Search | Gresham College

The Shape of Plants: Why Plants Love Mathematics and Mathematicians Love Plants

Looking at the plant world, one discovers beautiful and fascinating...

Green Immunity – How Do Plants Fight Infection?

Most of us rarely think about plant immunity. But, like...

The Medieval Agricultural Revolution: New evidence

During the medieval ‘agricultural revolution’, new forms of cereal farming...

Microbial Master-Chemists

Microbial chemistry makes bread rise and cheese mature, and turns...

Microbial Megastructures

*Please note that due to industrial action this lecture was...

Early Protestant Missions to the Americas

Protestant settlers in the Americas believed it was their duty to convert indigenous peoples to the true Gospel. Yet the task proved unexpectedly difficult. The effort revealed and challenged deep European assumptions about culture and the nature of Christianity itself. From Massachusetts to Chile, Protestant would-be missionaries took roads that were paved mostly, but not entirely, with good intentions. This lecture will show where they led.

Napoleon: Shadows & Gardens

This lecture will explore Napoleon‘s life through his interactions with the natural world and a series of gardens that were important to him during the rise and fall of his power. The point of doing this is to approach his life from oblique angles, exploring material that is often overlooked.

The Secrets of Darwin’s Greenhouse

Despite the controversy, evolution was widely accepted by many naturalists within a few years of the Origin’s appearance. An important reason for this rapid triumph was Darwin’s botanical works. Seen through evolutionary eyes, plants proved to be mobile, carnivorous, sensitive – even crafty.

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 designed to order.

George IV: Radical or Reactionary?

On the 200th anniversary of George IV's accession to the throne, this lecture considers whether or not he had any real impact on the fast-industrialising world around him, and the turbulent political times he lived through.

Suggested searches:

For the Love of Learning since 1597

Popular topics:

Search results