“The Science of Harry Potter” 2014’s Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture

Each year a memorial lecture is held in honor of English writer Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, to benefit a charity that was close to the writer’s heart – animal conservation group Save the Rhinos.

This year one of the topics of the lecture is “The Science of Harry Potter,” presented by Roger Highfield. The description of the lecture and its presenter is as follows:

“Roger Highfield, author of SuperCooperators and Can Reindeer Fly?, has interviewed the world’s best Muggle scientists to identify the explanations behind everything from Floo powder and dragons to the Invisibility Cloak. In “The Science of Harry Potter” Highfield aims to shed light not only on Harry Potter’s enchanted realm but also on the magic that is taking place in labs and science classrooms in our own world.

Roger Highfield was born in Wales, raised in north London and became the first person to bounce a neutron off a soap bubble. He was the Science Editor of The Daily Telegraph for two decades and the Editor of New Scientist between 2008 and 2011. Today, he is the Director of External Affairs at the Science Museum Group. Over the decades, Roger has written seven books and had thousands of articles published in newspapers and magazines.”

A presentation entitled “The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets” will also be given at the lecture.

The 2014 Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture will be held on March 11 at the Royal Geographical Society in London. Tickets are 15 GBP, and you can purchase them here.