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Chelsea Physic Garden
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Late Openings and Darwin Summer Lectures at Chelsea Physic Garden

Following last year's successful series of summer evening lectures, Chelsea Physic Garden is pleased to announce its 2009 programme of lectures and Late Night Openings.

The Garden will be open every Wednesday in July and August from midday until 10pm, with last entry at 8.30pm. Admission is £8 per person and visitors will be able to wander through London's oldest botanic garden with a glass of wine purchased from the bar.

Both Charles Darwin's son Francis and his great-great-granddaughter Sarah worked at Chelsea Physic Garden. To celebrate Darwin's bicentenary and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species, there will be a Darwin-themed Summer Lecture at 6.45pm during each Wednesday late night opening.

  • Lecture tickets are £15 (which includes admission to the Garden at any time from midday) and can be booked by calling 020 7352 5646 ext 221, or by completing this downloadable form (PDF/176Kb)
  • Members of the Garden receive a £5 discount on their own lecture tickets and can exclusively book tables at the café
  • Lectures will end at approximately 8pm
  • All proceeds from the lectures and Late Night Openings go towards the work of the Garden.

The Darwin Summer Talks programme consists of:

Darwin the Botanist - Wednesday 1st July, 6.45pm
Dr Sandy Knapp, research botanist at the Natural History Museum, opens our lecture series with a talk on Darwin's love of plants.
Charles Darwin and Victorian Visual Culture - Wednesday 8th July, 6.45pm
Professor Jonathan Smith, Professor of English at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, explains how Darwin managed to illustrate the unillustratable.

Whither or Wither, A Darwinian Perspective on Climate Change - Wednesday 15th July, 6.45pm
Professor Howard Griffiths, the Cambridge-based plant ecologist, talks about plant acclimation and adaptation.
Popular Science in Darwin's Time - Wednesday 22nd July, 6.45pm
Melissa Hardie, co-author of A Passion for Nature, tells the story of the Reverend C A Johns. This contemporary of Darwin wrote popular books on natural history.
Thinking like Darwin - Wednesday 29th July, 6.45pm
Professor Armand Leroi, evolutionary biologist, TV presenter and lecturer in zoology at Imperial College, explores how Darwin approached his work.
Charles Darwin's Garden - Wednesday 5th August, 6.45pm
Michael Boulter, scientist and author of Darwin's Garden, demonstrates how important the garden at Down House in Kent was to the great naturalist.
Being Darwin's Publisher - Wednesday 12th August, 6.45pm
David McClay, Curator of the John Murray Archive in Edinburgh, will discuss what it was like to publish Darwin's groundbreaking book, The Origin of Species.
Modern Botany: Darwin's Other Brainchild - Wednesday 19th August, 6.45pm
Dr David Hanke, senior lecturer at the Department of Plant Sciences, Cambridge, delves into what we have inherited from Darwin's interest in botany.
Saddled with Darwin - Wednesday 26th August, 6.45pm
Toby Green, author of Saddled with Darwin, talks about his experiences retracing Darwin's travels, on horseback and on foot, in the wilds of Patagonia and Chile.