Gresham College Lectures

The Royal Society was founded at a Gresham College lecture delivered by Robert Hooke. We imagine that it would have been something like this panel which features five of the Emeritus Gresham Professors of Astronomy and thus the leading thinkers in the field. Together, the panel tackles issues of profound importance to the future of Astronomy and answer questions from the audience. This is a once in a lifetime gathering and a must watch for all Astronomers and Physicists.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/a-cosmic-perspective-panel-discussion

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk

Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege

The Royal Society was founded at a Gresham College lecture delivered by Robert Hooke. We imagine that it would have been something like this panel which features five of the Emeritus Gresham Professors of Astronomy and thus the leading thinkers in the field. Together, the panel tackles issues of profound importance to the future of Astronomy and answer questions from the audience. This is a once in a lifetime gathering and a must watch for all Astronomers and Physicists.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/a-cosmic-perspective-panel-discussion

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.
Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege

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The 'curious and ingenious' men who met at Gresham College and founded the Royal Society were fascinated by the Sun and Planets; the 'fixed stars' were a distant mystery to them. Over succeeding centuries, cosmic horizons have expanded - largely thanks to ever more powerful instruments. So has our understanding - though each advance brings into focus a new set of mysteries.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/a-cosmic-perspective-four-centuries-of-expanding-horizons

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.
Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege

Support the show

What lessons should the world learn about resource management from one of the most densely populated cities in the world: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/singapore-at-50-oil-and-water-inextricably-mixed

Modern civilization depends on both energy and water. The world is facing crises in the availability of both. Water is needed to produce energy and energy is needed to process and move water. Different countries address their challenges in different ways and with different degrees of urgency – Singapore shows how a small and densely populated island can successfully balance the needs of people and environment

Globally the energy challenge is to meet the needs of a growing world population while burning less fossil fuel. The water challenge is to meet the needs of agriculture, industry and people, while leaving sufficient for the other kinds of life on earth. Lord Oxburgh, previously Chairman of the British House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology and Chairman of Shell UK, is a recipient of Singapore's Honorary Citizen Award.

This lecture will be delivered as part of the 2015 City of London Festival.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/singapore-at-50-oil-and-water-inextricably-mixed

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk

Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege

What lessons should the world learn about resource management from one of the most densely populated cities in the world: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/singapore-at-50-oil-and-water-inextricably-mixed


Modern civilization depends on both energy and water. The world is facing crises in the availability of both. Water is needed to produce energy and energy is needed to process and move water. Different countries address their challenges in different ways and with different degrees of urgency - Singapore shows how a small and densely populated island can successfully balance the needs of people and environment

Globally the energy challenge is to meet the needs of a growing world population while burning less fossil fuel. The water challenge is to meet the needs of agriculture, industry and people, while leaving sufficient for the other kinds of life on earth. Lord Oxburgh, previously Chairman of the British House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology and Chairman of Shell UK, is a recipient of Singapore's Honorary Citizen Award.

This lecture will be delivered as part of the 2015 City of London Festival.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/singapore-at-50-oil-and-water-inextricably-mixed

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.
Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege

Support the show

The benefits of singing in a choir are many and various. In particular, there are positive physical outcomes and mental health benefits.

These are related to improved cardiovascular fitness (including lung function), as well as improved mood and general alertness, often allied to a feeling of being spiritually uplifted. Because singing involves many different areas of the brain acting in concert, there are often associated cognitive benefits, such as improvements in children’s reading ability that are linked to increased auditory discrimination that supports phonological development.

There are also social and psychosocial benefits, as singing in a collective can improve participants’ sense of belonging and of being socially included by engendering a positive sense of community. Benefits are available across the lifespan and are indicated pre-birth in the final months of foetal life. At the other end of the lifespan, singing can bring a stronger and more positive sense of identity in a context where there is often a sense of loss of control due to the challenges of aging. There are also musical and cultural benefits as participants gain skills, knowledge and understanding of the nature and place of music in their lives and the lives of others.

This lecture will be delivered as part of the 2015 City of London Festival.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-benefits-of-singing-in-a-choir

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk

Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege

A discussion of the history of busking and street music in the City of London: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-history-of-street-performance

Drawing on a range of historic sources – including selections from Henry Mayhew's London Labour and the London Poor and Charles Babbage's Passages in the Life of a Philosopher – particular focus will be given to the way in which various residents of the City responded to the ‘street music problem’ of Victorian London. This is by far the most heavily documented period in the history of busking and street music in the City. The street music ‘problem’ emerged in light of the growing middle and literary classes and the disruption the presence such street musicians caused to the quiet tenor of their home-working lives.

The debates that occurred here – which involved notable figures such as Charles Dickens, Charles Leech, and Charles Babbage – resulted in the development of the Street Music Act of 1864 and paved the way for much of the subsequent legislative control of street musicians in the City. The debates about street performances in London in this period shed light on the present-day situation of busking and street music in the City.

This lecture will be delivered as a part of the 2015 City of London Festival.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-history-of-street-performance

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk

Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege

A discussion of the history of busking and street music in the City of London: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-history-of-street-performance

Drawing on a range of historic sources - including selections from Henry Mayhew's London Labour and the London Poor and Charles Babbage's Passages in the Life of a Philosopher - particular focus will be given to the way in which various residents of the City responded to the 'street music problem' of Victorian London. This is by far the most heavily documented period in the history of busking and street music in the City. The street music 'problem' emerged in light of the growing middle and literary classes and the disruption the presence such street musicians caused to the quiet tenor of their home-working lives.

The debates that occurred here - which involved notable figures such as Charles Dickens, Charles Leech, and Charles Babbage - resulted in the development of the Street Music Act of 1864 and paved the way for much of the subsequent legislative control of street musicians in the City. The debates about street performances in London in this period shed light on the present-day situation of busking and street music in the City.

This lecture will be delivered as a part of the 2015 City of London Festival.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-history-of-street-performance

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.
Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege

Support the show

The benefits of singing in a choir are many and various. In particular, there are positive physical outcomes and mental health benefits.

These are related to improved cardiovascular fitness (including lung function), as well as improved mood and general alertness, often allied to a feeling of being spiritually uplifted. Because singing involves many different areas of the brain acting in concert, there are often associated cognitive benefits, such as improvements in children's reading ability that are linked to increased auditory discrimination that supports phonological development.

There are also social and psychosocial benefits, as singing in a collective can improve participants' sense of belonging and of being socially included by engendering a positive sense of community. Benefits are available across the lifespan and are indicated pre-birth in the final months of foetal life. At the other end of the lifespan, singing can bring a stronger and more positive sense of identity in a context where there is often a sense of loss of control due to the challenges of aging. There are also musical and cultural benefits as participants gain skills, knowledge and understanding of the nature and place of music in their lives and the lives of others.

This lecture will be delivered as part of the 2015 City of London Festival.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/the-benefits-of-singing-in-a-choir

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.
Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege

Support the show

How do you rebeuild one of the world's largest cities? You need a cunning plan: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/replanning-london-after-the-second-world-war

London was, during the Second World War, the largest and most obvious target, and the most badly-bombed city in the country. Ideas about rebuilding began very early, even during the Blitz itself. The number, scale and variety of plans was large, ranging from the “informal” – produced by individuals, and probably more for promoting themselves than as serious contributions, and a range of organisations – to the “formal”, produced by Borough Councils and other authorities, by their own staff or eminent consultants. Central Government was also involved, in urging some authorities to make plans, in recommending consultants, and in commissioning large-scale plans.

The hierarchy of official plans (for the City, County and Greater London) were the culmination of ideas about city structure, function and design, as well as approaches to planning, that had been developing before the war. They were hugely influential elsewhere in Britain and, through various forms of promotion, elsewhere in the world. This talk will explore the range of plans, what was proposed, and the gap between proposals and what was eventually – often years or decades later – actually built.

This lecture will be delivered as a part of the 2015 City of London Festival.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/replanning-london-after-the-second-world-war

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 1,800 lectures free to access or download from the website.

Website: http://www.gresham.ac.uk

Twitter: http://twitter.com/GreshamCollege

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greshamcollege