Choosing Event of the Week isn’t always easy. The tide of absorbing science events in London at the moment has reached a high water mark to match the current meteorological one.

One of this week’s many contenders takes place tonight at the Grant Museum, UCL. Joe Cain, historian of biology at the college’s Department of Science and Technology Studies, will deliver a talk entitled ‘You must be joking! Pranks, Jokes and other Silliness in Science’.

Cain has worked at UCL for 12 years and heads up many unusual projects at the science–history–philosophy interface. His Voices initiative aims to produce an oral scientific history by recording researchers talking about their work. As well as providing an historically important archive, the project also polishes students’ interview techniques.

Tonight’s talk focuses on another of Cain’s passions – the scientific prank. His chief example is the ‘Snouters’ – an entirely fictional account of a group of mammals that walk around on their noses. The book, Bau und Leben der Rhinogradentia, by Harald Stumpke was first published in 1961 and intended as a teaching aid for taxonomy students.

The nonsensical yet somehow plausible creatures took on a life of their own. Before long, the book was translated into other languages, and people were fooled into believing the Snouters really existed. To this day, websites, books and models perpetuate these specious species.

Cain wants to know what purpose the scientific joke serves. “Every chemist has a cartoon on their lab door – usually a Farside,” he says. “Why is that?” Attend the talk tonight for more insights, and a few laughs, followed by a complementary glass of wine and a tour of the Grant Museum.