These listings cover lectures, screenings and other events that are open to anyone and do not require specialist knowledge. In some cases, it may be necessary to pre-book. For conferences and more academic events, see the Nature Network London calendar.

Tuesday

8pm: Can There Be Certainty In Science?, the Wheatsheaf pub, Rathbone Place. John Worral leads a pub discussion about whether there can ever be a scientific ‘truth’, or whether we can only have theories. I might pop along to this one. Anyone interested? It’s free and you can just turn up.

Wednesday

7pm: Joseph Lister, Surgeon and Microscopist, Hunterian Museum, Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Professor Harold Ellis offers a potted biography of the great pioneer of antiseptic. Attendees will also get a chance to look around this excellent museum and library. Tickets are £5 and should be booked in advance.

Thursday

12 Noon: Lister the Artist – Bridging the Two Cultures, Strang Print Room, UCL. Art historian Caroline Babcock discusses Lister’s anatomical drawings. No web site for this one, but book a place by emailing caroline.babcock@gmail.com

6.30pm: Orbo Technology, the Building Centre, Store Street. Is it possible to break the laws of conservation of energy? Steorn think so, and made headlines a couple of years ago by announcing what effectively amounts to a perpetual motion machine. Scientists remain unconvinced, to say the least, but here’s your chance to question their CEO.

Friday

8pm: Vis lucis, vis luminis: how optics shaped physics, Royal Institution. Prof Ian Walmsley discusses the last 400 years of optical research – from primitive telescopes to DVDs, fibre optics and bar codes. This Friday Evening Discourse is only open to members.

Sunday

11am-3pm: Kirkaldy Museum open day A tiny museum dedicated to materials testing on Southwark Street that only opens once a month. Definitely worth stopping by if you’re in the area.