Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/bKMV8i9Mq40The brain is mostly organised in small modular regions connected to each other. Typically, each region performs different cognitive tasks, from image processing to language. This organisation leads us to model the brain as a network, the ‘brain connectome’. This fundamental view of the brain has become a central paradigm for neurosciences linking topological properties of networks to brain functions. This lecture presents ideas from graph theory to study this network and understand the way that the brain learns and operates.This lecture was recorded by Alain Goriely on 4th February 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Alain is Gresham Professor of Geometry.He is currently the Director of the Oxford Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2022.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/connected-brainGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todayWebsite:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Sound and music hold a strange and powerful role in film, TV and video games, aiding narrative and emotional impact. They can even exist in the world of ‘the film’ – heard by the characters – or in the world of the audience. Music can even break the fourth wall, travelling through and blurring these conventionally separate worlds. By examining films through history from Blazing Saddles, Elf, The Truman Show to Birdman, we explore this ‘fantastical gap’ and its transformative effect on the audience.This lecture was recorded by Milton Mermikides on 16th January 2025 at Rich Mix, London.Milton Mermikides  is Gresham Professor of Music.He is Associate Professor in Music at the University of Surrey, Professor of Guitar at the Royal College of Music and Deputy Director of the International Guitar Research Centre.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website:https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/sceen-musicGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todayWebsite:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Charles O'Brien, Listing and Architectural Research Director at Historic England, dives into the rich history of the 'Buildings of...' series by Nikolaus Pevsner. He discusses Pevsner’s significant contributions to British architecture and his journey from Germany to England. O'Brien emphasizes the crucial role of partnerships in Pevsner's work, particularly highlighting the influence of his wife. The conversation further explores the evolution and challenges of the series, while also reflecting on its legacy and the future of architectural guides, particularly in Ireland.

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/t6kkq6dI6hcWhen and why do written laws emerge in ancient societies? This lecture will consider these questions in light of evidence including the law code of Hammurabi; the earliest attestation of written laws in Greek (found in Dreros on Crete); and the full-blown commitment to written laws by the Athenian lawgiver Solon. Such cases will be used to explore how writing bears on the the functions of law more generally, in light of debates in contemporary legal philosophy. This lecture was recorded by Melissa Lane on 23rd January 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Melissa Lane is Gresham Professor of Rhetoric.Melissa is also the Class of 1943 Professor of Politics, Princeton University and is also Associated Faculty in the Department of Classics and Department of Philosophy. Previously she was Senior University Lecturer at Cambridge University in the Faculty of History and Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge.Having previously held visiting appointments at Harvard, Oxford, and Stanford, she will be Isaiah Berlin Visiting Professor in the History of Ideas in the Faculties of Philosophy and History at Oxford University, and a Visiting Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, in Michaelmas Term 2024.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/writing-lawsGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todayWebsite:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Chris Lintott, a Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Oxford, invites listeners to explore the sun's intriguing nature as a swirling mass of plasma and magnetic activity. He discusses groundbreaking insights from NASA's Parker Solar Probe and ESA's Solar Orbiter, shedding light on the sun's dynamic surface and the prolonged journey of sunlight. Lintott also delves into the historical significance of sunspots and the complexities of the sun's magnetic field, emphasizing its profound effects on Earth and humanity.

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/lQBdqGrfWKUOver half the world’s largest companies have a net zero strategy. But what stops “Science-based Targets” from becoming box-ticking exercises too often immune to environmental scrutiny? Instead of decarbonizing companies and financial portfolios, this lecture will discuss the need to focus on decarbonizing products and services themselves so that companies must explain how they plan to stop what they sell from causing global warming. This lecture was recorded by Myles Allen  on 14th January 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Myles is the Frank Jackson Foundation Professor of the Environment.Myles is also  is currently Director of the Oxford Net Zero initiative. He was awarded the Appleton Medal and Prize by the Institute of Physics in 2010, and in 2022 a CBE for services to climate change attribution, prediction and net zero. In 2023, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/net-zero-privateGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todayWebsite:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

Clive Stafford Smith, a renowned human rights lawyer and Gresham Professor of Law, dives into the complexities of Britain's constitutional framework. He discusses the historical roots and resilience of the American system, particularly its checks and balances against populism. Comparisons between the UK and US highlight the challenges of governance and the role of the judiciary. Smith advocates for constitutional reform, emphasizing the necessity of protecting individual rights amid rising populist pressures, and suggests that a new constitutional convention could help remedy current deficiencies.

Watch the Q&A session here: https://youtu.be/0ZK1Y1QnFDgThis looks at how and why a particular form of the non-Christian divine feminine came to take over the Western European imagination from the beginning of the nineteenth century. This was a great goddess representing the natural world, or the moon and stars, or both. It traces the development of belief in the importance of this being, and her impact not only on creative literature but upon the developing disciplines of ancient history and archaeology. It also confronts the problem of the different kinds of politics represented by this figure.This lecture was recorded by Ronald Hutton on 8th January 2025 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Ronald is the Gresham Professor of Divinity.He is also Professor of History at the University of Bristol and a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Historical Society, the Society of Antiquaries and the Learned Society of Wales.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/modern-goddessGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todayWebsite:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show

In this engaging discussion, Victoria Baines, IT Livery Company Professor of Information Technology and Senior Research Associate at Jesus College, Cambridge, dives into humanity's complex relationship with robots. She uncovers the historical roots of automatons, from ancient myths to modern interpretations. Baines explores emotional attachments we form with robot companions and discusses the psychological unease surrounding lifelike machines, emphasizing the balance between fascination and fear in our evolving engagement with artificial intelligence.

Watch the Q&A session here:  https://youtu.be/f6Z9L2dnxSAThis lecture explores the emergence of the "femme au piano" genre in 19th-century French painting, depicted by artists like Renoir, Van Gogh, and Matisse. What suddenly made this topic so popular, and what does it tell us about the role of women in music-making at the time? Tracing the genre's roots from the Italian Renaissance clavichord depictions to Vermeer’s Dutch domestic scenes, and 18th-century harpsichord portraits. Discover how the piano became a middle-class status symbol and how modernists of the 1910s-20s reinterpreted it. Presented from the perspective of a music historian, this lecture will delve into the roots of the “Women at the Piano” genre and reveal how these paintings offer a window onto women’s music-making.This lecture was recorded by Marina Frolova-Walker  on 10th December 2024 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London.Marina is Gresham Emerita Professor of Music.Marina Frolova-Walker, a Russian-born British musicologist and music historian, was Visiting Gresham Professor of Russian Music in 2018-19 and Gresham Professor of Music 2019-23. She is Professor of Music History and Director of Studies in Music at Clare College, Cambridge. She is a specialist in the Russian music of the 19th and 20th centuries. She has published extensively on Russian music and is a well-known lecturer and broadcaster for BBC Radio 3. Among her many awards and appointments, she is a Fellow of the British Academy and was awarded the Edward Dent Medal in 2015 by the Royal Musical Association for her achievements in musicology.The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/women-pianoGresham College has offered free public lectures for over 400 years, thanks to the generosity of our supporters. There are currently over 2,500 lectures free to access. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest minds. To support Gresham's mission, please consider making a donation: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todayWebsite:  https://gresham.ac.ukTwitter:  https://twitter.com/greshamcollegeFacebook: https://facebook.com/greshamcollegeInstagram: https://instagram.com/greshamcollegeSupport Us: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/get-involved/support-us/make-donation/donate-todaySupport the show