Author Talk

Best-known for the 100-point ‘centi-grade’ temperature scale that bears his name, Anders Celsius was a scientist of astonishing breadth. From the Northern Lights to air pressure and sea levels, he unravelled the mysteries of many of nature’s greatest phenomena during his short life. His mind, methods and manners contain powerful lessons for how humans live in the 21st century and beyond – if we’re inclined and willing to listen.

Ian Hembrow's book, Celsius: a life and death by degrees, is the first full-length English language biography of this world-changing Swedish scientist. Longlisted for the 2025 Wolfson History Prize, it tracks not just Celsius’ life and times, but also the author’s journey to uncover his story.

Ian Hembrow is a Bristol-based author and Humanist celebrant, who has written widely including for The Guardian, New Statesman and the Oldie. His previous books, Making Medicines Safe & Rare Events are on global medicines safety.

We will be providing a book stall at Rosa's event with the University of Bristol. Anyone who came to her talk in the shop earlier this year will know what a fascinating book The Spirit of the Rainforest is and what brilliant research and work Rosa carries out. We can't wait to hear more. 

Dr. Rosa Vásquez Espinoza is a Peruvian Amazonian-Andean scientist, conservationist, National Geographic Explorer, and award-winning artist. She blends science with indigenous knowledge to protect biodiversity and culture.

4pm in the Life Sciences building, BS8 1TQ. More details and link to follow. 

We welcome back Bristol’s philosopher, Julian Baggini to explore the timely issue of How the World Eats.

How we live is shaped by how we eat. You can see this in the vastly different approaches to growing, preparing and eating food around the world: the hunter-gatherer Hadza in Tanzania whose sustainable lifestyle is under threat in our crowded planet is in stark contrast to “developed” societies whose food is produced in vast intensive enterprises. Most of us now rely on a complex global food web of production, distribution, consumption and disposal, which is now facing unprecedented challenges.

The need for a better understanding of how we feed ourselves has never been more urgent. Julian Baggini’s exploration takes him from cutting-edge technologies, such as new farming methods, cultured meat, GM and astronaut food, to the ethics and health of ultra processed food and aquaculture, as he takes a forensic look at the effectiveness of our food governance, the problem of food wastage and the effects of commodification.

This event is at YHA Bristol in the Conference Room. The venue is fully accessible - please check at reception for use of the lift.

Everyone is welcome. The event is FREE to members of Bristol Humanists. Others are asked for a contribution of £5/£2 (concessions)

Bristol Lido are running a supper club with the great Meera Sodha. Details of what is set to be a glorious feast are on their website and we are delighted to support the event by bringing copies of Meera Sodha's Dinner.  https://www.lidobristol.com/supper-clubs/dinner-with-meera-sodha/  

Otherlands is an epic, exhilarating journey into deep time, showing us the Earth as it used to exist, and the worlds that were here before ours. Travelling back in time to the dawn of complex life, and across all seven continents, award-winning palaeobiologist Thomas Halliday gives us a mesmerising up-close encounter with eras that are normally unimaginably distant.

Dr Thomas Halliday is a paleobiologist, specialising in mammal evolution and phylogenetics (the science of working out how organisms are related). He has been a researcher and a graduate student at the University of Bristol and at University College London, and as a postdoctoral researcher at University College London and the University of Birmingham. He was an Honorary Fellow at the University of Birmingham and is an Associate with the Natural History Museum. He is also an international croquet player.

Darwin Day has been celebrated since the 1930's, marking the birthday (Feb 12th) of arguably the world's greatest ever scientist, Charles Darwin, the father of evolution by natural selection. Bristol Humanists has held a Darwin Day annual lecture by a noted scientist for the last 10 years. Significant previous Darwin Day lecturers have included Adam Rutherford, Angel Saini, Nichola Raihani & Anil Seth

Tickets can be booked at: https://wegottickets.com/event/685110/

We are very much looking forward to supporting this event organised by the Friends of the Clifton Library celebrating The Artful Anna Harris by Tracy Maton.

About the book:
When the vivacious Sofia Carstairs arrives in her sleepy country village, Anna knows her life will never be the same again. Her new best friend is carefree, elegant and intoxicating. Her life doesn't revolve around church flower arrangements or Sunday lunches with the in-laws. Sofia reminds Anna of the person she used to be, before she worked so hard to fit in that she practically disappeared. But is it enough to just be Sofia's friend? Anna wonders what it would be like to be Sofia, if only for a little while.
But once Anna starts pretending, she finds it easy to pretend the rules don't apply to her. How far will Anna go to get what she wants? And what will she do to those who stand in her way?

Tracy will discuss her love of the morally ambiguous character and why she decided to write her own. An award-winning children’s writer, The Artful Anna Harris is her first thriller for adults.

Book your tickets through the Clifton Library: https://public.foccal.com/event/515

We are delighted to support this conversation event between writers, Marianne Power and Jan Day at the Alma Tavern Theatre Full details and booking through the Alma Tavern's website: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/almatheatrecompany/2044804    

We are very excited to host Eloise Kane to celebrate her new book Wilderlands: The Human History of Wild Britain. Please join us for a discussion of the book, followed by a Q&A and book signing. The event is free but please RSVP to read@heronbooks.co.uk. Space is limited and in demand! About the book When was Britain last truly wild? And what, if anything, remains? This is the unexpectedly human history of wild Britain. Eloise Kane unearths 12,000 years of our changing relationship with and influence on the landscape. Through prehistory, Roman occupation, the Middle Ages and beyond, we see the unfamiliar beasts of our old wild make way for species such as brown hare and fallow deer, now romanticised as eternal symbols of the British countryside, but introduced much later than we might think. Places free from our influence haven't existed for a very long time. But Eloise Kane invites us to rethink our definition of the wild - not as separate from us. Seen anew as the result of millions of human lives lived, Wilderlands demonstrates how we are integral to the ecology and biodiversity of our land, with the power to shape its future. About the author Eloise Kane is an archaeologist. She is a Visiting Fellow at the Royal Agricultural University, an Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and previously served as Honorary Treasurer of the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology. Her research interests are in landscape, environmental, and animal history/archaeology – historic parks, hunting landscapes, country houses, woodlands, animal sports, and the relationship between humans and the wild. She lives on the edge of Salisbury Plain with a small menagerie of children and beasts.

We are very pleased to support this event organised by Bristol Talks with Jay Griffiths and Michael Malay: a revelatory and exuberant discussion about our relationship to the living world, mischievous, vital and wild.

Jay has written several award-winning books, including Wild: An Elemental Journey and Pip Pip: A Sideways Look at Time. In her latest work, How Animals Heal Us, she explores how animals heal us as individuals with their vitality, humour and empathy. They offer social remedies too: wolves may be teachers of ethics; bees take collective decisions and monkeys have a sense of justice.

In conversation with celebrated local author of Late Light, Michael Malay, Jay will reflect on the big questions that have always permeated her writing, considering time and the rich wisdoms of Indigenous cultures, and the necessity of challenging the status quo.

Doors open at 7pm. The Folk House bar will be open and we will provide a book stall. The talk is from 7.30-8.30pm. Tickets are available from the Bristol Talks website. 

Organised by the Bristol Humanists, we are pleased to support: 

Energy is Life: Why Environmentalism Went Nuclear, Zion Lights’ personal and powerful journey: from grassroots green activism to becoming one of the UK’s leading advocates for nuclear energy

In a time of climate crisis, energy poverty and growing demand for clean power, she examines why long-established environmentalists like herself once feared nuclear energy, why many have since come to embrace it, and she makes a compelling case for why nuclear energy must be part of the solution. Accessible, evidence-based, and deeply human, there is a challenge to common myths and an invitation for people to rethink what it really means to care for others and the planet alike. If you believe in a greener, fairer future, Energy is Life just might change your mind – and give you hope.
Zion Lights, a patron of Humanists UK, is an award-winning science communicator and environmental advocate who makes complex science clear and compelling. She explores energy, climate, and technology through the lens of human challenges, showing how curiosity and evidence can shape a better future. She will combine technical clarity with a sense of wonder, helping us to see the big questions and the choices that define our civilisation.
Further details: https://www.meetup.com/bristol-humanists/events/313940581/?isFirstPublish=true

In George Orwell’s 1984, a totalitarian party slogan is “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.” Is this true today, in Russia and in the Middle East? Are historical narratives being manipulated to justify war? In this salon, we’ll dig into the deep histories behind the war in Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Your host, philosopher Julian Baggini is joined by journalist and writer James Rodgers, author of The Return of Russia, and Michael Scott-Baumann, author of Palestinians and Israelis: A Short History of Conflict. They’ll be looking at how historical narratives, mixing truth and fiction, shape foreign policy and even lead to war. They will also be looking at whether the laws-based international order is dead, if it was ever alive, what the morally right thing for countries such as our own is, and whether the idea of an ethical foreign policy has any reality. After a break for you to get a drink and gather your thoughts, the second half will be led by your questions and contributions.