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Making New Plants: A History
This lecture examines the work of Hugo de Vries, a Dutch botanist who was one of the first to claim that science would allow plants and animals to be…
6 years, 2 months ago
Unfinished Music
Bach's Art of Fugue, Mozart's Requiem, Schubert's Symphony No. 8, Alban Berg's opera Lulu, and Elgar's 3rd Symphony are all …
6 years, 2 months ago
How to Survive a Massacre in Europe's Wars of Religion
Europe's Wars of Religion were fought against entire populations, and were punctuated by events remembered as atrocities: such as the siege of L…
6 years, 2 months ago
Webb Vs. Hubble: Battle of the Space Giants
The Hubble Space Telescope is rapidly approaching its 30th birthday, and we will explore some of the amazing insights it has provided on the beauty o…
6 years, 2 months ago
Homes Fit for Heroes: 100 Years of Council Housing
More council houses were built in Britain than any other country in the 20th century. By the 1970s, one in three households were council tenants. Yet…
6 years, 3 months ago
What Has Einstein Ever Done For You?
Albert Einstein's mind-boggling ideas revolutionized our view of the universe. From relativity to curved spacetime, from the Big Bang to black h…
6 years, 3 months ago
Can the Law Keep Up With Changes In Society?
Advances in medicine allow us to sustain life for longer, but at what cost and at whose choice? Why might the court intervene when a devout Jehovah W…
6 years, 3 months ago
Shapes of Free Fall
The shapes of the orbits of many planets and comets orbiting their mother-ship stars are well known to be circles or ellipses (an idea that was expla…
6 years, 3 months ago
Prohibition: A Battle in America's Last Culture War
The extraordinary effort to ban drink must be understood as part of an American culture war, one framed between the country and the city, between the…
6 years, 3 months ago
Powell and Pressburger's Island Stories
Stories about islands punctuate the careers of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, from Powell's breakthrough with Edge of the World (1936) t…
6 years, 3 months ago