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We are launching John Graham-Cumming's book The Geek Atlas on Saturday the 19th of September 2009 at the Brunel Museum in Rotherhithe, London. All welcome. The launch will take place between 2pm and 5pm. It's a wonderful chance to talk to the Great Man himself.
The Brunel Museum (map) sits on the site where Marc Brunel sank the initial shaft which began the construction of the Thames Tunnel. To quote from The Geek Atlas, Entry 70:
In 1843, the first tunnel passing under a body of water opened beneath the Thames River, between Rotherhithe and Wapping in London. The tunnel was built by Marc Isambard Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It opened as a pedestrian tunnel featuring underground shops and entertainment, but within 30 years it had been purchased by a railway company and to this day is used to run trains.
It promises to be a lovely afternoon. The launch will take place in sync with the London Open House Weekend, in which the Brunel Museum will be participating. Museum Director Robert Hulse will be conducting guided tours of the Grand Entrance Hall, which has been opened up for the first time in 140 years. As Robert puts it, the Grand Entrance Hall is "an impressive secret underground chamber half the size of the dome of St Paul's. The hall is above a railway and temporary access is through a small tunnel and haki staircase. A very Geek space."
So, if you're within striking distance of Rotherhithe of Saturday 19th September, 2009, come along to the Brunel Museum and take part in the launch. It would be great to see you.
UPDATE: The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has apologised on behalf of the government to Alan Turing for the way he was treated. This is great news. Here is John's blog post explaining how the apology happened:
http://www.jgc.org/blog/2009/09/hello-john-its-gordon-brown.html
In other Geek Atlas-related news, Graham-Cumming was on BBC2's Newsnight last night, (3rd September 2009), talking about his petition calling for a public apology to the estate of Alan Turing for the way Turing was treated by the British establishment. Turing was gay at a time when homosexuality was illegal in the UK. He was convicted of Gross Indecency, and given a choice of imprisonment or chemical castration to reduce his libido. Turing opted for the latter - his suicide followed two years later.
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