A lecture on the challenges faced by engineers in delivering the major infrastructure and stadia necessary to ensure a successful Olympics. |
| 06:00 PM | How many women does it take to make a difference? (Green Park) |
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A Hansard Society Democracy Forum to discuss how many women it takes to make a difference to politics, business and society. |
| 06:30 PM | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916) on the Big Screen (Bloomsbury) |
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Occasional showing of old movie followed by wine in the museum. |
| 06:30 PM | 500 years of lesbian and gay related material in the British Library (Camden) |
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An illustrated talk by Bart Smith of the Library’s Humanities Reference Service. |
| 06:30 PM | Egypt: the moment of change (Bloomsbury) |
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Book launch by Philip Marfleet on the politics and (lack of) civil rights in Egypt. |
| 07:00 PM | Alan Bennett - Talking Theatre (South Kensington) |
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An evening in conversation with playwright, Alan Bennett |
| 07:00 PM | Think tank Clash (Southwark) |
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Rory Bremner hosts a debate featuring leaders from some of the UK's top political think tanks |
Wed, 10 Feb, 2010
| 10:00 AM | A return to Coppicing |
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Volunteer to help re-coppice the Hazel and Ash. |
| 05:15 PM | Out of the Bretton Woods: Building a World Bank for the 21st Century (Holborn) |
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Douglas Alexander MP will assess the importance of the World Bank in the fight against poverty. |
| 05:30 PM | The secret mathematicians |
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TV's Professor du Sautoy will explore the hidden mathematical ideas that influenced artists. |
| 06:30 PM | David Dimbleby: The Seven Ages of Britain (Camden) |
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Join Question Time host David Dimbleby as he discusses the works of art explored in his BBC series The Seven Ages of Britain. |
| 06:30 PM | Sweeney Agonistes - How London Changed T S Eliot (Holborn) |
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A discussion followed by short theatre on the life of the leading poet of his age. |
| 07:00 PM | South Africa twenty years after Mandela walked to freedom (Bayswater) |
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On the anniversary of his release, looking at the South Africa of today and discussing how it compares with the hopes and dreams of 20 years ago. |
Thu, 11 Feb, 2010
| 01:00 PM | Christianity and Public Life: Law and Morality (Barbican) |
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Can an increasingly secular legal system recover its moral vision for rule of law? |
| 01:00 PM | The Rule of Law (Charing Cross) |
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Lord Bingham, Britain's former senior law lord debates with Shami Chakrabarti, director, Liberty. |
| 01:15 PM | Jeremy Bentham and UCL: corpse and corpus (Bloomsbury) |
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Learn why there is a corpse in a box in UCL's South Cloisters |
| 02:00 PM | Is biodiversity really under pressure? (Picadilly) |
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A debate to look at whether the UK can meet its biodiversity targets, and what to do about that. |
| 02:00 PM | Is biodiversity really under pressure? (Picadilly) |
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Is it correct that biodiversity is under pressure, and what should we do about it if it is? |
| 02:00 PM | Underground Roman fort tour (Barbican) |
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Chance to visit the underground remains of a Roman Fort under the City of London |
| 06:00 PM | Darwin Day Lecture 2010: Darwin and Human Evolution (Holborn) |
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Professor Chris Stringer will speak on this theme as the 2010 Darwin Day Lecturer. |
| 06:30 PM | The Oracular Sanctuary of Apollo at Abai (Bloomsbury) |
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A talk about new excavations at one of the most important sanctuaries of ancient Greece. |
| 07:00 PM | A Tale Of Two Cities - The German Onslaught On Moscow And Leningrad 1941-1942 (Bloomsbury) |
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A talk on Hitler's Operation Barbarossa - the invasion of the Soviet Union. |
| 07:00 PM | Geared to the Stars - Victorian Astronomy through the Magic Lantern |
| Recreation of a Victorian lecture on astronomy assisted with a 19th century 'magic lantern'. | |
| 07:00 PM | How Would a Robot Read a Novel? (Holborn) |
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Would it be possible, or even desirable to be able to read and review a book purely objectively? |
| 07:00 PM | Pattern in Kimono |
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Demonstration of the traditional way of Kimono dress. |
| 07:30 PM | Ground Control: Fear and Happiness in the 21st Century City |
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Britons are increasingly aware of living in a society plagued by fear and unhappiness. Could our towns and cities be the cause? |
| 08:00 PM | How To taste Port - An Introduction to Port (Homerton) |
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An evening with a guided tour of port wines and tastings. |
| 08:15 PM | Scientific Measurement of Time (Hampstead) |
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In this talk special emphasis will be placed on the history of the definition of the second and the measurement of time. |
Fri, 12 Feb, 2010
| 01:00 PM | Guided Walk - Winter Birds (Kensington) |
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This walk will look at the many birds that stay behind and see others which fly to London for the relatively mild weather. |
| 02:00 PM | Medieval trade (Barbican) |
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Find out about medieval trade links and sought after products of the times in this gallery tour with curator Jackie Keily. |
Sat, 13 Feb, 2010
| 10:00 AM | How to write a novel - an introduction for beginners with Justine Mann (Holborn) |
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Does the task of writing a novel both excite and daunt you? |
| 10:30 AM | Saturday morning Soho |
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A guided tour of Soho before the tourists wake up. |
| 11:00 AM | Jekyll & Hyde: Law, Science, Psychology (Holborn) |
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A discussion panel looks at this iconic 19th century novel |
| 01:00 PM | Reading London (Holborn) |
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Can art, architecture and literature help us to 'read' this complex city? |
| 02:00 PM | Guided Walk - History of Medicine (Barbican) |
| Two hour walking tour around the area of St Bart's Hospital focused on its medical history. | |
| 02:00 PM | Love in the Archives and afternoon tea (Greenwich) |
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A chance to see rarly displayed love letters over tea and music in Greenwich's Queen's House |
| 02:00 PM | Old Limehouse to Chinatown |
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Aided by vintage photographs and his personal experiences, Brian Grover leads a tour through the streets of Limehouse. |
| TBA | Steam Train (34067 Tangmere) in WestLondon |
| A note about a steam train running through West London | |
| TBA | Steam Train (35028 Clan Line) in South London |
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A note about a steam train running through South London in the evening |
Sun, 14 Feb, 2010
| 11:00 AM | Guided walk - Heart of the City of London (St Paul's Cathedral) |
| A walk through the heart of the City of London which will show you some of its most famous places as well as some of its hidden treasures. | |
| TBA | Steam Train (60163 Tornado) in WestLondon |
| A note about a steam train running through West London |
Mon, 15 Feb, 2010
| 12:00 PM | Guided tour of Goldsmith's Hall (Cheapside, City of London) |
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Occasional tours of the grand surroundings of Goldsmiths Hall in the City of London. |
| 01:00 PM | Guided Walk - St James's Park on Screen (Green Park) |
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Take a tour through the locations of famous movies made in St James's Park. |
| 06:00 PM | The Thames Under Fire: On the Frontline of the London Blitz (Islington) |
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Seminar on the archaeology of the Thames at war by Gabriel Moshenska. |
Tue, 16 Feb, 2010
| 12:00 PM | Pancake Races in the City of London (Clerkenwell) |
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Two pancakes races - one at Guildhall and the other at the Tower of London |
| 12:30 PM | A Unity of Form: Robert Grant's Museum of Victorian Zoology (Fleet Street) |
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A lunchtime talk on the history of, and to introduce the collection at the Grant Museum |
| 06:00 PM | The Boyle Lecture: The Legacy of Robert Boyle - then and now (Cheapside, City of London) |
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A lecture that looks at the man most famous for 'Boyles Law', but had a more complex understanding of nature. |
| 06:15 PM | The cult of St Zita of Lucca in London and Southern England (Barbican) |
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Join the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society (LAMAS) for a monthly lecture detailing recent research on London's archaeology and history |
| 06:30 PM | How rich are the baby boomers and how poor are their children? (Holborn) |
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David Willetts MP will analyse the distribution of income and wealth between different generations in Britain. |
| 06:30 PM | A Different View of Darwin: Why it Pays to be Nice (Bloomsbury) |
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In this lecture, biologist and author Colin Tudge argues that Darwin's ideas have been corrupted by the 'survival of the fittest' doctrine. |
| 06:30 PM | Lecture: Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor (South Kensington) |
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BBC presenter Kate Humble describes her journey into Afghanistan’s far northeast with Wild Frontiers. |
| 07:00 PM | On the media: Digital election 2010 (Bayswater) |
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A panel discussion that will examine the impact that social media will have on the election in 2010. |
| 07:00 PM | Silk Road Tours - visit Uzbekistan, Bukhara, Samarkand and Khiva (Bloomsbury) |
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A presentation on the holiday options along the ancient Silk Route |
| 07:00 PM | The music instinct (Mayfair) |
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explore how the latest research in music psychology and brain science is piecing together the puzzle of how our minds understand and respond to music. |
| 07:30 PM | Print Journalism in 19th Century London |
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A talk looking at both the journalism of 19th century newspapers but also at London's 'hub' effect |
