Royal Institution Christmas Lectures

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Michael Faraday delivering a Christmas Lecture in 1856.

The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures are a series of lectures on a single topic, which have been held at the Royal Institution in London each year since 1825. The lectures present scientific subjects to a general audience, including young people, in an informative and entertaining manner. Michael Faraday initiated the first Christmas Lecture series in 1825. This came at a time when organised education for young people was scarce. Faraday presented a total of nineteen series in all.[1]

A close-up image of a candle showing the wick and the various parts of the flame; Michael Faraday lectured on "The Chemical History of a Candle".

The Christmas Lectures have continued annually since 1825, interrupted only during the Second World War. Scientists who have delivered lectures include Baroness Susan Greenfield (former Director of the Royal Institution),[2] naturalist Sir David Attenborough, astronomer Carl Sagan, biologist Richard Dawkins and Nobel Laureate George Porter.[1]

Contents

[edit] Television

The lectures have been televised since 1966.[1] They were broadcast on BBC Two from 1966–1999, Channel 4 from 2000–2004, Channel Five from 2005–2008 and More4 in 2009. The 2010 lectures were broadcast on BBC Four on Tuesday 28 December, Wednesday 29 December and Thursday 30 December at 8 pm.[3] The 2011 lectures were also broadcast on BBC Four at 8 pm on Tuesday 27 December, Wednesday 28 December and Thursday 29 December.[4]

[edit] List of Christmas Lectures

The following is a complete list of the Christmas Lectures as of December 2011:[5]

Year Lecturer(s) Title of series
1825 John Millington Natural Philosophy
1826 J. Wallis Astronomy
1827 Michael Faraday Chemistry
1828 J. Wood Architecture
1829 Michael Faraday Electricity
1830 Thomas Webster Geology
1831 James Rennie Zoology
1832 Michael Faraday Chemistry
1833 John Lindley Botany
1834 William Thomas Brande Chemistry
1835 Michael Faraday Electricity
1836 William Thomas Brande Chemistry of the Gases
1837 Michael Faraday Chemistry
1838 J. Wallis Astronomy
1839 William Thomas Brande The Chemistry of the Atmosphere and the Ocean
1840 John Frederic Daniell The First Principles of Franklinic Electricity
1841 Michael Faraday The Rudiments of Chemistry
1842 William Thomas Brande The Chemistry of the Non-Metallic Elements
1843 Michael Faraday First Principles of Electricity
1844 William Thomas Brande The Chemistry of the Gases
1845 Michael Faraday The Rudiments of Chemistry
1846 J. Wallis The Rudiments of Astronomy
1847 William Thomas Brande The Elements of Organic Chemistry
1848 Michael Faraday The Chemical History of a Candle
1849 Robert Walker The Properties of Matter and the Laws of Motion
1850 William Thomas Brande The Chemistry of Coal
1851 Michael Faraday Attractive Forces
1852 Michael Faraday Chemistry
1853 Michael Faraday Voltaic Electricity
1854 Michael Faraday The Chemistry of Combustion
1855 Michael Faraday The Distinctive Properties of the Common Metals
1856 Michael Faraday Attractive Forces
1857 Michael Faraday Static Electricity
1858 Michael Faraday The Metallic Properties
1859 Michael Faraday The Various Forces of Matter and their Relations to Each Other
1860 Michael Faraday The Chemical History of a Candle
1861 John Tyndall Light
1862 Edward Frankland Air and Water
1863 John Tyndall Electricity at Rest and Electricity in Motion
1864 Edward Frankland The Chemistry of a Coal
1865 John Tyndall Sound
1866 Edward Frankland The Chemistry of Gases
1867 John Tyndall Heat and Cold
1868 William Odling The Chemical Changes of Carbon
1869 John Tyndall Light
1870 William Odling Burning and Unburning
1871 John Tyndall Ice, Water, Vapour and Air
1872 William Odling Air and Gas
1873 John Tyndall The Motion and Sensation of Sound
1874 John Hall Gladstone The Voltaic Battery
1875 John Tyndall Experimental Electricity
1876 John Hall Gladstone The Chemistry of Fire
1877 John Tyndall Heat, Visible and Invisible
1878 James Dewar A Soap Bubble
1879 John Tyndall Water and Air
1880 James Dewar Atoms
1881 Robert Stawell Ball The Sun, the Moon and the Planets
1882 John Tyndall Light and the Eye
1883 James Dewar Alchemy in Relation to Modern Science
1884 John Tyndall The Sources of Electricity
1885 James Dewar The Story of a Meteorite
1886 James Dewar The Chemistry of Light and Photography
1887 Robert Stawell Ball Astronomy
1888 James Dewar Clouds and Cloudland
1889 Arthur Rücker Electricity
1890 James Dewar Frost and Fire
1891 John Gray McKendrick Life in Motion; or the Animal Machine
1892 Robert Stawell Ball Astronomy
1893 James Dewar Air: Gaseous and Liquid
1894 John Ambrose Fleming The Work of an Electric Current
1895 John Gray McKendrick Sound, Hearing and Speech
1896 Sylvanus Phillips Thompson Light, Visible and Invisible
1897 Oliver Lodge The Principles of the Electric Telegraph
1898 Robert Stawell Ball Astronomy
1899 Charles Vernon Boys Fluids in Motion and at Rest
1900 Robert Stawell Ball Great Chapters from the Book of Nature
1901 John Ambrose Fleming Waves and Ripples in Water, Air and Aether
1902 Henry Selby Hele-Shaw Locomotion : On the Earth, Through the Water, in the Air
1903 Edwin Ray Lankester Extinct Animals
1904 Henry Cunynghame Ancient and Modern Methods of Measuring Time
1905 Herbert Hall Turner Astronomy
1906 William Duddell Signalling to a Distance
1907 David Gill Astronomy, Old and New
1908 W. Stirling The Wheel of Life
1909 William Duddell Modern Electricity
1910 Sylvanus Phillips Thompson Sound: Musical and Non-Musical
1911 Peter Chalmers Mitchell The Childhood of Animals
1912 James Dewar Christmas Lecture Epilogues
1913 Herbert Hall Turner A Voyage in Space
1914 Charles Vernon Boys Science in the Home
1915 Herbert Hall Turner Wireless Messages from the Stars
1916 A. Keith The Human Machine Which All Must Work
1917 John Ambrose Fleming Our Useful Servants : Magnetism and Electricity
1918 D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson The Fish of the Sea
1919 William Henry Bragg The World of Sound
1920 John Arthur Thomson The Haunts of Life
1921 John Ambrose Fleming Electric Waves and Wireless Telephony
1922 Herbert Hall Turner Six Steps Up the Ladder to the Stars
1923 William Henry Bragg Concerning the Nature of Things
1924 F. Balfour Browne Concerning the Habits of Insects
1925 William Henry Bragg Old Trades and New Knowledge
1926 Archibald Vivian Hill Nerves and Muscles: How We Feel and Move
1927 Edward Andrade Engines
1928 A. Wood Sound Waves and their Uses
1929 Stephen Glanville How Things Were Done in Ancient Egypt
1930 A.M. Tyndall The Electric Spark
1931 William Lawrence Bragg The Universe of Light
1932 Alexander Oliver Rankine The Round of the Waters
1933 James Hopwood Jeans Through Space and Time
1934 William Lawrence Bragg Electricity
1935 C.E.K. Mees Photography
1936 G.I. Taylor Ships
1937 Julian Huxley Rare Animals and the Disappearance of Wild Life
1938 James Kendall Young Chemists and Great Discoveries
1939–1942 No lectures due to the Second World War
1943 Edward Andrade Vibrations and Waves
1944 Harold Spencer Jones Astronomy in our Daily Life
1945 Robert Watson-Watt Wireless
1946 H. Hartridge Colours and How We See Them
1947 Eric K. Rideal Chemical Reactions: How They Work
1948 Frederic Bartlett The Mind at Work and Play
1949 Percy Dunsheath The Electric Current
1950 Edward Andrade Waves and Vibrations
1951 James Gray How Animals Move
1952 F. Sherwood Taylor How Science Has Grown
1953 J.A. Ratcliffe The Uses of Radio Waves
1954 Frank Whittle The Story of Petroleum
1955 Harry W. Melville Big Molecules
1956 H. Baines Photography
1957 J. Huxley and J. Fisher Birds
1958 J.A. Ratcliffe, J.M. Stagg,
R.L.F. Boyd,
Graham Sutton,
G.E.R. Deacon,
G. de Q. Robin		 The International Geophysical Year
1959 Thomas Allibone The Release and Use of Atomic Energy
1960 V.E. Cosslett Seeing the Very Small
1961 William Lawrence Bragg Electricity
1962 R.E.D. Bishop Vibration
1963 Ronald King Energy
1964 Desmond Morris Animal Behaviour
1965 Bernard Lovell, Francis Smith,
Martin Ryle, Antony Hewish		 Exploration of the Universe
1966 Eric Laithwaite The Engineer in Wonderland
1967 Richard L. Gregory The Intelligent Eye
1968 Philip Morrison Gulliver's Laws: The Physics of Large and Small
1969 George Porter Time Machines
1970 John Napier Monkeys Without Tails: A Giraffe's Eye-view of Man
1971 Charles Taylor Sounds of Music: the Science of Tones and Tune
1972 G.G. Gouriet Ripples in the Ether: The Science of Radio Communication
1973 David Attenborough The Language of Animals
1974 Eric Laithwaite The Engineer Through the Looking Glass
1975 Heinz Wolff Signals from the Interior
1976 George Porter The Natural History of a Sunbeam
1977 Carl Sagan The Planets
1978 Erik Christopher Zeeman Mathematics into Pictures
1979 E.M. Rogers Atoms for Engineering Minds: A Circus of Experiments
1980 David Chilton Phillips
with Max Perutz in Lecture 5		 The Chicken, the Egg and the Molecules
1981 Reginald Victor Jones From Magna Carta to Microchip
1982 Colin Blakemore Common Sense
1983 Leonard Maunder Machines in Motion
1984 Walter Bodmer The Message of the Genes
1985 John David Pye Communicating
1986 Lewis Wolpert Frankenstein's Quest: Development of Life
1987 John Meurig Thomas and David Phillips Crystals and Lasers
1988 Gareth Roberts The Home of the Future
1989 Charles Taylor Exploring Music
1990 Malcolm Longair Origins
1991 Richard Dawkins Growing Up in the Universe
1992 Charles J.M. Stirling[6] Our World Through the Looking Glass
1993 Frank Close The Cosmic Onion
1994 Susan Greenfield Journey to the Centre of the Brain
1995 James Jackson Planet Earth, An Explorer's guide
1996 Simon Conway Morris The History in our Bones
1997 Ian Stewart The Magical Maze
1998 Nancy Rothwell Staying Alive
1999 Neil F. Johnson Arrows of Time
2000 Kevin Warwick Rise of the Robots
2001 John Sulston The Secrets of Life
2002 Tony Ryan Smart Stuff
2003 Monica Grady Voyage in Space and Time
2004 Lloyd Peck To the End of the Earth: Surviving Antarctic Extremes
2005 John Krebs The Truth About Food
2006 Marcus du Sautoy The Num8er My5teries
2007 Hugh Montgomery Back from the Brink: The Science of Survival
2008 Christopher Bishop

Hi-tech Trek[7]
2009 Sue Hartley The 300-Million-Year War
2010 Mark Miodownik Size Matters[8]
2011 Bruce Hood Meet Your Brain

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Royal Institution (2008). "History of the RI Christmas Lectures". Retrieved December 22, 2009.
  2. ^ BBC (2010-01-09). "Royal Institution former chief suing for discrimination". BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8449718.stm. Retrieved 9 January 2010. 
  3. ^ Network TV BBC Weeks 51/52. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
  4. ^ The Royal Institution of Great Britain | 2011 Christmas Lectures. Retrieved December 29, 2011.
  5. ^ Royal Institution (2007). "List of Lecturers". Retrieved December 28, 2010.
  6. ^ [1]
  7. ^ Revisit the Hi-tech Trek � The 2008 Christmas Lectures ". Retrieved December 22, 2009.
  8. ^ 2010 Ri Christmas Lectures. Retrieved September 22, 2010.

[edit] External links


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