Our November Meeting -  The Reluctant Teacher - with
Kevin Precious - Thursday, November 17th at 7:30PM

The North End Club, 70 Roff Avenue, Bedford, MK41 7LW

Kevin returns for his 3rd Bedford Skeptics appearance. This time with a work-in-progress show, the former-teacher turned stand-up-comedian takes a backward glance towards his former profession, as he looks ahead to Edinburgh 2023.

Expect anecdotes and observations aplenty, as well as the odd polemical interjection regarding the parlous state of the profession.

‘Kevin’s stage charisma and poise set him head and shoulders above the previous acts’ - The Times

Our September 2022 Meeting -  Tackling Climate Change & The 6th Mass Extinction - with Prof. Jim Harris - Thursday, September 15th at 7:30PM

The North End Club, 70 Roff Avenue, Bedford, MK41 7LW

ACOP26 necessarily had a major focus on reducing, eliminating,
and sequestering carbon. Less prominent in the headlines is the crisis in biodiversity – the Sixth Mass Extinction, with the current rate of species loss to be as much as 1 000 times higher than the natural background – caused by us. We have been losing species by habitat loss, unchecked invasive species, overexploitation (extreme hunting and fishing pressure), pollution, and climate change.

The UK itself is in the bottom 10% of biodiversity as a country – with about half of its biodiversity left – compared to the global average of 75%, which itself is nothing to celebrate. The good news is that by increasing biodiversity through ecosystem restoration we can sequester more atmospheric carbon than simply planting rows of non-native tree monocultures.

Prof. Jim Harris, an environmental scientist at Cranfield University, will take us through the science of this complex, but hopeful, prospect.

Our October Meeting -  ORIGINS - How the Earth Shaped Human History - with Prof. Lewis Dartnell - Thursday, October 20th at 7:30PM

The North End Club, 70 Roff Avenue, Bedford, MK41 7LW

When we talk about human history, we focus on great leaders, revolutions, and technological advances. But how has the Earth itself determined our destiny? How has our planet made us?

As a species we are shaped by our environment. Geological forces drove our evolution in East Africa; mountainous terrain led to the development of democracy in Greece; and today voting behaviour in the United States follows the bed of an ancient sea. The human story is the story of these forces, from plate tectonics and climate change, to atmospheric circulation and ocean currents.

By taking us through millennia of human history, and billions of years into our planet's past, Professor Lewis Dartnell tells us the ultimate origin story. When we reach the point where history becomes science we see a vast web of connections that underwrites our modern world and helps us face the challenges of the future.

From the cultivation of the first crops to the founding of modern states, Origins reveals the Earth's awesome impact on the shape of human civilizations.

ORIGINS is the Sunday Times top history book of the year, a Waterstones 'Best of 2019' book, on iNews' 11 best popular science books for 2019, and a Mail on Sunday recommended science and nature book.

Origins by Lewis Dartnell stands comparison with Yuval Noah Harari's Sapiens... A thrilling piece of Big History' -- THE SUNDAY TIMES

Dartnell's story is beautifully written and organized. His infectious curiosity and enthusiasm tug the reader from page to page, synthesizing geology, oceanography, meteorology, geography, palaeontology, archaeology and political history in a manner that recalls Jared Diamond's classic 1997 book Guns, Germs, and Steel.'  -- NATURE

Dartnell's approach is encyclopedic, marked by both a broad sweep and a passion for details. -- WASHINGTON POST

 Dartnell has found the perfect blend of science and history. This is a book that will not only challenge our preconceptions about the past, but should make us think very carefully about humanity's future' -- MAIL ON SUNDAY