How should companies raise money? This lecture will look at both debt (bank loans and bonds) and equity (shares given to other founders, or sold on the stock market). It will analyse how a company should choose between debt and equity and explain how many factors that companies – and even highly-paid investment banks – focus on are actually irrelevant. It will explain how financial decisions, stock valuations, and risk change in the presence of debt. A lecture by Professor Alex Edmans The transc...
Jun 15, 2022•1 hr 3 min
By the later eighteenth century, Protestant countries’ empires were spreading across the globe but Protestant churches were wriggling free of state control. What were the lessons from the early history of the missionary movement, and how did they underpin the wave of imperialism that followed? The missions’ later success depended on their increasing freedom from political control and their readiness to act independently; but also on the deep imperial assumptions they had imbibed. A lecture by Pr...
Jun 15, 2022•1 hr 2 min
How can life form in the Universe, and what are the necessary ingredients for habitability so that planets can sustain life? Can we expect life elsewhere in the solar system, or on exo-planets? This lecture offers a broader perspective from astrobiology, astrochemistry, and astrophysics on the habitability or otherwise of other planets beyond Planet Earth. A lecture by Professor Katherine Blundell The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College webs...
Jun 14, 2022•1 hr 4 min
The conflict in Ukraine – and earlier events like Brexit - led prominent asset managers such as BlackRock to declare the “end of globalisation.” Where is globalisation headed? This talk will take a supply chain perspective on globalisation: why we buy from or sell to far off places and build global supply chains to get the goods from raw material suppliers to manufacturers, and eventually to consumers. And it will look at why globalisation is under threat – besides geopolitics, the supply chain ...
Jun 13, 2022•1 hr
Spinning things are strange. Why does a spinning top stand up? Why doesn't a rolling wheel fall over? How does a falling cat always manage to land on its feet? How can the Hubble Space Telescope turn around in space? How do ice-skaters spin so fast? Taking a look at gyroscopes, this lecture explores the common threads that link all spinning things. The law of Conservation of Angular Momentum is far more subtle than we may think and there are many counter-intuitive observations. A lecture by Prof...
Jun 13, 2022•59 min
The Internet and enhanced tools of digitalisation and communication have given opportunities to investigative journalists undreamed of even 10 years ago, and globalisation has connected the newshounds and whistleblowers of every continent. From Latin-America to Nigeria, from India to Poland, courageous men and women are exposing problems and holding the powerful to account and in some cases, collaborating across continents. Governments, corporations and defence establishments need to take it int...
Jun 07, 2022•52 min
Modern humans evolved in Africa and successfully colonised the globe only in the last 100,000 years or so, a feat made possible by cultural and genetic adaptation. Human habitats differ dramatically in climate, available foods or pathogens, and genetic adaptation was mediated both by mutation and by interbreeding with archaic humans such as Neanderthals and Denisovans. Besides representing a mark of our past, these adaptations contribute to diversity in living people in traits such as skin colou...
Jun 07, 2022•47 min
What does Natural Prosperity look like? In this lecture we envision a new, more equitable future where wellbeing and nature-based solutions take the place of growth at any cost. Growth has almost vanished in industrialised countries since the global financial crisis of 2008. By breaking free from growth, a new economy based on natural prosperity can contribute to our survival and success in future. A lecture by Jacqueline McGlade The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are availa...
Jun 06, 2022•58 min
Early computers were either designed to do one thing or, if they were programmable, they would be loaded-up with the program, it would run, and then a new program would be run. But a modern computer gives the appearance of doing multiple things at once. This lecture shows that in reality it is a supreme juggling act and, like a plate-spinning act, should be accompanied by The Sabre Dance amazement and applause. A lecture by Richard Harvey The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture a...
Jun 01, 2022•1 hr 4 min
In the Commonwealth Caribbean, final appeals were traditionally heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, or ‘Her Majesty in Council’. Some islands have now replaced the Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice as their highest court. The choice of highest court remains a controversial political issue in the Caribbean. While the Privy Council has deep colonial and imperial roots, it has sometimes been an important safeguard for fundamental rights: what are the pros and cons?...
May 31, 2022•1 hr
The beautiful sine wave turns out to have a huge number of practical applications, from the motion of springs, to waves in the sea, to sound waves, light waves and more. It is curious that the function which defines the sine wave, sin(x), comes from comparing the lengths of sides in right-angled triangles – just about the least curvy things you could imagine. How does that concept result in the lovely curve of the sine wave? A lecture by Sarah Hart The transcript and downloadable versions of the...
May 31, 2022•1 hr
In the aftermath of the Soviet war victory, ideological control was tightened again, contrary to expectations. The six leading Soviet composers (including Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Myaskovsky and Khachaturian) were censured and humiliated by a Party Resolution against 'formalism'. This is a story of necessary retreat and compromise, but also of resilience and survival, when even under great pressure, composers produced works of deep lyricism and humanity. It will feature performances from: Laura ...
May 27, 2022•1 hr 16 min
How do you value stocks? Finance textbooks argue that you should look at their dividends. But many stocks don’t pay dividends, and even if they do, it’s hard to forecast what they’ll be in the future. And newspapers talk about a stock’s 'price-to-earnings' ratio which seems nothing to do with dividends. This lecture will explore the essentials of stock valuation, explain what causes stocks to rise and fall so wildly, and demystify the jargon used by finance practitioners. A lecture by Alex Edman...
May 25, 2022•51 min
This lecture looks at the very optimistic picture of trends in health around the world. Childhood deaths and the diseases of young adults are falling rapidly. Scientific advances are transforming the major chronic diseases and cancer. In low, middle and high income countries, health is improving through to old age. There are some major exceptions, such as dementia, but the extraordinary advances in health over the last decades is set to continue. A lecture by Chris Whitty The transcript and down...
May 23, 2022•57 min
Abstinence from sex is a requirement for many people seeking a spiritual life. In the U.S., abstinence-only education has been officially endorsed since 1981, despite the fact that America has the highest level of teen-pregnancies in the industrialized world. In more recent years, self-proclaimed 'Asexuals' have insisted that they have a distinct sexual identity. They have become targets of hate speech. What do these contrasting ways of thinking about abstinence tell us about modern sexual anxie...
May 20, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Pope Alexander VII did more for Rome than any other Pope when in 1655 he employed the sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini to reshape the city. Already celebrated as the greatest artist of his age, with Alexander, Bernini became part of one of the greatest artistic double acts in history, festooning Rome's historic centre with the sculptures, fountains and buildings that make it one of the world's wonders to this day. At a time when the papacy's political power and influence was in decline, it helped m...
May 19, 2022•56 min
Although life is probably widespread in the universe, our pale blue dot, Earth, is the only known place harbouring intelligent life. Even if we manage to stave off extinction by climate change, avoid a nuclear apocalypse and the dangers of runaway AI, biological life on our planet will eventually come to an end in about 5 billion years’ time. What are the astrophysical dangers to life on Earth, and the prospects for life’s survival into the distant future? A lecture by Roberto Trotta The transcr...
May 19, 2022•1 hr 1 min
With conspiracy theories and disinformation on the rise in both media and politics, is our democracy at risk? We may lose trust in society, in the institutions that inform us, and, ultimately, in the democratic process. Our sense of responsibility for the everyday information we share may diminish. Deceitful politicians may escape scrutiny by claiming that truths are false, falsehoods are true, and in any case nothing can be proved. How should we respond to these challenges? A lecture by Andrew ...
May 11, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Recent studies from around the world show insects are disappearing fast. If this continues, this will have profound consequences for mankind and for our planet, for insects provide a myriad of vital ‘ecosystem services’, such as pollination, pest control, decomposition and recycling. This lecture looks at the causes of this crisis, at possible solutions including more sustainable farming systems, and at what we can do individually to create insect-friendly habitats. A lecture by David Goulson Th...
May 11, 2022•59 min
Early Protestant empires in Asia – in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Taiwan and elsewhere – brought missionaries with them. Like their Catholic predecessors, they learned that winning converts was formidably difficult, especially in empires that were principally commercial. As this lecture will show, some concluded that the effort was futile; others grew increasingly coercive; but others still began to explore ways of learning from and with indigenous peoples. The results, for good or ill, set pat...
May 11, 2022•58 min
England’s earliest chair of mathematics was that of Gresham College, founded in 1597, but who came next? The earliest University-based mathematics professorship was Oxford’s Savilian Chair of Geometry, founded in 1619. This illustrated lecture outlines the 400-year history of this Chair, from its beginnings to the present day, and features such figures as Henry Briggs, John Wallis, Edmond Halley, James Joseph Sylvester and G. H. Hardy. A lecture by Robin Wilson The transcript and downloadable ve...
May 06, 2022•50 min
It seems that fakes are everywhere – very few domains of social life are exempt from concerns about fakes and a general ‘crisis of authenticity’. While fakes are often considered worthless, this talk argues that fakes can signal blind spots in our understanding of health-related matters. This lecture draws on examples from the art world and discussion of fakes in films and what these can tell us about fakes in domains of health and medicine. A lecture by Dr Patricia Kingori The transcript and do...
May 06, 2022•55 min
In this lecture we are going to look at how the supply chains in a wellbeing economy bring together local production of food and stewardship of nature. This approach, already followed by many indigenous peoples, has the potential to radically reshape supply chains across the world. Using examples from all around the world, the lecture will explore how placing nature’s value at the centre of production creates greater equality as well as resilience in the global food system. A lecture by Jacqueli...
May 04, 2022•1 hr 1 min
As we build on the economic recovery from COVID-19, we need to put our people and our purpose at the heart of financial and professional services to rebuild a more sustainable and inclusive economy - investing in better. Capitalising on client, customer and consumer demand for purpose driven businesses, the Lord Mayor’s Gresham Lecture 2022 will look at how we drive positive impact across the economy, driving sustainable finance and encourage more capital to contribute towards the UN’s SDGs thro...
May 04, 2022•1 hr 1 min
The tribulations of WWII (the “Great Patriotic War”) prompted a temporary liberalisation within Soviet culture. Images of horror and grief, formerly unacceptable, found their way into the wartime music of Soviet composers. The debate over Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony showed how the boundaries of Socialist Realism could be stretched, but also where the limits lay. The lecture will also discuss some works on Jewish themes (by Shostakovich, Weinberg and Gnessin) and their complex connection to th...
Apr 27, 2022•1 hr 14 min
Conic sections – the curves made by slicing through cones at various angles – were studied by the ancient Greeks, but because of their useful properties, have many real-world uses. Planets have elliptical orbits, projectiles move in parabolas, and cooling towers have hyperbolic cross-sections. But did you know that one of the most important curves in economics is a hyperbola? Or that ellipses are used to cure kidney stones? A lecture by Sarah Hart The transcript and downloadable versions of the ...
Apr 27, 2022•55 min
‘Hyper-globalisation’ and the power of finance culminated in the global financial crisis of 2008 that was potentially as severe as the Great Depression. The outcome was not public spending but austerity that hit the poor and Quantitative Easing that benefited the assets of the rich. The result was inequality and precarity, with barely any improvement in the standard of living for most by the time Covid hit. What signs are there of a much-needed transformation in attitudes to the economy? A lectu...
Apr 25, 2022•59 min
Integral transforms are the most rarefied of analyses – only used by a subset of engineers and computer scientists; laboured over by many an undergraduate, usually with the accompanying moans; yet every computer, every electronic circuit is an incomprehensible jumble of wires without knowledge of integral transforms. The most common, the Fourier transform, is estimated to be the algorithm that is most computed in the world but what of Laplace and z-transforms? This lecture will explain without u...
Apr 21, 2022•58 min
Organised disinformation about the Covid-19 crisis has degraded public understanding of the crisis and threatened the reputation of credible vaccines and health policy. This talk looks at the broad structures and recent history of computational propaganda - the use of algorithms, automation and human curation to distribute misleading information over social media. Dr Howard reviews the latest evidence about social media use during our current health crisis, and reports on the very latest themes ...
Apr 20, 2022•57 min
The scherzo (‘joke’) emerged in the vocal music of Monteverdi and became integrated into the string quartets and symphonies of Beethoven. Haydn and Mozart loved to fool around with their audiences and Scott Bradley’s scores for Tom & Jerry are integral parts of the comedic presentation. Clever composers have pranked our emotions for hundreds of years, from slapstick and belly laughs to gallows humour and cruel jibes. This lecture deconstructs musical laughter of superiority, of recognition, ...
Apr 19, 2022•57 min
