Gresham College Lectures

What makes a piece of music challenging, bland, intriguing, beautiful or ugly? This lecture explores the concept of ‘musical flavour’ formed by intervallic, rhythmic and timbral components and how they contribute to a sense of consonance and dissonance. In particular we look at the interval vector, a system by which harmonic objects are analysed as a series of ‘handshakes’ between pitches, providi...

Boyajian's star, a faint and unprepossessing presence in the constellation of Cygnus, attracted astronomers' attention when it began to flicker alarmingly. We will discuss explanations for its behaviour, from disintegrating comets to alien megastructures, and consider how modern astronomy hunts for the truly unusual objects in the Universe. For this task, the involvement of large numbers...

This lecture makes a survey of learned ceremonial magic in Europe throughout history and demonstrates that both of the customary claims made for it by practitioners since the Middle Ages are actually correct: that there is a continuous tradition of it and that it is ultimately derived from ancient Egypt. In doing so, it also shows what is distinctive about Western magic. This lecture was recorded...

Queer urban life has changed dramatically in England over the last seventy years. Shifts in the economy, culture, attitudes, and technology have all played their part in this. London has often been used as the barometer for these shifts, suggesting they were experienced in similar ways across the nation. In an exploration of the queer contours of Leeds, Manchester, Brighton and Plymouth, this lect...

How are refugees protected in English law? This lecture traces the history of refugee protection, the limits of the Refugee Convention, and changes to the law in recent decades that have made refugees’ lives increasingly difficult. The Government’s latest tranche of policies: the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 and the Rwanda offshoring scheme, are particularly brutal. Is it time to reverse anti-...

Climate Change is predicted to spark increasing threats to food security and demands for climate reparations, fuelling geopolitical instability. Probably the greatest risk of all, is tension over solar geo-engineering: the idea of reflecting away sunlight deliberately to modify global climate. Recognizing solar geo-engineering as an inherently destabilising technology, because any such programme w...

Most of the world’s 102 million forcibly displaced people – refugees – lack access to reliable, affordable, sustainable energy. Attempts to provide such energy in refugee camps have been marred by governance challenges, and a lack of technical expertise within humanitarian organisations. But new research discussed in this lecture on the lived experience of refugees is helping cast a light on ways...

In the Great Depression, producers of food and raw materials complained that they received low prices and paid high prices for industrial imports. Latin America adopted ‘import substituting industrialisation’ to encourage production behind tariff barriers. This approach continued after the war as more countries gained independence. Did this policy result in inefficient industries and state regulat...

Evidence that childhood lead exposure caused stunted intelligence and behavioural problems motivated efforts to ban lead in petrol, with the world finally eradicating leaded fuel in 2021. This is a public health success story, but it took a long time to force industry to take action. The lead released from historic emissions persists within the environment and there is emerging evidence of continu...

The Black Welsh singer started out recording cover versions of American songbook classics but rose to international fame after her performance of the title song of Goldfinger. Movie songs, successful albums and popular television specials followed, but so too did personal tragedy and a highly critical (and gendered) reputation of her professional behaviour in the media. The word ‘diva’ has been ap...

We often think of evolution as ‘something that happened’ in the past. But of course, evolution is a constant, powerful process and one that is often unleashed by human behaviours. Often this is deliberate, we’ll look at how artificial selection has shaped our crops, livestock and domestic pets, and we’ll find out how modern science is uncovering the genetic changes that lie beneath. But sometimes...

We increasingly share with online services intimate details of our lives, such as mental health and reproductive data. Far from being a ‘tick box’ legal exercise, data protection is about fair and responsible use of our personal information. It gives us rights which we are entitled to exercise against mega corporations, governments, and anyone who processes our data. It’s time to get empowered. Be...

Governments increasingly use detention as a central component of immigration and asylum policy. The lecture addresses several important questions. What does immigration detention look like? How is it a reflection of those societies that tolerate its use and the policies that support and endorse its expansion? What place does it have in the journeys of those migrating across borders today? Using ph...

Demokratia is the power (kratos) of the people (demos). But what kind of power, and who constitutes the people? Although ancient democracy is often stylized as “direct democracy” and so positioned as very different from modern “representative democracy,” in fact, issues of accountability are central to both. Ancient Greek models of holding leaders to account are still relevant. Furthermore, the an...

In partnership with Novartis   Treatments and research in cancer are moving very fast, giving new hope to many. This event will bring together speakers in the series to delve further into new treatments and research in cancer, including immunotherapy, genomics and AI imaging.  This lecture was recorded by Parker Moss, Dr Richard Sidebottom, Sanjay Popat and James Larkin on 12th March 2024 at Barna...

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a combination of hyperactivity, impulsiveness and inattention which significantly impacts those living with the condition. The medical approach to the ADHD pattern of behaviour has been very successful in childhood but the results have been somewhat less impressive in adulthood. This has led to a reappraisal of both causes and treatment in both ag...

The Nobel Laureate economist Amartya Sen has posed the question, ‘equality of what?’ The value of equality depends on what standard is chosen. As ancient Greek thinkers recognized, equality can be deployed to exclude as well as to liberate, and its relationship to law and freedom needs to be interrogated. If equal social freedom is a product of isonomia—the equal application of laws to all—those l...

This lecture looks at the role played by nudity in European religion and magic from ancient times to the present, with some reference to a global context. It reveals the unexpected pattern and explains why it has been marginal to religion, except in initiation ceremonies, but very important in magical practices. This lecture was recorded by Ronald Hutton on 6th March 2024 at Barnard's Inn Hal...

The impacts of climate change that probably worry people the most are irreversible changes that affect the entire world, such as a collapse of the west Antarctic ice sheet, shutdown of the global thermohaline circulation, loss of the Amazon biome, or a melting of Arctic permafrost. Sudden, unpredictable and irreversible changes can happen in response to a gradual warming. What is known about these...

We regularly hear of amazing coincidences – people winning the lottery twice, or getting a phone call from a long-lost friend just when you were thinking about them. Is this telepathy? Is there a greater power at work when someone survives seven lightning strikes? There can be terrible consequences from the misunderstanding of coincidence. This lecture was recorded by Sarah Hart on 5th March 2024...

Today, the UK is a deeply unequal society. This lecture critically evaluates the relationship between English law and capitalism and explores how legal changes over the past 30 years, such as deregulating the housing market and weakening trade unions, have widened wealth inequality. The lecture examines the role of lawyers in addressing these issues. This lecture was recorded by Leslie Thomas KC o...

Our understanding of autism has changed over the last forty years.  Historically, autism was diagnosed based on narrow criteria. Today, while still defined by social and communication difficulties, rigid interests and repetitive behaviours, the autism spectrum is far wider, and the historical under-diagnosis of women and girls is being addressed. ‘Autisms’ are more often discussed as neurodivergen...

We often change our minds after we decide to do something.  In finance and business though, if you think you might like to change your mind you will have to pay your counterparty so that your right to change your mind is agreed in advance. But how much is the right to change your mind worth?  Option pricing is the art of determining the value of this right. This lecture was recorded by Raghavendra...

A musical scale – a hierarchical collection of pitches spread over multiple octaves – is a fundamental building block in the creation of melodies and harmonies in a wide range of musical practices. But where do these scales come from? Are they invented or discovered? This lecture looks at the history, theory and artistry of scale construction in a wide range of styles, and how each scale can, thro...

Major geophysical events such as earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes can occur with little or no warning and have catastrophic effects. This lecture will consider the health impacts of these natural disasters and how best to minimise them. Trauma often dominates the first days after the initial event but predicting the medium-term effects such as infectious diseases can head off predictable second...