About this Event
Why are most gases invisible, odourless and tasteless? Why do some poison us and others make us laugh? And why do some explode while others are content just to make drinks fizzy? Taking us back to that exhilarating, and often dangerous, moment when scientists tried to work out exactly what they had discovered, Mark Miodownik shows that gases are the formative substances of our modern world, each with its own weird and wonderful personality. We see how seventeenth-century laughing gas parties led to the first use of anaesthetics in surgery, how the invention of the air valve in musical instruments gave us bicycles, cars and trainers, and how gases made us masters of the sea (by huge steamships) and skies (via extremely flammable balloons). This talk reveals the immense importance of gases to modern civilisation.
Practical Information
The talk includes a Q&A session.
Booking is essential. Lit&Phil members: we recommend logging into the website to make booking your free member ticket quicker and easier.
Accessibility Information
The venue is wheelchair accessible with an accessible toilet on the ground floor. Please contact us regarding any specific accessibility requirements you may have by emailing [email protected]
Image Credits
Upper Left – A person playing a saxophone in a dark room – Nice M Nshuti – Unsplash
Upper Right – Zeppelin-ramp de Hindenburg / Hindenburg zeppelin disaster – By Sam Shere – Public Domain
Lower Left – ISAF Headquarters Public Affairs Office, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Upper Right – Zeppelin-ramp de Hindenburg / Hindenburg zeppelin disaster – By Sam Shere – Public Domain
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Main Hall, Friends' Meeting House, 6 Mount Street, Manchester, United Kingdom
GBP 7.21 to GBP 16.96
