Date: 9 November 2013
Location: Poynting Physics, University of Birmingham
Registration: closed

At the Birmingham Workshop, on the 9 November 2013, there will be a performance of Victorian popular science. The performance will start at 6:30pm, in the Poynting Physics Building, R13 on the campus map. The event is free and open to all, ages 12 and above.

There is no charge to attend but you do need to register with us so we have a sense of numbers. To register, go to the event page on the University of Birmingham website here. If you have any problems registering via the website, you also can email the workshop organisers to register.

(from left to right) Professor Marmaduke Salt of the Royal Panopticon of Science (Iwan Morus); Miss Ann Veronica Stanley, learned scientific gentlewoman (Aileen Fyfe); and Mr George Wells, inventor and brother of H.G. (Katy Price).

‘Roll up roll up! A re-enactment of how science and technology were presented to audiences around 1890.

What futuristic marvels amused the Victorians? We bring you the phonograph, magic lantern, animated photographs, and chemical and electrical experiments from over a century ago. How have attitudes to innovation and the future changed since then?

Our compere prepares the audience for a journey back in time to a science show in 1898. Professor Marmaduke Salt will first of all discourse upon the Electric Spark. This is followed by a phonograph demonstration by Mr George Wells, accompanying his Magic Lantern Lecture on “Ancient Music”. Miss Ann Veronica Stanley introduces the marvelous Animated Photographs. Professor Salt and his able assistant Mr. Selwyn demonstrate wireless telegraphy, and the show concludes with Mr. Selwyn’s warnings about the proper use of gases, accompanied by a shocking demonstration. We invite the audience to stay and discuss Victorian visions of the future, and how their approach compares to aspirations about science and technology today.’

You can download the event poster here (pdf 2MB).