WORLD HEALTH Science and health reporter Philip Hilts lectures on the importance of responding to global health issues. Today, 8 a.m. breakfast, 8:15 a.m. presentation, Carnegie Council, Merrill House, 170 E. 64th St., between Lexington and Third avenues, 212-838-4120, $25.

EARLY SURGERY Michael McVaugh lectures as part of the series “Medicine Before Modernity.” His talk is titled “An Ailment Not To Be Treated: The Rationality of Pre-Modern Surgery.” and focuses on European surgical developments in the 13th century (tonight, 5:30 p.m. reception, 6 p.m. lecture). Next week as part of the same series, Monica Green lectures on “Gynecology and Surgery: Alliances of Knowledge and Practice in the Pre-Modern Period.” The talk focuses on the melding of surgery and gynecology in Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries, which effectively transferred gynecological treatment from women to men. (Wednesday, December 7, 5:30 p.m. reception, 6 p.m. lecture). Both lectures: The New York Academy of Medicine, 1216 Fifth Ave. at 103rd Street, 212-822-7200, free.

NATURAL NEW YORK The CUNY Institute for Research on the City Environment sponsors Nature and New York, a conference on the importance of nature in the city. The panelists are natural and urban history writers Tony Hiss, William Kornblum, Mark Kurlansky, Phillip Lopate, Anne Matthews, Robert Sullivan, and David Rosane. Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., reception to follow, LeFrak Concert Hall, Music Building, Queens College, Kissena Boulevard and the Long Island Expressway, Flushing, Queens, 718-997-5700, $20 early registration, $30 at the door. Price includes coffee, lunch, and the reception.

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