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Gresham College lecturers on the radio
Two Gresham College professors have recently appeared on BBC Radio 4 programmes, highlighting aspects of their lectures.
The BBC Inside Science programme, presented by Tom Whipple, recently focused on Pluto, following recent calls by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman to make it one of the nine planets in the solar system.
First discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, its designation was changed to dwarf planet in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
Gresham College’s Professor of Astronomy Chris Lintott discussed the arguments for and against in the show first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday, May 13.
You can listen to Chris Lintott's analysis of whether or not Pluto should be reinstated as the solar system’s ninth planet here
Next month, he will present a lecture that will explore the remote Kuiper Belt, and challenge us to think about what kinds of scientific questions are worth our attention, what it means to name something – and why Pluto is worth caring about anyway.
It takes place at Conway Hall in central London from 7pm on Wednesday, 3 June. As with all Gresham College lecture, places are free but must be reserved in advance. For more details, or to reserve a ticket, visit the lecture page.
Lessons of the Holocaust
Ahead of her Alfred Wiener Holocaust Memorial lecture, given on Monday, 18 May, Professor Mary Fulbrook was a guest on BBC Radio 4’s Sunday programme.
The visiting speaker is a Professor of German History at University College London (UCL) and a Fellow of the British Academy. Her current research is on rescue and survival across Europe during the Holocaust, and this formed the focus for her lecture, Society and Survival During the Holocaust.
Presenter Julie Etchingham invited Professor Fulbrook to speak about the role that local communities and faith groups throughout Europe played in either helping or turning a blind eye to the plight of Jews. Are there lessons to be learned in understanding which local communities, and specifically religious groups, refused to look the other way and which ones did?
The lecture looked at how local power structures and sense of community shaped non-Jewish responses to antisemitic policies, and affected the choices, experiences and chances of Jews attempting to evade persecution in different regions during the war.
You can listen to Professor Fulbrook's interview here