Monday
Fiction Lab, the Royal Institution’s monthly book club is back tonight with Kepler by John Banville. Free and no need to book – just turn up, having read it.
Tuesday
The ZSL Wildlife Conservation series returns for the autumn with Shallow Seas where a panel of experts will discuss the threats to shallow zones around the coastline which contain the highest biodiversity. 6pm: free, no need to book, but first come, first served.
2011 is the International Year of Chemistry, to mark the Centenary of Marie Curie winning the Nobel Prize, and Imperial holds an event to mark the event with David Phillips examining how chemistry has helped us to understand our world and where new knowledge is leading us. 7pm, £10; book now.
Meanwhile over at UCL, there is a free talk by Jeremy Rifkin on the theme of his latest book, The Third Industrial Revolution. 6:30pm; free.
Wednesday
One for the crafty ones amongst you: Science London do hovercrafts! A regular scientific crafts night at Drink, Shop & Do on Caledonian Road, this month’s will show you how to make your own hovercraft. 7pm. Free entry, but get there early to be sure of a place.
On a more political front, The Building Centre hosts a debate on energy, with a panel including speakers from industry, politics and academia, asking " Should we be storing carbon, energy or nuclear waste underground?". 6:30pm; free entry, but booking essential.
Thursday
Title of the week goes to Playing with dynamite: A personal approach to forensic psychotherapy, a talk at the Freud Museum by psychotherapist Estela Welldon on her personal understanding of perversions, violence and criminality based on her many years experience at the Portman Clinic. 7pm: £10, advance booking highly recommended.
The Imperial Business School gives a sneak peek inside Google tonight with a lecture by Matt Brittin, VP of Google for Northern and Central Europe. Oddly, kilts, worms and monsters are promised as topics alongside business development. Free, but book in advance.
Saturday/Sunday
A special event at the Wellcome, repeated on Saturday and Sunday this weekend: A Feast to Cure Melancholy. Your £15 ticket doesn’t actually buy you a feast, but you do get two drinsk and some canapes while learning about Robert Burton’s 1621 work’ The Anatomy of Melancholy’ and our minds can benefit today from Burton’s dietary and medicinal advice on food and drink, moderation and exercise, sleeping and dreaming. Book now.
You can follow the Nature Network London Google calendar of events in London at https://blogs.nature.com/london/2011/05/17/scientific-events-calendar. Updated daily.