21 October: Beauty, Sex and Death — Darwin's botanical obsessions

Discover why Charles Darwin was fascinated with orchids and carnivorous plants, marvelling at their ability to imitate, deceive and entrap. Sheila Poole explores Charles Darwin’s fascination with botanical deception and carnivory. In 1903, 21 years after Darwin's death, a moth was found in Madagascar with a tongue five times the length of its body. Incredibly, Darwin had predicted the existence of this unlikely moth 41 years earlier in what he called his Orchid Book. After finally publishing On the Origin of Species in 1859 Darwin intended to work on his "big book on species theory" but people kept sending him orchids and he became obsessed with this incredible plant. At one point he wrote a letter begging a benefactor to stop sending him new specimens, as they were too distracting: 'I am convinced that orchids have a wicked power of witchcraft, for I ought all these months to be working at the dry old bones of poultry, pigeons, and rabbits instead of intensely admiring beautiful orchids.' Yet, two years after the orchid book was published, Darwin's other botanical obsession also became a book, this time on insectivorous plants. With their ability to rapidly bend to trap prey and then digest them, Darwin even wondered if they were in fact animals, declaring of Drosera rotundiflora, the round-leaved sundew plant: ‘I care more for Drosera than the origin of species ... it is a wonderful plant, or rather a most sagacious animal. I will stick up for Drosera to the day of my death.’ On Wednesday 21st October, PubSci is delighted to welcome Sheila Poole from the Gardens outreach team at Down House, Darwin's home in Kent to share Darwin's fascination with these two botanical wonders, talk us through his experiments, and share how Darwin was proved right again after 150 years. Don't miss this chance to join PubSci and Sheila Poole on Wednesday 21st October to discover Darwin's great botanical obsession with Beauty, Deception, Sex and Death. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• The venue is PubSci's regular home, The Old King's Head near Borough Market, which offers a great range of drinks, has a happy hour before 7pm, and opens the kitchen serving classic pub grub especially for us. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• See below for important booking details – please also check the FAQ. Is PubSci for me...? PubSci presents accessible science talks in the comfort of a pub meeting room so you can enjoy top quality talks with a drink in your hand. No specialist knowledge is needed. Why you should come to this event Sheila Poole has been explaining Darwin's botanical research at Down House for over a decade, sharing his obsessions with orchids and insect-eating plants with diverse audiences at Down house and evening talks. You'll come away with a sense of wonder at the way plants and insects evolved together, as well as insights into how advanced Darwin's ideas truly were.. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• PubSci talks run for around 45 minutes, followed by a short break and a Q&A session. We aim to finish by 9pm. The Old King's Head has a happy hour before 7 and the kitchen serves traditional pub grub. The nearest tube is London Bridge (Borough High Street exit). See FAQs for more. Reserve you place by booking with Eventbrite today. See below for ticketing options, to read about this month's speakers, and learn more about PubSci. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Tickets Booking is on a pay-what-you-can-afford basis. Unfortunately Eventbrite doesn't make this easy, so please read on to understand how booking works. There are two ticket options: Each ticket type has a separate allocation – please check both for availability. • Book without donating (max 4 tickets) if you prefer to put cash in the pot on the night. • Book for one + Support PubSci (max 1 ticket) if you'd like to contribute with your booking. You don't input a number of tickets, just the amount you wish to contribute which automatically reserves you one spot at the event. If Book without donating is sold out, scroll to check Book for one + Support PubSci. Multiple tickets If you need multiple tickets, you could get one Support PubSci ticket for whatever amount you're comfortable with contributing for your group, then add the rest of your tickets for free as Book without donating. You can do this in one transaction, but how you book is up to you. We normally also take a cash collection on the night for those who prefer to support PubSci that way but for January, we’ll be donating all cash to St. Mungo’s instead. How much are tickets...? There's no set 'price' – we trust you to contribute what you think is fair for an evening of great science. The precise amount is up to you, but the price of a pub drink is probably a good measure. PubSci receives no other income. More information at the bottom of this page. About our speaker Sheila Poole is a retired medical writer with a fascination for Charles Darwin and his time experimenting at Down House. She has a degree in Zoology, worked in the pharmaceutical industry developing drugs to treat anxiety disorders, and spent much of her professional career in biomedical communications, writing, editing, and translating biomedical reports for organisations such as Ciba-Geigy and the World Health Organisation. Since 2018 Sheila has been an English Heritage outreach volunteer at Charles Darwin's long term home, Down House near Bromley in Kent. Working with the garden team, Sheila explains Darwin's research at Down House to visitors, gives garden tours and tends greenhouse plants under the Head Gardener. PubSci is delighted to welcome Sheila as our speaker for October 2026. About PubSci PubSci presents accessible science talks in the comfort of a pub meeting room so you can enjoy top quality science talks with a drink in your hand. It is an independent initiative run by volunteers, is not-for-profit, and receives no funding other than attendee contributions. We believe science is for everyone and we want everybody to be able to afford our events, so we run PubSci on a Pay-What-You-Can basis. To contribute via Eventbrite choose "Book for one + support PubSci". To contribute on the night, please bring cash. By making a donation, you make it possible for PubSci to put on events like this. If you're not sure what's a reasonable amount, we suggest the same as you'd pay for a drink at the pub. If you want to support somebody attending who can't afford it, consider putting in the price of two drinks. Note: We aim to keep PubSci accessible for all, but it is unsuitable for under 18s as we meet in the upstairs room of a pub. Regrettably, there is no wheelchair access. Check out our Future Events page where you can also subscribe to our Google Calendar. PubSci events will then automatically appear in your own iCal compatible calendar. You can learn more about PubSci via our LinkTree and download our events programme here. Please see the below for all your FAQs