A place where, for the price of a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, people meet to discuss science, which is changing their lives.

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Leeds Café Scientifique is a place where, for the price of a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, people meet to discuss science, which is changing their lives.

The Café Scientifique has moved to a new venue, 7Arts, 31a Harrogate Road, Chapel Allerton, Leeds LS7 3PD, next to Casa Mia Grande.

Will We Ever Discover the Origin of Language
Tuesday June 17th
Greg. Radick, the Senior Lecturer in History and Philosophy of Science at Leeds University
In the early 1890s the theory of evolution gained an unexpected ally: the Edison phonograph. An amateur scientist used the new machine—one of the technological wonders of the age—to record monkey calls, play them back to the monkeys, and watch their reactions. From these soon-famous experiments he judged that he had discovered “the simian tongue,” made up of words he was beginning to translate, and containing the rudiments from which human language evolved.
Again in the early 1980s a team of ethologists announced that experimental playback showed certain African monkeys to have rudimentarily meaningful calls.  The talk will chart the scientific controversies over the evolution of language from Darwin ’s day to our own.

8pm at our new venue of 7Arts, 31a Harrogate Road in Chapel Allerton, next to Casa Mia Grande. Food and drink are available in the bar, tel 2626777. As the venue is offered for free, people attending the event are encouraged to buy a coffee or a drink before it starts.

If you would like to receive emails to let you know about forthcoming meetings, then just email us at cafe-sci@dial.pipex.com.