Gresham College Lectures

Half of all child deaths are associated with under-nutrition, with devastating impacts and far-reaching health consequences. Left unchecked, under-nutrition will potentially create an inter-generational, self-reinforcing pathogenic cycle of violence and behavioural disruption, that can spread around the world through human migration. Eradicating malnutrition requires that more nutritious food is a...

Over the past 150 years medical science has developed beyond all recognition yet there is a huge gap between these scientific developments on the one hand, and our understanding of the psychological demands of medical work on the other. This lack of psychological mindedness permeates the profession from selection into medical school onwards and results in worrying levels of mental distress amongst...

2018 saw a seismic change in the willingness of women to speak out about sexual abuse they had suffered at work and the willingness of others to hear and act on it. This year (2018) saw the creation of a #metoo movement called 'Behind the Gown' created by a group of barristers committed to tackling sexual harassment at the Bar. This lecture frankly confronts the anecdotal evidence and su...

Medea, Antigone, Oedipus and Lysistrata - these are just some of the characters from ancient Greek drama who still walk our contemporary stages and haunt our imagination. One of the classical Athenians' most important inventions was the medium of theatre. From the mid-sixth century BCE they gathered to watch tragedies, and later comedies in their sanctuary of the wine-god Dionysus on the sout...

Where did we come from? This question has always intrigued human thought. Professor Silk will describe the modern scientist's view of the origin of the cosmos. Here is the sequence: from an uncertain beginning, due to limitations in our knowledge that arise from our ongoing search for a theory that unites quantum theory with gravity, to a primordial ball of fire. Glowing embers condensed from...

Alexa, Siri and Cortana are among a number of voice-enabled digital assistants that can not only speak to us but understand us. Sci-fi films had talking computers many years ago. Why has it taken so long to crack the speech processing puzzle? Why do we find speech processing so effortless and machines find it so daunting? And what progress can we expect in the next few years? A lecture by Richard...

With over 80% of organic carbon being present in the form of cellulose, lignin and starch, it is unsurprising many groups have attempted to use these as feedstock chemicals and materials. Extensive hydrogen bonding makes the plasticisation of starch and the dissolution of cellulose difficult. This talk shows that the incorporation of a simple salt can lead to a flexible plastic with mechanical pro...

The brain is well protected against most infections, but once they get into or around the brain they can cause fatal or serious long-term consequences. Some bacterial, viral and parasitic infections are particularly well adapted to the brain, ranging from meningococcal meningitis and encephalitis to cerebral malaria and sleeping sickness. Transmission is by several routes including airborne and vi...

The Romantics invented the modern idea of childhood. In the third of his lectures on the rhetoric of Romanticism, Jonathan Bate will explore how they did so, with particular emphasis on the role of children in the poetry of Blake and Wordsworth. He will also show how Wordsworth's memory of his own childhood allowed him to invent something else as well: the art of poetic autobiography. A lectu...

The rousing finale of Mikhail Glinka's patriotic A Life for the Tsar (1836) guaranteed it a place as the traditional season opener in Russian opera houses. A Life was a powerful and attractive presentation of the Romanov dynasty's foundation myth, but it is also considered the first true Russian opera, since its predecessors relied heavily on foreign models. A century later, with a modif...

Shh! You're in a classical concert - quiet! What has become, in the 20th and 21st centuries, a musical tradition of as-quiet-as-possible, cough-free contemplation and passive disengagement in concert halls was not always that way. In fact, it wasn't ever that way: the way that audiences listen is inscribed in the fabric of music of the last millennium in Western classical music, a spectr...

Many claims have been made, both positive and negative, for the transformative nature of internet news in the age of social media. An historical perspective is brought to that debate, by looking at the effects that earlier changes to news production have had for politics, society and commerce. It focuses on two major revolutions - the creation of the mass media in the 19th century, and the broadca...

Huge volcanic eruptions are the only natural hazard apart from the impact of an asteroid that can cause a global catastrophe. In the short history of civilisation, there have been few volcanic events with global effects. Much larger magnitude eruptions happened regularly in the millions of years previous. Such extreme eruptions perturb global climate for years and can have severe environmental con...

With over 80% of organic carbon being present in the form of cellulose, lignin and starch, it is unsurprising many groups have attempted to use these as feedstock chemicals and materials. Extensive hydrogen bonding makes the plasticisation of starch and the dissolution of cellulose difficult. This talk shows that the incorporation of a simple salt can lead to a flexible plastic with mechanical pro...

Climate change is important, controversial, and the subject of huge debate. Much of our understanding of the future climate comes from the use of complex climate models based on mathematical and physical ideas. In this talk, Professor Budd will describe how these models work and the assumptions that go into them. He will discuss how reliable our predictions of climate change are, and show how math...

Jesus talked more about money than about anything else. Can the teachings of a penniless ancient ascetic be applied to debates about Brexit, protests about global capitalism, and wider investment not only in defence, alcohol or tobacco but also positively in the environment, sustainability and good governance? Professor Burridge considers ethical material across the New Treatment, drawing upon exp...

This lecture will re-examine how the First World War ended, anticipating the centenary commemorations in 2018. It will discuss both why Germany requested a ceasefire, and why the Allies and America granted one. It will argue that the German army was near collapse, and that Germany was not defeated by a 'stab in the back' at home. None the less, the Allies had good reasons not to press on...

Leading actor and Shakespeare scholar Michael Pennington discusses the direct effect on the dramatist's writing of the theatres he wrote for, so different from ours. From cinematic intimacy to heroic spaciousness, his plays reflect his actors' technique and the social range of his audience, allowing him the means to look further and deeper into the human condition, its public and inner l...

Professor Wilks will discuss the notion of an artificial Companion, a long-term software agent that could be present in any device: a screen, handbag or even a furry toy - and which understands the person it 'lives' with and whose memories and knowledge it comes to acquire and manage through conversation. One can think of a core function of Companion as living with an elderly person, lon...

The Protestant Reformation confronted Europeans with a clamour of religious alternatives. Catholics and Protestants taught their people to doubt the other side's religion (while still believing their own) and taught them to be incredulous while maintaining that faith is a virtue. This lecture will trace how, as Europe's religious landscape fractured, some people fell between the cracks....

Medicine demands factual knowledge, physical skill and the ability to work with patients and colleagues. Most of the time clinicians learn from other clinicians, studying hard within a frame that discourages exploration outside medicine. Focusing on the performance of medicine challenges this frame by connecting with actors, musicians, craftsmen, dancers and other experts. This lecture explores th...

Crime thrives in a social environment which is conductive to its commission, and it harms the society which spawns it most of all. That is as true of bribery and corruption as it is true of knife-armed postcode gangs. If the common ethical code that prevents the vast majority from offending in a particular way begins to break down, there is a serious problem. A lecture by Nicholas Cooke QC 30 Octo...

THE 2018 PETER NAILOR MEMORIAL LECTURE ON DEFENCE Today's cry in democratic states, and not just from representatives of populist parties, is government with the people rather than government for the people. This presents a problem for issues of war and strategy. Presidents and Prime Ministers, in presenting their decisions to their electorates, use rhetoric borrowed from the Second World War...

In his new book, Haunted by Christ, Richard Harries explores the role of faith in the lives of twenty novelists and poets. Non-believers like Samuel Beckett and Philip Pullman as well as believers like T.S. Eliot and W.H. Auden all struggled with faith. At a time when religions language is meaningless or feels stale for many, we can rediscover its freshness and force in the works of novelists and...

THE 2018 BRITISH SOCIETY FOR THE HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS / GRESHAM COLLEGE ANNUAL LECTURE As a commemoration of the end of the First World War, the event will focus on the theme of mathematics in war and peacetime. The main speaker, Professor David Aubin will speak on Science Leaders under Fire: Stories about Mathematicians Killed in World War I (6 pm), preceded by shorter presentations by Professo...