Sir Christopher Wren’s success was underpinned by his consummate skill as a courtier, retaining the confidence of four monarchs through social and economic disasters and political revolution. Wren's life at court can be minutely reconstructed and shows a man who was first and foremost a courtier serving the architectural whims of the Stuart dynasty. Taking Wren the courtier as its starting point this lecture uses new research to paint his talents and career in a new light. A lecture by Simon Thu...
Jun 26, 2023•59 min
Graph theory is the study of connections, as may be seen in the London Underground map with stations linked by rails, or a transportation network with cities linked by roads. Dating back to the 18th century, the subject increasingly took hold in the 20th century, developing rapidly from mainly recreational puzzles to a mainstream area of study with widespread applications and strong links to computer science. This illustrated historical talk will survey this century of development. A lecture by ...
Jun 26, 2023•2 hr 1 min
Did paganism survive all through the Middle Ages, as scholars once thought, remaining the religion of the common people, while the elite had embraced Christianity? Or did it die out earlier? This lecture will consider a broad range of evidence, including figures in seasonal folk rites, carvings in churches, the records of trials for witchcraft and a continuing veneration of natural places such as wells. It will also compare ancient paganism and medieval Christianity as successive religious syste...
Jun 20, 2023•2 hr 2 min
Alan Turing is well-known for his work on the Enigma code in World War II, and his theoretical work underpinning computer science. But he is less well-known for his pioneering work on one of the great challenges of biology – how do complex living organisms develop from tiny collections of cells? This lecture will discuss Turing’s ground-breaking work in this area, showing how patterns like a leopard’s spots or a zebra’s stripes can occur in nature. A lecture by Sarah Hart recorded on 6 June 2023...
Jun 16, 2023•2 hr
What are the risks of using technological innovations in business? There are risks associated with the crypto world, including custodial risk and economic exploits. There are also regulatory risks with competition from central banks issuing their own digital currencies, and risks associated with extrapolation from patterns detected in big data by AI systems. Applying algorithms blindly can lead to miscarriages of justice, exploitation, and discrimination. So how should society mitigate these ris...
Jun 14, 2023•2 hr 2 min
Sickle Cell Disease can only be understood in the context of racial politics. Predominantly seen in populations of African heritage, the diagnosis and treatment of this disease from the 1920s onwards draws attention to the importance of culture in biogenetic understandings of disease. Medical practices associated with sickle cell disease also shed light on health care disparities and the cultural construction of pain. A lecture by Joanna Bourke recorded on 1 June 2023 at Barnard's Inn Hall, Lond...
Jun 13, 2023•2 hr 4 min
The Universe is expanding, increasingly so. Will this persist or will it collapse back on itself? If it does expand forever, what happens to the galaxies? What is the long-term trajectory for the ultimate in collapsed matter, black holes? A lecture by Katherine Blundell OBE recorded on 31 May 2023 at Barbican Centre, London. The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/end-universe Gresham College has ...
Jun 12, 2023•2 hr 6 min
The Annual Sir Thomas Gresham Lecture 2023 The period from 1988 to 2003, was one of extraordinary optimism. Every year the number of democracies increased, human rights improved, violent conflict reduced, there were fewer refugees and there was less global poverty. It was an era of triumph for the western liberal Democratic model for the United States and the politics of the centre ground. But the next 11 years was disrupted by series of humiliating shocks to the west – the fiasco of the Iraq wa...
Jun 09, 2023•2 hr 14 min
AIDS is an example of a highly stigmatising ailment. This lecture explores Susan Sontag’s aphorism that “metaphors kill”. Focussing on the period before the invention of antiretroviral drugs, the lecture also addresses questions of civil liberties, gender and sexuality, race, religion, and cultures of both harm and care. By paying attention to how hierarchies of grief were created and contested, it addresses questions of loss as well as solidarity. A lecture by Joanna Bourke recorded on 30 May 2...
Jun 08, 2023•2 hr 1 min
Since the death of George Floyd in May 2020, some have asked whether we need a police force. This lecture will examine the role and purpose of the police in our society. What do the police do? What is their historical and social context? Does the current system of policing work? If so, for who? Are all citizens in our society policed fairly? Should we defund the police? If there were no police what might replace them? Are the alternatives realistic? A lecture by Leslie Thomas KC recorded on 25 M...
Jun 07, 2023•2 hr 7 min
In partnership with the London Mathematical Society. The first female Fields Medalist Maryam Mirzakhani, left an astonishing mathematical legacy at her untimely death in 2017. This talk will explain the lasting contributions of her work to our understanding of the world, and give a glimpse into Professor Mirzakhani's imaginative and hands-on approach to mathematics. This lecture will be delivered by Professor Holly Krieger who is the Corfield Lecturer in Mathematics and the Corfield Fellow at Mu...
Jun 06, 2023•2 hr 11 min
The climate had a bad year in 2009. Talks collapsed. Emails were hacked. And several papers found even 50-80% reductions weren’t enough: we had to get to net zero. Yet six years later, negotiators from 190 countries acknowledged the need for net zero in the Paris Agreement, even resolving to try to limit warming to 1.5 °C, which means net zero global emissions around 2050. Can it be done? It certainly can. Will it be done? That’s up to all of us. A lecture by Myles Allen recorded on 23 May 2023 ...
Jun 01, 2023•2 hr 1 min
AI is another major technological innovation. AI needs data, or more precisely, big organized data. Most data processing is about making it useful for automatic systems such as machine learning, deep learning, and other AI systems. But one big problem with AI systems is that they lack context. An AI system is a pattern recognition machine devoid of any understanding of how the world works. This lecture discusses how AI systems are used in business and their limitations. A lecture by Raghavendra ...
Jun 01, 2023•2 hr 2 min
In the early 20th century, the system of tonal harmony started to break down. The vertical accumulations of notes became too complex for our powers of memory and recognition, and some have suggested that this led to a loss of meaning and even humanity in music. In this lecture we will discuss expressive uses of atonality, and also the return of familiar chords to music, but outside the grammar that used to give them their logic. A lecture by Marina Frolova-Walker recorded on 18 May 2023 at LSO S...
May 31, 2023•2 hr 24 min
** Please note that this lecture will contain several mentions of early animal testing which some audience members may find upsetting** Christopher Wren was part of probably the first ‘research team’ assembled in Oxford in the 17th century, dedicated to better understanding the human body. With colleagues, Wren contributed to: the near-discovery of oxygen; the first human transfusion of blood; the first intravenous therapy and first intravenous anaesthetic; the description of the anatomy of the ...
May 30, 2023•50 min
Florence Nightingale is the founder of modern nursing and a pioneer of data science and medical statistics. Her innovative use of statistical diagrams helped people see just how many deaths were being caused by poor hygiene in military hospitals. This lecture will look at the importance and legacy of Nightingale’s work, which led to her becoming, in 1858, the first woman elected to the Royal Statistical Society. A lecture by Sarah Hart recorded on 16 May 2023 at David Game College, London. The t...
May 25, 2023•1 hr
Microbes have existed on Earth for almost 4 billion years; 3x as long as multicellular organisms and 1000x longer than humans. So what does the future hold? Will recent advances in genetic engineering enable us to create bacterial ‘drug-delivery’ machines or self-replicating microbial vaccines? What will the first human-created lifeform mean for our understanding of biology? Will humanity end with a ‘microbial bang’, or might microbes perhaps be the solution we need to spread our wings beyond th...
May 23, 2023•59 min
The normal heart is very robust. Some people are born with abnormalities of the heart structure. Others acquire damage to the heart valves which become too narrow or unable to close properly. The muscle and linings of the heart may be affected by infections, drugs or other inherited or acquired diseases. All of these can cause heart failure or death if not treated. This lecture will consider the prevention and treatment of structural heart disease. A lecture by Sir Chris Whitty recorded on 16 Ma...
May 22, 2023•52 min
Faceless hackers in hoodies, intergalactic warriors, and technology out of human control: are these representations of cyber threats accurate? And what might be their impact on levels of personal safety and security for organisations? This talk presents ideas for how we might empower people to protect themselves and help address human issues in the IT sector by thinking differently about how we portray security threats and operations. A lecture by Victoria Baines recorded on 9 May 2023 at Barnar...
May 18, 2023•55 min
Dementia is often designated the “plague” of the twenty-first century. What does a cultural history of dementia reveal about commonly circulating ideas relating to the brain, personhood, embodiment, and normal/abnormal? What difference do “labels” make – “melancholy”, “lunacy”, “dotage”, and “senility”, for example? The lecture uses the historical development of the science of geriatrics to reflect on the experience of ageing and claims about the modern self. A lecture by Joanna Bourke recorded ...
May 15, 2023•2 hr 1 min
The study of ‘Women and Islam’ has expanded exponentially in recent decades. This lecture maps out emerging agendas, for example, the growing interest in women’s role in the transmission of Islamic knowledge and practice. It examines new avenues such as conceptions of women and gender in Muslim theology, using the theological debate on whether women could be prophets as a case study. How might this help us to rethink our own ideas about women in Islam? A lecture by Dr Shuruq Naguib recorded on 9...
May 12, 2023•2 hr 1 min
St Bartholomew’s is the oldest hospital in England still operating on its original site and will celebrate its 900th anniversary in 2023. This lecture tells its history, from 1123 to today, via its people, buildings and the events that defined this iconic medical institution. Sir Thomas Lauder Brunton's work in vascular pharmacology, Sir James Paget's discovery of bone and breast disease, and Ethel Gordon Fenwick’s campaign for registered state nursing are all important elements of Barts’ histor...
May 10, 2023•52 min
This lecture will explore the technologies that make tall buildings possible. With the current climate crisis in mind, what is the carbon footprint of a building, and how can it be reduced? Finally, the lecturer will present some recent projects by Foster + Partners, and set out his vision for the future of tall buildings, the new technologies that are improving them, and the benefits they offer to society. A lecture by Roger Ridsdill Smith recorded on 27 April 2023 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London...
May 09, 2023•2 hr 1 min
Since the late 19th century, scholars have thought the poetry and stories of medieval Wales, gathered in manuscripts such as the Red Book of Hergest and the Book of Taliesin, represent stories about pagan gods and goddesses – but recently this has been challenged. These books deal with magic and enchantment and contain vivid characters such as Rhiannon, the proud and wilful Arianrhod, the beautiful and treacherous flower-maiden Blodeuwedd, the decent and vulnerable Lleu Llaw Gyffes, and the supr...
May 05, 2023•1 hr
Design excellence should be at the heart of all development. But what makes design good or bad? How can you build in beauty and longevity? Professor Sadie Morgan’s lecture will showcase practical examples where early testing and thinking have elevated the impact of infrastructure projects. Looking at both policy and projects, from the National Infrastructure Strategy policy document for the NIC, to the Birmingham Curzon Street Station for HS2, her lecture will examine the elements behind making ...
May 04, 2023•2 hr 1 min
Why do we crown Kings and Queens? And why has this ancient ritual survived in Britain, uniquely among European countries? What purpose can pomp and pageantry serve in a modern constitutional monarchy? This talk introduces the history of the British coronation, from its 10th -century origins to the present day, and explores how its meaning has changed over time. It will focus on moments when this religious ceremony came under intense scrutiny, such as during the Reformation, or when the first eve...
May 03, 2023•1 hr
Since the 1970s feminist bible scholars have been reclaiming the stories of biblical women. From Eve to Esther this lecture will draw on both biblical accounts and cultural representations to bring their stories to life. Whether wives, mothers, and sisters; sex workers and foreign agents; prophetesses and queens; wise women and witches; victims and heroes and so much more, their stories reveal to us not only who these women were, but how their stories continue to resonate in the modern world. A ...
Apr 28, 2023•59 min
What is the role of criminal law in society, and do we need it? How did English criminal law develop? The traditional justifications for criminalisation are retribution, deterrence, containment and control: do they stand up to scrutiny? What are the alternatives to criminalisation, such as restorative and transformative justice? Should we abolish or reform criminal law? How should a just legal system respond to harm and conflict? A lecture by Leslie Thomas KC recorded on 20 April 2023 at Barnard...
Apr 26, 2023•2 hr 5 min
When we connect our model of the global carbon cycle to the model of atmosphere-ocean temperatures we find every tonne of CO2 we dump into the atmosphere ratchets up global temperatures, permanently, by around half a trillionth of a degree Celsius. So, to stop global warming, we need net zero carbon dioxide emissions. And to limit warming to 2°C, we need to limit the total amount we emit to around 3.7 trillion tonnes of CO2: one trillion tonnes of carbon. A lecture by Myles Allen recorded on 18 ...
Apr 25, 2023•2 hr
The UK’s nuclear power reactors have provided a significant proportion of the UK’s low carbon electricity over their lifetimes. Most will retire in this decade. Advances in technology mean that modern systems can compete with other forms of low carbon energy. The lecture will discuss the progress made in development of Small Modular Reactors which make these systems promising for future deployment and the additional functionality offered by next generation systems for hydrogen production and hea...
Apr 25, 2023•1 hr
