The Reith Lectures

This year's Reith Lecturer is American adviser, diplomat, political scientist, and historian George Frost Kennan. He is best known as "the father" of the USA Containment Policy and is a leading authority on the Cold War. In his series 'Russia, the Atom, and the West', he considers the relationship between the two superpowers Russia and the USA. In his third lecture entitled 'The Problem of Eastern and Central Europe', Professor Kennan considers why disagreements about frontiers and the political control of territory are so potent. He explores the difficulties which have already arisen in Central and Eastern Europe over territorial conflict, and considers in detail the problems between Germany and the satellite states under Soviet rule.

This year's Reith Lecturer is the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh Sir Edward Appleton. From 1939 to 1949 he was Secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and in 1947 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the knowledge of the ionosphere, which led to the development of radar. In his Reith series entitled 'Science and the Nation', he considers the importance of science. In his sixth lecture entitled 'Science and Education', Professor Appleton considers how we teach science. He analyses the functions of teaching institutions, and explores how universities teach both applied and pure science.

This year's Reith Lecturer is the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh Sir Edward Appleton. From 1939 to 1949 he was Secretary of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, and in 1947 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the knowledge of the ionosphere, which led to the development of radar. In his Reith series entitled 'Science and the Nation', he considers the importance of science. In his fifth lecture entitled 'Industrial Science', Professor Appleton considers the functional uses of science. He explores the scientific research work carried out by industries in order to produce better products, and analyses how automation is expanding this kind of science.

This year's Reith lecturer is Dr Nikolaus Pevsner, the German-born British scholar of history of art and architecture, and author of the county guide series, The Buildings of England (1951–74). In this series, Pevsner explores the qualities of art which he regards as particularly English, as illustrated in the works of several English artists, and what they say about the English national character.In his final lecture, Dr Pevsner examines the particular aspects of Englishness which he believes are prevalent today, and what, by their means, England might achieve for her own benefit, and perhaps, that of other nations. He explores how England's towns and centres have been planned, and argues that traditional English planning theory takes into account the historical, social and aesthetic aspects of a site, as well as its pure geography.

This year's Reith lecturer is Dr Nikolaus Pevsner, the German-born British scholar of history of art and architecture, and author of the county guide series, The Buildings of England (1951–74). In this series, Pevsner explores the qualities of art which he regards as particularly English, as illustrated in the works of several English artists, and what they say about the English national character.In his sixth and penultimate Reith lecture, Dr Pevsner describes the attitude of the English Romantic painter John Constable (1776-1837) and some of his contemporaries to Italian art, and compares his Englishness with that of Blake and Hogarth. He examines the sudden flowering of English landscape painting which began with Richard Wilson (1714–1782) and his Welsh landscapes, and argues that this concentration on landscape is a direct result of the temperate English climate.

This year's Reith lecturer is Dr Nikolaus Pevsner, the German-born British scholar of history of art and architecture, and author of the county guide series, The Buildings of England (1951–74). In this series, Pevsner explores the qualities of art which he regards as particularly English, as illustrated in the works of several English artists, and what they say about the English national character.Dr Pevsner explores the 'Decorated Style', which seems in every respect to be the opposite of the Perpendicular style which he examined in his previous lecture. Through illustrations ranging from English church architecture from 1290-1350 to the gentle curves of painters such as Gainsborough and Reynolds, Dr Pevsner places the artist William Blake (1757-1827) in the context of a very English tradition.

This year's Reith lecturer is Dr Nikolaus Pevsner, the German-born British scholar of history of art and architecture, and author of the county guide series, The Buildings of England (1951–74). In this series, Pevsner explores the qualities of art which he regards as particularly English, as illustrated in the works of several English artists, and what they say about the English national character.In his fourth lecture, Dr Pevsner examines the Perpendicular style, formed in England in about 1330, and which he calls 'the most English creation in architecture'. It represented a complete break with what had gone before, but once it had been established universally in the country by the 1380s, it remained virtually unchanged for 150 years, so much so that even specialists struggle to determine accurate dates for this style of work.

This year's Reith lecturer is Dr Nikolaus Pevsner, the German-born British scholar of history of art and architecture, and author of the county guide series, The Buildings of England (1951–74). In this series, Pevsner explores the qualities of art which he regards as particularly English, as illustrated in the works of several English artists, and what they say about the English national character.In his third lecture, Dr Pevsner examines the work of the portrait painter Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), and argues that the far-reaching contrast between his promotion of painting in the Grand Manner, and how he actually painted, is eminently English.

This year's Reith lecturer is Dr Nikolaus Pevsner, the German-born British scholar of history of art and architecture, and author of the county guide series, The Buildings of England (1951–74). In this series, Dr Pevsner explores the qualities of art which he regards as particularly English, as illustrated in the works of several English artists, and what they say about the English national character.In his second lecture, Dr Pevsner considers the 'Englishness' of the artist and satirist William Hogarth (1697-1764). He explores the characteristics which he says make Hogarth a particularly English artist, and argues that his work embodies the ideals of the Age of Reason.

This year's Reith lecturer is Dr Nikolaus Pevsner, the German-born British scholar of history of art and architecture, and author of the county guide series, The Buildings of England (1951–74). In this series, Dr Pevsner explores the qualities of art which he regards as particularly English, as illustrated in the works of several English artists, and what they say about the English national character.In his first lecture, Dr Pevsner examines the reasons for the study of history of art. He argues that an understanding and appreciation of the work of the artist is truly life-enhancing, and he goes on to explore the English national character as it is expressed in terms of art.