THURSDAY 9 JUNE
cheltenhamfestivals.com 4-5pm Variety
S060
A Is For Arsenic The Crucible £7 Res plus transaction fee* Agatha Christie worked in hospital dispensaries during both world wars – and so it is no coincidence that more of her characters die from poison than any other method, with the characteristics of each poison providing vital clues. Christie fan and chemist Kathryn Harkup takes a darkly comedic look at the feasibility of obtaining, administering and detecting these deadly substances today, and at the time Christie wrote about them.
5-6pm Variety
S064
Wellcome Images
Chimp On Trial 4.30-5.30pm Psychology S062
Bringing Up Boys Helix Theatre £7 plus transaction fee* What pressures do boys and young men face, and how does this affect them? How can we raise boys to enter the modern world as happy and healthy men? Clinical psychologist Elizabeth Kilbey, journalist and author Jack Urwin and Let Toys Be Toys representative Jess Day discuss masculinity, sexism and bringing up boys.
Town Hall, Pillar Room £7 plus transaction fee* You are a juror and Jack is on trial for murder. The twist? Jack is a chimpanzee. With Simon Watt as judge, your lawyers for the evening are scientists Kate Cross and Lewis Dean. Join them as they interrogate expert witnesses Benedict Douglas, Katie Slocombe and Amanda Seed to determine if our closest relatives in the animal kingdom have human rights and do human wrongs.
4-5pm
S061
Marcus du Sautoy: What We Cannot Know EDF Energy Arena £7 Res plus transaction fee* Every week we make new breakthroughs that improve our understanding of human existence. Surely there is nothing that we can’t discover! Britain’s foremost mathematician Marcus du Sautoy asks you to rein in that unbridled enthusiasm for the power of science, as he takes you to the edge of knowledge to discover if there is anything we truly cannot know.
5-6pm History
S063
Shakespeare And 5.45-6.45pm Frontiers The New Astronomy Protecting The Planet: Science Cheltenham Ladies’ College And Politics Parabola Arts Centre £7 Res plus transaction fee*
From Copernicus to Galileo, Shakespeare was producing his greatest work just as new ideas about the universe were transforming Western thought. Astronomer Michael Rowan-Robinson and Shakespeare expert John Pitcher discuss the impact of the scientific revolution on Shakespeare’s writing, demonstrating with live extracts the influence of astronomy on the Bard’s plays and poetry, and asking how they may help inform our understanding of this crucial point in astronomical history.
*Fees are £2.50 for online and telephone sales, and £1.50 for in person sales with credit/debit card. No fee for cash sales.
S065
BBC Science Zone £7 plus transaction fee* Environmental issues such as genetically modified crops and climate change are mired in controversy and emotion. How does scientific consensus relate to these controversies? Where does science end and politics begin? Journalist and environmental activist Mark Lynas and cognitive scientist Stephan Lewandowsky tackle these issues and more in a lively discussion exploring how science interacts with personal worldviews and political decisions.
23