In a well-known botanical poem, The Sensitive-Plant, the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley draws upon the eroticised, emotive plants of Erasmus Darwin's Loves of the Plants, where Darwin's 'chaste mimosa' gives rise to Shelley's loveless 'sensitive-plant'. In the lesser known 'Unfinished Drama', a mysterious 'magic plant' grows, snake-like, muddling the categories of plant and animal. Centring on these two poems, this talk will explore Shelley's ecological poetics through his interrelationship with Darwin.   Tickets available here

by Joanna C. Yates NWCDTP AHRC-Funded PhD Candidate, Keele University Joanne Yates will consider the relationship between Erasmus Darwin’s ‘Commonplace Book’ and his philosophical position as reflected in his published works. The entries Darwin recorded within this object can be divided relatively evenly into three general categories: Medical Practice, Natural History (including science and weather), and Engineering (designs and inventions). The first category contains entries that detail medical case histories, describe treatments founded in contemporary medicine, and posit the application of…

Why did the Lunar Society emerge in the West Midlands in the 1760s and in what ways can we assess its importance besides exploring the lives of key individuals? This talk looks at the context in which the Lunar Men operated and suggests some agendas for future research.   Dr Malcolm Dick is Honorary Associate Professor of History at the University of Birmingham after serving as Director of the Centre for West Midlands at the University for many years. He…