Join National Geographic Adventurer of the Year and photographer Cory Richards and Institute for Digital Archaeology Executive Director Roger Michel for a story-telling evening highlighting the connections between innovation and human adventure.

Hosted by Museum Director Dr Silke Ackermann, this special In Conversation event will explore how the transition from non-mechanical to mechanical instruments dramatically expanded Europe’s ability to reach the world’s most inaccessible places.

Using examples drawn from the Museum’s extraordinary collection, they will discuss how the evolution of horological and navigational devices unlocked opportunities for European explorers from the 16th to 21st centuries to go higher, deeper, colder, and further.

Looking in particular at time-keeping devices, Cory Richards (whose alpine adventures have been sponsored by Vacheron Constantin) and Roger Michel (whose marine archaeology operations have been sponsored by Tudor) will sketch a 500-year timeline of innovation correlated to the historic expeditions made possible by these scientific discoveries and technological achievements — and they will speculate about what lies ahead.