London events for people with curious minds.
Monday 9 July
LITERATURE: This month's Fiction Lab (a book club with a science twist) takes place at the Royal Institution, discussing Stephen Poliakoff's Blinded by the Sun. FREE, 7pm
Tuesday 10 July
PARASITES: A ponder of academics assemble at the Zoological Society of London to discuss the various types and strategies of parasites. FREE, 6pm
SCI-FI THEATRE: "The galaxy’s only science fiction theatre night returns!" runs the blurb. The Blast Off evening sees five short plays, including one by Londonist's Simons Anderson, that bring robots and space ships to the stage of Soho Theatre. £10, 7pm
AI: Brian Christian (or a replicant) is at the Royal Institution to talk about recent advances in artificial intelligence. £10, 7pm
Wednesday 11 July
TUBE: Andrew Martin is at the Southbank Centre to discuss his (excellent) recent book Underground Overground. £9.75, 6.30pm
MEMORY: Charles Ferneyhough picks apart the complex mechanisms behind human memory, at the Royal Institution. £10, 7pm
ANCIENT MEDICINE: The British Museum's curator of British-Romano stuff comes to Wellcome Collection to discuss medicine in Roman times. FREE, 7pm
Thursday 12 July
QUIZ: The Thinking Bob Geek Quiz returns to the Devereux pub off Strand. £4, 7pm
Friday 13 July
DANGLEWAY: A breakfast talk about London's new cable car takes place at New London Architecture on Store Street. FREE, 8.30am
MAGIC: Two magicians — Oliver Meech and Bruce Glen — present an evening of deception and trickery at the Magic Circle's headquarters, as a warm up for Edinburgh. Even the date conspires in the mysticism. £16.50, 7.30pm
Booking Ahead
16 July: A double helping of geeky mirth by way of Edinburgh preview at the Vandella in Shepherd's Bush, as the Festival of the Spoken Nerd gang (Matt Parker, Helen Arney, Steve Mould) appear on the same bill as Human v Nature: Engineering FTW (Parker again, plus Timandra Harkness). Sure to sell out. £5, 8pm
