Discover how 3,000 years of engineering genius changed our world with giant leaps in imagination and technology.
PubSci is a ‘pay-what-you-can’ event. Your contributions are what keeps it going. Please consider contributing via Eventbrite when booking.
What has engineering ever done for us…? A lot more than most of us realise!
On Wednesday 16th September PubSci is delighted to welcome Laurence Scales to walk us through three millennia of incredible leaps in engineering thought and achievements.
In the 3,000 or so years between Ancient Egypt and the Victorian age of steam, technology took some staggering leaps forward yet, sadly, most of us are barely aware just how groundbreaking those advances were and even fewer of us could name more than a handful of the people who made them possible.
Luckily, our scientific tour guide Laurence Scales is here to take us on us a whistle-stop tour through the history of engineering, from the days when an engineer was essentially a builder to the time when it was finally no longer possible for any one person to know everything.
On Wednesday 16th September, PubSci is delighted to welcome Laurence to the Old King’s Head to guide us through that incredible timeline with insight and humour, highlighting along the way some hugely significant names and their achievements.
Some of those names and their engineering leaps will be household names while others will make you stop and wonder why on earth nobody ever told you about them before. Perhaps you’d discover your own new hero of engineering history!
Don’t miss this chance to join PubSci and Laurence Scales on Wednesday 16th September to discover the great engineering leaps that made the modern world possible.
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.
Doors open at 6.30 for a 7pm start. Talks run for ~45 minutes and are followed by a Q&A session. The nearest tube is London Bridge — full address below and on the booking page.
How to Book Tickets
PubSci talks are pay-what-you-can: You can make a contribution when booking on Eventbrite. We have no other source of funding. There are two ticket options:
Book for one + Support PubSci (max 1 ticket) if you prefer to contribute when booking – this option also reserves you one spot at the event. You may need to scroll down to see this option on Eventbrite.
Book without donating (max 4 tickets) if you prefer to put cash in the pot on the night.
If Book without donating is sold out, scroll to check Book for one + Support PubSci
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About our speaker
Laurence Scales is a London guide, writer and speaker specialising in the history of science, engineering, invention and medicine. He originally trained as an engineer and worked across the technology sector before dedicating himself to science communication.
Laurence has presented at the Royal Institution of Great Britain (RIGB), even dressing up on occasion as scientific luminary Michael Faraday for added authenticity. His renowned London walking tours cover everything from Bazalgette’s Victorian sewers to a tennis-free science tour of Wimbledon.
His corporate and institutional clients have included Imperial College, Ove Arup & Associates, King’s College London, and the European Society for the History of Science.
Laurence has conducted extensive research at the Science Museum, the RIGB (where he volunteered for several years with the Heritage and Collections team and kept a blog about his discoveries), and the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) to uncover obscure facts and and unusual stories from the history of science.
He has given talks for numerous groups and at learned institutions including the Geological Society of London, the RSA, the City of London Historical Society, Thames Shipbuilding Symposium, and the University of North Carolina in London along with salons, schools, festivals and special interest societies.
PubSci is delighted to welcome Laurence as our speaker for September 2026.
You can view a list of Laurences talks at Speakernet and a list of walking tours on Laurence’s website.
PubSci is delighted to welcome Laurence as our speaker for September 2026.
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See the rest of our current programme
To make sure you don’t miss out on future events, subscribe to our Google Calendar to be the first to know when new talks are scheduled, and follow PubSci’s events on Eventbrite to be notified when tickets are available. You can also sign up to our own mailing list on any page on this site.
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PubSci is entirely funded by audience contributions and has no other income.
As a Pay-What-You-Can event, we don’t charge a fixed price for our talks, so anybody who wants to come can come. Think of it as “Free, with a donation”, which can be made when registering on Eventbrite or by putting a few pounds in the beer mug which is passed round on the night. You can also contribute digitally through our TipJar. Please help PubSci continue putting on events.
We aim to keep PubSci accessible for all, although it is unsuitable for under 18s as we meet in the function room of a pub. Regrettably, there is no wheelchair access.
Check out the Future Events page where you can also subscribe to our Google Calendar so PubSci events automatically appear in your own Calendar. You can find all our links on our LinkTree.
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PubSci is organised and hosted by science communicator, Richard Marshall, assisted by Mike Lucibella. It usually takes place on the third Wednesday of the month, upstairs at the Old King’s Head near London Bridge Underground (Borough High Street east side exit).
Join us every month except December for your regular helping of Sipping, Supping & Science.
Address:
The Old King’s Head (upstairs room)
King’s Head Yard
45-49 Borough High Street
London SE1 1NA
PubSci 