Unlocking the brain: How Psychedelics Have Shaped Britain's Smartest Minds

Prof Val Curran hosts Mike Jay and Prof David Nutt on how drugs shaped Britain’s great minds, from Humphry Davy to Francis Crick. Some of Britain’s greatest discoveries didn’t come from the lab bench alone. They came from scientists, poets and thinkers who were willing to experiment on their own minds. In 1799, Humphry Davy was inhaling nitrous oxide in Bristol and recording what it did to his thinking, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge among the friends who joined him. Over 150 years later, Francis Crick went on from cracking the structure of DNA to studying the brain. Was LSD part of that shift? And what does this hidden history tell us about how great ideas actually happen? Join Professor Val Curran as she hosts an evening of conversation with two leading voices on the subject. Professor David Nutt, founder of Drug Science and one of the world’s leading psychopharmacologists, will look at the scientists. Building on his recent Crick Lecture, he’ll ask how drugs have influenced some of the biggest breakthroughs in British science, and what the brain science tells us about why. Mike Jay, cultural historian and author of Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind, will turn to the writers, poets and academics. He’ll trace the lost tradition of self-experimentation that fed into psychology, philosophy and literature, and explain why it largely disappeared after 1900. The evening will finish with an audience Q&A, followed by book signings with David and Mike. The whole conversation will also be recorded live for the Drug Science podcast, so come ready with your questions. Drug Science Community Free and Discounted Tickets Drug Science Supporter, Insider, and Philanthropist Community Members can recieve up to 100% off their ticket, depending on their tier. Free Signed Book All Drug Science Community Members can receive a free signed book from Mike Jay or David Nutt (to be picked up in person at event). Please email [email protected] to inquire.