A.C. Grayling: Learning from the Age of Genius

The Age of Genius explores the intertwining of outward event and inner intellectual life to tell the story of the 17th century in Europe. Its author, Professor A.C. Grayling, joins us to discuss that story.  

In collaboration with the Science Museum, the Royal Society presents a very special free virtual event in which the acclaimed philosopher, historian and author Professor A.C. Grayling joins science historian Dr Patricia Fara in conversation.

The Age of Genius is a vivid reconstruction of the seventeenth century in which figures that span science, art and philosophy — from Newton, Locke and Hobbes to Shakespeare, Rembrandt and Descartes — took centre stage in sparking a paradigm shift that would define Western thought for centuries to come. 

Together, Professor Grayling and Dr Fara will discuss The Age of Genius in detail, bringing to life a critical era in human thought.

This event is part of our series in partnership with the Science Museum that celebrates Science City 1550 – 1800: The Linbury Gallery.  

This event is free to join, but to attend you must book a ticket using the button above

Speakers

• Professor A.C. Grayling CBE MA DPhil (Oxon) FRSA FRSL is the Founder and Principal of New College of the Humanities at Northeastern University, and its Professor of Philosophy. He is also a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He is the author of over thirty books of philosophy, biography, history of ideas, and essays. He was for a number of years a columnist on the Guardian, the Times, and Prospect magazine. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, a Vice President of Humanists UK, Patron of the Defence Humanists, Honorary Associate of the Secular Society, and a Patron of Dignity in Dying.
  
  
• Dr Patricia Fara is an Emeritus Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, where she was formerly Senior Tutor. She was the President of the British Society for the History of Science from 2016–2018, and is the author of numerous books on the history of science including Newton: the Making of Genius, A Lab of One’s Own: Science and Suffrage in the First World War and Science: A Four Thousand Year History. Her most recent book is Life after Gravity: Isaac Newton’s London Career.