Bestselling writer and doctor Gavin Francis examines the extraordinary life and work of Norwich-based physician, writer, and polymath Thomas Browne through a personal, 21st century lens. In this event, Gavin will draw on his own experiences as a modern day writer and doctor to illustrate that although many centuries separate him from Browne, they share a fundamental curiosity about the world and about people.
Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682) was an English physician, wordsmith, and polymath who contributed hundreds of words to the English language (such as medical, electricity, migrant, and computer). Gavin’s book The Opium of Time examines Browne’s work through a variety of themes: ambiguity, curiosity, vitality, piety, humility, misogyny, mobility, and mortality. He argues that the work has lost little of its power and wisdom, and none of its beauty.
