Gresham College Lectures

The Mathematics of Coincidence - Sarah Hart

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 thi...

Wealth Inequality: English Law's Unintended Legacy? - Leslie Thomas KC

22 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today, the UK is a deeply unequal society.This lecture critically evaluates the relationship between English law and capitalism and explores how legal...

Changes in the Concept of Autism - Francesca Happé CBE

21 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Our understanding of autism has changed over the last forty years. Historically, autism was diagnosed based on narrow criteria. Today, while still de...

Option Pricing Theory Explained - Raghavendra Rau

18 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 h...

The Colour Spectrum of Scales and Modes - Milton Mermikides

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A musical scale – a hierarchical collection of pitches spread over multiple octaves – is a fundamental building block in the creation of melodies ...

Health after Earthquakes, Volcanoes, Tsunamis - Sir Chris Whitty

11 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Major geophysical events such as earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes can occur with little or no warning and have catastrophic effects.This lecture wi...

Immunotherapy: Cure for Metastatic Cancers? - James Larkin

08 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Immunotherapy has brought new hope for curing common cancers that have spread (metastatic) – once regarded as impossible.Over the last 10 years, imm...

Dragons: A History - Ronald Hutton

06 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Why have people believed in dragons, and what were they actually? Is there a difference between Western and Eastern dragons, in a global perspective, ...

Pulsars, Microwave Ovens and the Radio Sky - Chris Lintott

04 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There have been two major revolutions in how we look at the sky - the shift beyond the optical to other wavelengths, particularly the radio, and the i...

Sex and the Internet - Dr Victoria Baines

29 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The relationship between intimacy and technology is dynamic and transformative. Adult entertainment providers were early adopters of the Internet and ...

Dyslexia and Language - Disorder or Difference? - Maggie Snowling CBE

27 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Difficulties with reading and writing have wide-ranging effects beyond academic achievement, including on career opportunities and personal well-being...

A 300,000-Year History of Human Evolution - Robin May

26 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The species we recognise as our own - anatomically modern humans - has existed for only 300,000 years, a blink of an eye in evolutionary terms. And ye...

Export-Led Growth in the Asian Tiger Economies - Martin Daunton

21 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Why have economies in east Asia been more successful in escaping from under-development and achieving high levels of growth?Japan’s experience of av...

The Visual Politics of Refugeehood - Nishat Awan

19 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Humanitarian agencies are increasingly relying on satellite imagery and testimonies from social media to understand and communicate why people feel co...

LGBT Rights: Overcoming a Colonial Legacy - Leslie Thomas KC

16 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Historically lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people have been persecuted under English law.Homophobic and transphobic laws were exported...

Mathematical Puzzles and Paradoxes - Sarah Hart

12 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Many puzzles have a long history, such as water pouring puzzles, where you need to measure (for example) one pint of water equipped only with an eight...

Satirical Cartoons: A History - Martin Rowson

12 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How do cartoons and visual satire operate?This lecture will look at when humans first created art and at the dawn of satire.Examining the work of Swif...

Capital Structure Theory Explained - Raghavendra Rau

06 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Knowing what the investors demand enables the firm to plan its financing. What type of instrument should it use? Should it issue debt or equity?This l...

'Oumuamua: Our first interstellar visitor - Chris Lintott

05 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 2017, the Solar System was visited by an object named 'Oumuamua, which came from another star. The unusual properties of this first interstell...

How Cancer Genomics is Transforming Cancer Care - Sanjay Popat

01 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Using lung cancer as a case study, this lecture will explore the transformative impact of genomics on personalised cancer treatment.What are the chall...

The Art and Science of Tuning - Milton Mermikides

29 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This lecture presents the rich history of musicians’ engagement with pitch.From the tuning systems of Babylon, Pythagoras and Hindustani ragas, thro...

Ancient Greek Ideas of Justice - Melissa Lane

26 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the poetry of the Athenian lawgiver Solon, justice (dikē) was a boundary stone marking out terms that rich and poor alike could respect. Yet ancie...

How is Climate Change Affecting The Weather Now? - Myles Allen

23 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Climate change is already affecting us all, regardless of where we live, through changing risks of extreme weather events. This lecture will take a br...

Why Is There Only One Species of Human? - Robin May

15 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We are the only human species on the planet today. But for most of our history we have not been alone.Fossil and genetic evidence has revealed a diver...

The AI Revolution in Cancer Imaging - Dr Richard Sidebottom

11 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

AI will be one of the most disruptive technologies, enabling safer, faster and more accurate healthcare. It will unlock smarter cancer imaging and new...

The Massive Internet of Things

23 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today, objects in smart cities, outer space, and medical implants in our bodies are connected to the internet.When streetlamps can ‘talk’, when au...

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas: Anatomy of a Christmas Classic

14 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This lecture investigates how and why the song ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ has become so popular, transcending its roots in the MGM m...

Living With the Forever Chemicals

12 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The forever chemicals, or PFAS (Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances) represent a large family of highly persistent synthetic chemicals widely us...

Reducing harms after Nuclear, Radiological and Chemical Incidents

08 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Nuclear, radiological and chemical incidents have the potential to cause major harm.The risk of nuclear and radiological events causing health effects...

Abortion: Law's Ethical Dilemma

06 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This lecture delves into the history of abortion in English law, from common law to the Abortion Act 1967.Professor Thomas KC critically examines the ...

Can AI Protect Children online?

04 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Could artificial intelligence be used to tackle online harms to children? What are the specific “solutions” AI could offer – for example, age ve...

Iran’s ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ Movement

01 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The death of the Kurdish woman, Jina Mahsa Amini, in September 2022 sparked the largest protests in Iran since the establishment of the Islamic Republ...

Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories: Past, Present and Future?

30 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Antisemitism has existed and continues to exist on many levels, from unthinking prejudice to highly developed theories. Common to all levels is an exp...

Why 1.5°C Matters

30 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

On the eve of COP28 in Dubai, is the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C still alive? What does this mean and is it even possible?Given warming ...

Human-led AI

29 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Is Artificial Intelligence fundamentally different from previous technological advancements?This lecture will examine the opportunities and threats of...

The Maths of Sudoku and Latin Squares

24 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Millions of us regularly solve Sudoku puzzles.In this lecture, we discuss the mathematics behind them, and the links to other kinds of number grids, l...

Connect To Prosper – The Power Of Networks

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

An annual talk delivered by the President of Gresham College, The Rt Hon the Lord Mayor of the City of London.Cities are networked networks of connect...

Random Chance in Evolution

20 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Natural selection acts to ensure the ‘survival of the fittest’. But random chance has also played a huge role in the history of life on Earth, fro...

Reading and Misreading the Iranian Revolution

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Why did the Iranian Revolution catch so many in US and UK Governments by surprise in 1978-79? Why were so many enthusiastic about the fall of the Shah...

Portfolio Theory and the Capital Asset Pricing Model

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Firms hope to get money for their investment decisions from investors. The latest haveto decide how to maximize the returns they get while simultaneou...

The Poetry of Prediction: Musical Time, Rhythm and Groove

13 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Music is a temporal art, unfolding like a ribbon and transforming our experience of time itself. This lecture demonstrates how music harnesses our uni...

Victorian Era Astronomy: On Land And In the Skies

10 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the late 19th-century, astronomical research could be practical, using telescopes and spectroscopes, or be based on mathematical reasoning. Astrono...

Shaping Mathematical Practices Of The Science of the Stars

10 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Extant manuscripts, early library catalogues, lists of loans and wills are key witnesses for better understanding the mathematical practices and innov...

19th-Century Eclipse Expeditions

10 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

During the late 19th century, individuals and organizations planned for years in advance to observe a total solar eclipse. These high-stakes astronomi...

Pilgrimages, Pandemics and the Past

09 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Between us and the medieval men and women who went on pilgrimage there stand many impediments to understanding: the Reformation, the Enlightenment, se...

Were There Pagan Goddesses in Christian Europe?

09 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This considers a set of superhuman female figures found in medieval and early modern European cultures- Mother Nature, the roving nocturnal lady often...

Markets and Marxism: USA, USSR and China

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Different models of economic modernity competed during the Cold War.Washington feared that the transition from colonial peasant societies would provid...

Twentieth-Century Divas: Barbra Streisand

06 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Uncompromising control of her career and pursuit of a bold vision have made Barbra Streisand a sometimes controversial figure since her debut in Funny...

The Marvels of the Solar System

31 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our exploration of the Solar System has revealed a remarkable diversity of landscapes, from the frozen deserts of Mars, which billions of years ago ra...

Brain Computer Interfaces

30 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Our brains are computers. What if we could enhance their processing power? Medical technology now allows for brain signals to be read and translated t...

Plato and the Idea of Political Office

27 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Is politics merely a gaslighting of the oppressed, a cloak for the rulers to exploit the ruled?Plato’s Republic confronted the challenges of politic...

Iran’s Constitutional Revolution of 1906

25 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Iran’s first revolution in 1906 provided the country with a constitution and parliament, laying the foundations for its political development over t...

A Small History of Big Evolutionary Ideas

20 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The theory of evolution is often described as the biggest idea in the history of humanity. But evolutionary theory itself has evolved over time, often...

Literary Activism in Contemporary Africa

18 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Literature has always played a key role in social and political life in Africa, even when it is not deliberately or obviously activist in its aims or ...

How AI Disrupts The Law

18 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI are changing our lives and society as a whole from how we shop to how we access news and make decisions.Are ...

The Maths of Board Games

16 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Why are there chess Grandmasters, but not Grandmasters of noughts and crosses (otherwise known as tic-tac-toe)? It is because chess is “harder” –...

Women of the Harlem Renaissance

12 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the early twentieth century Black creatives were America’s artistic vanguard.In the cultural movement known as the Harlem Renaissance, African Am...

Writing After Windrush

11 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

They came, they saw, they felt conquered. Turning to the later works of Samuel Selvon and George Lamming, and the writing of Andrew Salkey, Edward Ka...

Understanding Net Present Value

04 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In finance, everything comes down to promises. When you invest money, questions arise: how profitable will it be down the line, and is it worth invest...

The Death Penalty: A Colonial Relic?

02 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This lecture explores the death penalty's roots, its abolition in England and Wales, and its continuation in the Commonwealth Caribbean. Analysin...

When Net Zero? The Climate Braking Distance

28 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere determines what global temperature is reached. So, just like a braking distance, future warming i...

Microplastics, Public Health Myth or Menace

27 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Microplastics - tiny plastic particles less than 5mm long - were first identified in the ocean but are now known to be ubiquitous throughout the envir...

Ancient Goddesses of Sex and War

22 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This lecture looks at a series of divine female figures in the ancient world from the Middle East to Western Europe: Inanna, Ishtar, Astarte, Aphrodit...

Meet the Cybercriminals

21 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Portrayals of hackers in the movies lead us to believe that cybercriminals are young white males who wear hoodies. The cybercriminal population is act...

Why Music Moves Us

19 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How is music able to convey and trigger such range and depth of emotion? Why does it elicit joy, sorrow, consolation and the chills? Employing resear...

Island Universes: Discovering Galaxies Beyond the Milky Way

14 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The discovery that we live in an ordinary galaxy, one of several hundred billion in the observable Universe, instigated a profound change in thinking ...

Where are we with freedom of expression?

28 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the Annual Gray's Inn Reading, Dame Siobhan Keegan will present a lecture on the legal topic of freedom of expression. A lecture by The Right...

Sir Christopher Wren: Architect & Courtier

26 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sir Christopher Wren’s success was underpinned by his consummate skill as a courtier, retaining the confidence of four monarchs through social and e...

Connecting the Dots: Milestones in Graph Theory

26 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

How Pagan Was Medieval Britain?

20 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Did paganism survive all through the Middle Ages, as scholars once thought, remaining the religion of the common people, while the elite had embraced ...

Alan Turing: Pioneer of Mathematical Biology

16 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

The Risks of Technology in Business

14 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What are the risks of using technological innovations in business?There are risks associated with the crypto world, including custodial risk and econo...

Sickle Cell Disease: A Cultural History

13 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sickle Cell Disease can only be understood in the context of racial politics. Predominantly seen in populations of African heritage, the diagnosis an...

The End of the Universe

12 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 galax...

Populism, Aristotle and Hope

09 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Annual Sir Thomas Gresham Lecture 2023The period from 1988 to 2003, was one of extraordinary optimism. Every year the number of democracies increa...

AIDS: A Cultural History

08 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

AIDS is an example of a highly stigmatising ailment.This lecture explores Susan Sontag’s aphorism that “metaphors kill”. Focussing on the period...

Do We Need the Police?

07 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 poli...

The Mathematical Vision of Maryam Mirzakhani

06 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In partnership with the London Mathematical Society.The first female Fields Medalist Maryam Mirzakhani, left an astonishing mathematical legacy at her...

How the World Agreed on Net Zero

01 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 g...

AI in Business

01 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

AI is another major technological innovation. AI needs data, or more precisely, big organized data. Most data processing is about making it useful for...

Life Without Chords? – Atonal Music

31 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Christopher Wren’s Medical Discoveries: the ‘Architect of Human Anatomy’

30 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

** Please note that this lecture will contain several mentions of early animal testing which some audience members may find upsetting**Christopher Wre...

The Mathematical Life of Florence Nightingale

25 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Florence Nightingale is the founder of modern nursing and a pioneer of data science and medical statistics. Her innovative use of statistical diagrams...

A Microbial Future

23 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Diseases of the Heart Structure, Muscle and Valves

22 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The normal heart is very robust. Some people are born with abnormalities of the heart structure. Others acquire damage to the heart valves which becom...

Cybersecurity for Humans

18 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Faceless hackers in hoodies, intergalactic warriors, and technology out of human control: are these representations of cyber threats accurate? And wha...

Dementia: A Cultural History

15 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dementia is often designated the “plague” of the twenty-first century. What does a cultural history of dementia reveal about commonly circulating ...

Women, Islam and Prophecy

12 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The study of ‘Women and Islam’ has expanded exponentially in recent decades.This lecture maps out emerging agendas, for example, the growing inter...

A History of Barts, Britain's Oldest Hospital

10 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

St Bartholomew’s is the oldest hospital in England still operating on its original site and will celebrate its 900th anniversary in 2023.This lectur...

The Future of Tall Buildings

09 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This lecture will explore the technologies that make tall buildings possible. With the current climate crisis in mind, what is the carbon footprint of...

Finding Lost Gods in Wales

05 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 a...

Architects and Engineers: Making Infrastructure Beautiful

04 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 Sa...

British Coronations: A History

03 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 pa...

Reclaiming Women in the Hebrew Bible

28 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Do We Need Criminal law?

26 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What is the role of criminal law in society, and do we need it? How did English criminal law develop? The traditional justifications for criminalisati...

The Trillionth Tonne of Carbon and Why It Matters For Climate Change

25 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 atmosph...

What Is the Role of Nuclear Power in a Net Zero System?

25 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The UK’s nuclear power reactors have provided a significant proportion of the UK’s low carbon electricity over their lifetimes. Most will retire i...

Gene Editing: A New Legal Frontier

24 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Gene editing technology gives us the ability to change our DNA – removing, adding and replacing parts of our genetic code. These technologies have b...

Endings in the Novel, from Austen and Dickens to Edward St Aubyn and Rachel Cusk

20 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

More than anything else, the end matters to the novel reader. Novelists, including Austen and Dickens, sometimes changed their minds about their endin...

Women Leaders in Early Christianity

18 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Saint Paul’s letters show women playing leading roles in the earliest Christian communities. Yet, by the fourth century, women’s ministry was very...