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Only at Charleston "where books, ideas and creativity bloom" would one find a world expert on the genetics of snails and a fan of the German philosopher Heidegger on the same stage.

As it turned out Professor Steve Jones and writer Sarah Bakewell were on the same page, both publicising recently published books taking Paris as their backdrop, each peopled by characters chairman Martin Farthing claimed bring their books alive.

Jones’s presentation explained the role of philosophers in the French Revolution and their inbuilt urge to drive forward science. He made the famous Parisian icon the Eiffel Tour as interesting a character as Lavoisier.

Bakewell’s talk revealed her teenage discovery of Jean-Paul Sartre’s novel Nausea along with personal details such as her iconic black polo-neck jumper knitted by her mother, her own jaunt to stare at a tree to try to see its being and an existentialist preponderance for creating the world starting with the cocktail in front of you. Less engaging was her recounting the contents of Nausea.

Questions asked of the pair revealed some audience members were also specialists; otherwise their conversation, which took for granted more than a surface familiarity with the issues discussed, was sometimes difficult to navigate.