In early May I had the amazing opportunity to give some presentations in London and Dublin to coincide with the international release of Wild Sea: A History of the Southern Ocean by the University of Chicago Press in April 2019.
My first port of call, after the long-haul flight from Canberra, was the Natural History Museum where I gave a talk to a gathering of staff from the NHM and the Science Museum. My thanks to Lisa Cardy for arranging the event, and to the staff who gave up their precious work time to hear my talk.
I also met up with Andrea Hart and Paul Martyn Cooper, the curators of the wonderful exhibition ‘Images of nature: expeditions and endeavours’, and had a chance to both view the exhibition and to bring home a copy of their excellent book. On the cover is a watercolour of a king penguin (Apenodytes patagonicus) by none other than Johann Georg Forster, painted aboard HMS Resolution in 1775 during James Cook’s second voyage of exploration in the southern hemisphere.
My next event was at the historic Royal Naval College in Greenwich. The University of Greenwich has its campus here, and Dr Vanessa Taylor generously organised a public presentation in association with the Samuel Raphael History Centre. We had an enthusiastic audience and, although it was a chilly London evening, we were warmed by some wine and nibbles after the event! Thanks Vanessa. It was a real pleasure meeting you and your colleagues!
In Dublin, my final destination, I checked into my 18th century accommodation at Trinity College Dublin and spent some time taking in the sights of the city. On day 2 I gave an evening talk to colleagues and postgraduate students at the Centre for Environmental History. Many thanks to Professor Poul Holm for hosting my visit, and to Richard Breen for making sure my stay went smoothly.
Out of the blue 