Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast: Rationality and magic in 18th-century science
Ben Russell

• Thursday 14 June 2018, 7.00PM to 8.30pm
• £14 (Friends and members £12)
  Booking required: Please call into Fairfax House or phone the Museum shop (Tuesday to Sunday) on 01904 655543
• Fairfax House (map)
• No wheelchair access

Event details

Ben Russell, Curator of Mechanical Engineering at the Science Museum, London considers the ‘impossible’ in the Age of Reason - unimaginable new technologies, mind-blowing scientific discoveries and revolutionary new ideas.

Challenging everything that had gone before, these advancements brought into sharp focus the tensions between imagination and wonder, rationality and reason. Join Ben and discover how, in doing so, they provoked controversy, and pushed the boundaries of what Georgian Britain was prepared to believe in.

The ticket price includes a post-talk wine reception. 

About the speaker

Ben Russell is Curator of Mechanical Engineering at the Science Museum, London. He has curated five major permanent galleries and temporary exhibitions at the museum, including Robots (2017) and James Watt’s Workshop (2011), as well as Cosmonauts (2015). Watt’s Workshop led on to his book, James Watt: Making the World Anew, (Reaktion Books, 2014). Most recently, Ben edited Robots (Scala, 2017).