Past Events › Lunar Lecture Series
Lectures held on the night of the full moon
April 2025
Lunar lecture on zoom-The Rediscovery of Lucy Hardcastle by Prof Jonathan Powers
The late Desmond King-Hele's final biography of Erasmus Darwin bequeathed an intriguing puzzle. In 1864 Charles Darwin wrote to his friend Joseph Hooker that he suspected the widow of their former colleague Dr Francis Boott (Vice-President of the Linnean Society) was an illegitimate granddaughter of Erasmus'. Hooker confirmed he had heard there had been a close association and helped to fuel the suspicion by describing the old lady's features in quasi-Darwinian terms. Desmond was intrigued but judiciously unconvinced, bequeathing the…
Find out more »August 2025
Lunar Lecture – Darwin in Patagonia – Unmasking the Galapagos Myth by
Stuart Blake was born and brought up on a farm in Patagonia within sight of the Straits of Magellan, and, having studied Genetics at St Andrew’s University (graduated in 1987), he offers a different perspective on Darwin’s time in Patagonia and the Galapagos. "I have faced the same winds that caused Fitzroy’s predecessor to shoot himself – messily – having fallen into a deep depression after failing to sail the Straits; I have ridden with gauchos, drunk mate, slept in…
Find out more »September 2025
POSTPONED – Lunar Lecture – The Architectural and Civic Legacy of Derby’s Forgotten Landmarks by Ashley Waterhouse
This lecture has been postponed - ticket holders will receive a refund shortly
Find out more »November 2025
Lunar Lecture – Ann Radcliffe, postponed
This lecture has been postponed. We will be contacting those with tickets with a refund and we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Find out more »April 2026
Lunar Lecture – Romanticism, Place, Identity and the Picturesque: Erasmus Darwin’s Poetical Oaks by Professor Paul Elliott
Erasmus Darwin and his literary and philosophical friends were inspired by trees which Darwin believed were essential for economic utility, horticultural improvement, productive estate management and ecological vitality. In his Lichfield botanical garden and other gardens, Darwin strove to unite as his friend and biographer Anna Seward claimed, practical botany with picturesque prospects by creating and experiencing planted and poetic vegetable realms. Ancient oaks demonstrated how trees flourished best, underscoring their cultural status as ‘monarchs of the forest’ in nature's economy,…
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