Science Without Pedestals

Saturday 11^th February 12.00pm/2.00pm 
Bournemouth International Centre, Exeter Road, Bournemouth, BH2 5BH

A Darwin Day Celebration with Philosopher Julian Baggini

Celebrate Darwin Day in style with a delicious three course buffet lunch in Bournemouth International Centre’s (BIC) Purbeck Lounge, followed by a fascinating talk from our special guest Julian Baggini.

Humanists and free-thinkers rightly celebrate the many achievements of science, however some go too far in their admiration, and make science the model for all reason. Julian will argue that the scientific method cannot provide the template for reason, partly because there is no such thing as the scientific method, and most importantly, science cannot be the source of ethics nor can it debunk it. By challenging the pretensions of those who elevate science too high, we can better appreciate it for what it really is and more fully understand what it means to value reason and rationality.

Please note that entry to this event requires you to have a ticket. For booking information, see below.

Julian Baggini is a philosopher, journalist, author, and editor and co-founder of The Philosophers' Magazine. His books include: The Edge of Reason, Atheism: A Very Short Introduction, and The Pig That Wants to be Eaten.

	Booking Information Italian buffet lunch and presentation (12:00pm start): £25 per person Presentation only (2:00pm start): £3 per person (inc tea/coffee) For tickets, please see Lyn Glass at one of our meetings, or phone 01202 767323, or email lyn.glass@btinternet.com (Please book lunches by 30th January at the latest).

Please indicate your interest in attending this event on Meetup.com and/or facebook as it helps raise our group’s profile on these sites (Meetup also offers you timely email reminders and an easy way to discover other interesting groups in your area). To help you find them, here are the direct links to our event listings on these sites:

http://www.meetup.com/Dorset-Humanists/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/dorsethumanists/events/

You can also help us promote Dorset Humanists and this event by displaying an A4 poster. Download an A4 printable copy here, or email Dave at DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk for a PDF.

Click here to view details of other forthcoming and recent events on this website.

Predatory Dinosaurs and the Evolution of Birds

Saturday 13th February 2016  12.00pm or 2.00pm 
Bournemouth International Centre, Exeter Road, Bournemouth, BH2 5BH
 
Dorset Humanists proudly present a Darwin Day celebration with Vertebrate Palaeontologist Darren Naish
 
Celebrate Darwin Day in style with a delicious three course buffet lunch in BIC’s Purbeck Lounge, followed by a fascinating presentation by palaeontologist Darren Naish.

Recent discoveries of a wealth of fossil feathered dinosaurs and early birds have helped scientists show how birds emerged as the end-products of a sustained phase of miniaturisation within theropods, which enabled this group to be the only dinosaur lineage to survive and thrive beyond the Cretaceous mass extinction event around 66 million years ago. 

In addition to explaining how birds evolved, Darren will also consider the diversity, anatomy, biology and behaviour of some of the most awe-inspiring predators ever to walk the earth. These include spinosaurs, allosaurs and tyrannosaurs, as well as the remarkable scythe-clawed therizinosaurs and sickle-clawed dromaeosaurs. 

Darren Naish is a vertebrate palaeontologist whose technical work mainly covers theropod (beast-footed) and sauropod (lizard-footed) dinosaurs. His best-selling books include Walking with Dinosaurs: the Evidence and The Great Dinosaur Discoveries.

Booking Information

• Lunch & presentation tickets: £20 each (£10 students) - 12.00 noon: welcoming glass of wine or soft drink followed by a 3 course Italian buffet lunch in the BIC Purbeck Lounge
• Presentation only tickets £3 each (£1 students) - 1.50pm arrival for 2:00pm start includes coffee or tea on arrival.
• For tickets, please see Lyn Glass at our meetings, or phone 01202 558763, or email lyn.glass@btinternet.com (Please book lunches by 30th January).

Everyone Welcome!     Please ensure you book your tickets in advance.

Please indicate your interest in attending this event on Meetup.com and/or facebook as it helps raise our group’s profile on these sites (Meetup also offers you timely email reminders and an easy way to discover other interesting groups in your area). To help you find them, here are the direct links to our event listings on these sites:
http://www.meetup.com/Dorset-Humanists/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/dorsethumanists/events/
 
You can also help us promote Dorset Humanists and this event by displaying an A4 poster. Download an A4 printable copy here, or email Dave at DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk for a PDF.

Click here to view details of other forthcoming and recent events on this website.

How to Point and Laugh at Irrational Nonsense!

 ***************************************************************************************************************Update 3/2/2014: Menu option tickets have now sold out, but a limited number of presentation-only tickets are still available (1.50pm start. Price: £5 including coffee on arrival). If you haven’t already booked your place, please do so ASAP to avoid potential disappointment.                                                               *****************************************************************************************************************Saturday 8^th February 12.00pm 
The Purbeck Lounge, Bournemouth International Centre, Exeter Road, Bournemouth BH2 5BH

A Darwin Day Celebration with Crispian Jago

 

Celebrate Darwin Day* in style with a delicious two course meal in BIC’s Purbeck Lounge, followed by an entertaining presentation from the irreverent and irrepressible Crispian Jago (entertainment-only option also available. See booking information panel below).

With a selection of classic comedy clips, Crispian will be demonstrating that whilst we should respect a person’s right to hold whatever beliefs they like, ridicule of those beliefs (not the person) is not off-limits and can be one of many effective ways to highlight and combat irrational ideas.

“Celebrate Darwin Day in style with a delicious lunch followed by entertainment from the irrepressible Crispian Jago”

Crispian Jago writes the popular satirical skeptical blog Science, Reason & Critical Thinking, and co-founded and co-organises both the Hampshire Skeptics Society, and Winchester Skeptics in the Pub.

Everyone welcome! (ticketholders only to this event)

Booking Information Meal and presentation (12:00pm start): £20 per person (£17 for members) Crispian Jago presentation only (1:50pm start): £5 per person Main Course options : 1) Lemon & Thyme Infused Chicken with green beans, asparagus & confit vine tomatoes, new potatoes & Hollandaise sauce) 2) Charred Mediterranean Vegetables (v) served in a cheddar basket, with sautéed petit pans & romesco salad, new potatoes & chive beurre blanc Dessert options: 1) Bitter Chocolate Tart with kirsh steeped cherries & Dorset clotted cream 2) Fresh Seasonal Fruit Salad To book, please see Lyn Glass at a Dorset Humanists meeting, or phone 01202 558763, or email lyn.glass(at)btinternet.com Please note: Places for the menu option are strictly limited, so book early to avoid disappointment (last booking date for menu option: January 31st 2014) *Darwin Day is actually on the 12th February, but our celebration is always on a Saturday near to it, to ensure more people can attend.

Please help us promote Dorset Humanists and this event by displaying an A4 poster. Download an A4 printable copy here, or email Dave at DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk for a PDF.

Click here to view details of other forthcoming and recent events on this website.

Darwin Day: Jurassic Coast

Saturday 9^th February 12.00pm
The Purbeck Lounge, Bournemouth International Centre, Exeter Road, Bournemouth BH2 5BH

Dorset Humanists’ Annual    Darwin Day Celebratory Lunch and Presentation

Celebrate Darwin Day in style with a delicious three-course Italian buffet lunch in BIC’s Purbeck Lounge, followed by an entertaining talk from Professor Vincent May.

Dorset’s ‘Jurassic Coast’ has revealed an amazing number of fossils over the last 200 years, including many specimens new to science. In this well-illustrated presentation, Professor May takes us on a fascinating 250 million year journey beginning in the Triassic period, when the continents were joined and Dorset was a desert, through to the recent achievement of World Heritage Site status. We have the Purbeck Lounge booked through to 5:00pm, so there will also be plenty of time to socialise together after Professor May’s presentation.

Booking Information

Italian buffet lunch and presentation ticket (12:00pm start): £16 per person (Please book lunches by 30th January. Places are limited)

Jurassic Coast presentation only ticket (2:00pm start): £2 per person

Order tickets  at a Dorset Humanists meeting, or email lyn.glass(at)btinternet.com (Presentation only tickets may also be purchased on the door).

Professor May spearheaded the application to UNESCO for recognition of the Dorset and East Devon Coast as a World Heritage Site. He continues to chair the Science and Conservation Advisory Group for the Site, which provides professional advice to the Counties of Devon and Dorset. He is also Chair of the Purbeck Heritage Network.

He has been awarded the B.P. Prize for Environmental Science & Management, and has pioneered and implemented multi-disciplinary practice-based masters courses at Bournemouth University in Coastal Zone Management, Water Environment, and European Tourism Management (with French, Dutch & German partners).

 

Please help us promote Dorset Humanists and this event by displaying an A4 poster. Download an A4 printable copy here, or email Dave at DHcensus(at)hotmail.co.uk for a PDF.

Click here to view details of other forthcoming and recent events on this website.

 

Darwin Day Special with Robin Ince

Saturday, 11 February 2012 

Bournemouth International Centre, Exeter Road, Bournemouth, BH2 5BH

Lunch: 12.00pm to 2.00pm

Robin Ince: 2.00pm to 3.30pm

Book now for Darwin Day 2012!

This year's Darwin Day Lunch will be in the splendid surroundings of the Bayview Suite at the Bournemouth International Centre, and we’re delighted to announce that Robin Ince will be our very special guest speaker. His passion for science combined with his incisive observational comedy make him the perfect choice for this year’s Darwin Day celebration.

Robin began his career as a writer and has worked on shows for Ricky Gervais among others. He's been a regular attraction at the Edinburgh Fringe, has toured with Brian Cox, Ben Goldacre and Simon Singh in the science spectacular, 'Uncaged Monkeys', and has recently been starring in his show, 'Happiness through Science'.

In contrast to our regular free programme, we are making a small charge for this special event. We’ve sold out of ‘Lunch Inclusive’ tickets already but we still have a few ‘speaker only’ tickets available, so don’t leave it too late to book!

As places are very limited we are giving priority to Dorset Humanists' members and members of our Facebook group (along with members of the affiliated Bournemouth Student Humanists and Atheists group).

‘Speaker only’ (2.00pm to 3.30pm) ticket prices are:

£3 for members of Dorset Humanists
£3 for students
£6 for everyone else

For more details, and to reserve and pay for your ticket, please contact Jane at jane.bannister(at)yahoo.co.uk

Reserve your place now to avoid disappointment.
(Please note that you will need a ticket, or reservation, to attend)

Click here to view details of other forthcoming and recent events on this website.

Darwin Day Lunch & Darwin's Sacred Cause with Prof. James Moore

Darwin Day Lunch - Saturday, 26 February, 12.30pm (lunch) 2.00pm (talk)
Fifty Dorset Humanist members & friends have attended the special Darwin Day Lunch gathering for the past three years, so please book your place early. Friends are welcome if there are spaces available after 4th February.

Please complete the Darwin Day Lunch booking form as soon as possible and no later than Friday 4th February 2011.

Darwin's Sacred Cause 

In this fascinating talk after the Dorset Humanists Darwin Day Lunch best-selling author Professor James Moore, a world authority on Charles Darwin, will give a completely new explanation of how Darwin arrived at his famous view of evolution.  There has always been a mystery surrounding Darwin: how did this quiet, respectable gentleman, a pillar of his parish, come to embrace one of the most radical ideas in the history of human thought? With co-author Adrian Desmond, James Moore has written a prize-winning biography of Darwin in addition to "Darwin's Sacred Cause". He is Professor of the History of Science at the Open University and is currently researching the life of Alfred Russel Wallace who lived in Broadstone.