The topics

Mind expanding topics to get everyone thinking differently.

Who Invented Science? - based on Brian’s book The First Scientist and a debate he devised for the Royal Institution, this is an exploration of what science is. The talk hangs on key people who might be considered to be the first scientist - people like Archimedes, Roger Bacon, Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo and even Maxwell. But apart from giving some entertaining insights into these key characters in the development of science it's also an opportunity to explore the nature of science and why we do it. Optionally we can have a vote at the end to see who the audience believe was the first scientist.

Light Years - A historical journey from ancient times to the present day of that most amazing phenomenon, light. From the bizarre ideas of the ancient Greeks that light streamed from our eyes to modern experiments where light has been pushed past its own speed, and so backwards in time, or slowed to a stop, it's a fascinating subject. Packed with amazing aspects of light from its incredibly fast speed, unchanged by relativity to the way the very atoms of our body are held together by an invisible web of light.

Ecologic - provides participants with the background knowledge to understand why some apparently green actions have little value and how to find the approaches that will really deliver. It shows how some corporate attempts to give an organization a green image of backfired, while others have succeeded. Most of all, it gives an understanding of the logical tools needed to assess the value of environmental action. Click to download a detailed session information sheet.

Memories - Our memories are one of the most powerful, yet underused personal resources. This interactive hour session gives an insight into how memory works and provides easy to use techniques to remember anything from numbers to names and faces. Better memory isn’t just an impressive party trick, it’s a powerful business tool. Click to download a detailed session information sheet.

Before the Big Bang - Based on Brian's new book about the origins of the universe and what came before it, this talk gives the audience a chance to explore the most popular question asked of the British Science Association - what came before the Big Bang. The event starts with the creation myths and explores how we first began to realize the scale of the universe. From there we see how the Big Bang theory came into being and how it isn't quite as certain as it is often portrayed, looking at the best of the current alternative theories. As the title suggest, we also consider that perennial question, if there was a Big Bang, what came before it... and discover that the answer could be nothing at all.

The science they didn’t teach you at school - science in school sometimes seems to miss all the best bits. Pick any one from this set of talks, which includes key aspects of modern science and the science you need to make sense of the news headlines:

Relativity
Quantum Theory
The Big Bang
Evolution
Will the Large Hadron Collider end the world?
What's the science behind Climate Change?
What are the chances? Understanding probability and statistics from the National Lottery to misleading news reports
Bad Science - the truth behind the way everything from homeopathy to learning aids are sold using made-up science.

A Brief History of Infinity - Where did the idea of infinity come from? Who were the people who defined and refined this paradoxical quantity? Why is infinity, a concept we can never experience or truly grasp, at the heart of science? How can some infinities be bigger than others? An exploration of the most mind-boggling feature of maths and physics, this talk examines amazing paradoxes and the people who devised and refined the concept.

Inspiration Seminars

All too often we get stuck in a rut. The Inspiration events are inspiring 1 hour talks by award-winning popular science writer Brian Clegg. On a range of mind-stretching themes, they are optionally followed by a half hour discussion. These events are ideal for breakfast/lunchtime and awayday sessions to encourage original thinking.

The ultimate spur to think differently.

Inspiration sessions cost £800 each, or are available for small groups at our individual rate of £125/head (minimum 3 attendees). Like all our sessions, pricing assumes you will provide the facilities and excludes VAT, books and travel expenses.

Don’t see what you need? We are happy to develop seminars to match your exact requirements. Drop us an email at info@cul.co.uk to discuss your individual requirements.

Faster than Light - "Nothing can travel faster than light" is central to relativity. But is it true? This mind bending session looks at experiments that sent signals past the light barrier and the remarkable instantaneous linkage that emerges from quantum entanglement. From there we see why sending a message faster than light has such significance, discovering how it would enable us to send a message backwards in time. Finally we come back to earth with the realities that limit the practical applications of these superluminal links. Explores mind bending science, finding out more about light, quantum theory and relativity into the bargain.

The Man Who Stopped Time - Eadweard Muybridge was an eccentric Victorian photographer who produced the first high speed motion photographs, analysed the movement of animals and humans, devised the first motion picture projector and ran the first cinema. He travelled out from his birthplace of Kingston upon Thames to the wild world of 1870s California, where he murdered his wife's lover. It's a story packed with drama and fascinating technological developments.