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A wine bottle labelled in Michael Faraday’s hand, preserved in his laboratory at the Royal Institution, and a startling letter in the archive of the Royal Society of Arts, hinted at a centuries long naval battle, rarely heard about.

The Royal Navy struggled just to keep its vessels afloat. The enemy was fungal timber rot. Many lives were lost and various solutions were tried. Some of the experiments in search of a cure were dramatic and even caused their own fatalities.

About the Speaker

Laurence Scales has a bachelors degree in mechanical engineering, and subsequently worked for Lloyds Register of Shipping, offshore engineering contractor Brown & Root and defence electronics manufacturer Thales.

Latterly, Laurence has been an archive volunteer at both the Royal Institution of Great Britain and the Royal Society of Arts. He devises and leads London tours themed around the history of science, technology and medicine. Customers have included Imperial College, King’s College London, Purdue University, Ove Arup & Associates, and the FBI.