A full archive of the Museum’s lecture podcasts. These are continuously updated, so please check back, sign up to our rss feed or join our e-mailing list for notification of new podcasts.
Dr Neil Todd
Moseley and Manchester Science
Henry Moseley moved from Oxford to Manchester in 1910, leaving behind a small scientific community tied to the traditions of college life. He joined the dynamic research team around Ernest Rutherford and quickly reached the forefront of contemporary physics. Dr Neil Todd (University of Manchester) illuminates Moseley’s life and work in Manchester, and his rapid transformation from student to leading researcher. Part of our ‘Dear Harry…’ exhibition programme.
Professor Alan Wells
Returning to the Moon
Professor Alan Wells (Emeritus Professor of the University of Leicester) is a judge for the Google Lunar XPRIZE, a competition to land a privately-funded robot on the Moon. Here he provides an insight into the prize, the competing teams and their proposed missions to the Moon. This lecture lasts for 52 minutes and 42 seconds.
Professor Alex Halliday
Where did the Moon come from?
Professor Alex Halliday discusses the many competing theories being debated today about how the Moon was formed. This lecture lasts for 52 minutes and 53 seconds.
Professor Myles Allen
Who’s to Blame for the Weather?
Professor Allen of the Oxford University Environmental Change Institute discusses one of the most pressing issues of the modern day. This lecture lasts for 1 hour, 7 minutes and 20 seconds.
Professor Russell Foster
Body Clocks, Sleep and Light
Russell Foster explains the role of light in regulating our bodies and discusses the implications of today’s almost constant exposure to light. This lecture lasts for 1 hour, 7 minutes and 20 seconds.
Dr Leigh Fletcher
Stormy Weather: Exploring Atmospheres in the Outer Solar System
Leigh Fletcher (Dept. of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, University of Oxford) talks about current research on the weather of other planets. This lecture lasts for 55 minutes and 58 seconds.
Dr Richard Hamblyn
The Invention of Clouds
Writer Richard Hamblyn revisits his first book about the 19th-century amateur meteorologist Luke Howard who gave the clouds the names we use today. This lecture lasts for 57 minutes and 39 seconds.
Dr John Holmes & Lesley Saunders
From Microscopes to Cloud Cameras: the Poetry of Science
In an evening event on Thursday 25 October 2012, the deep connections between science and poetry were explored in a talk by Dr John Holmes (University of Reading) and readings by poet Lesley Saunders (Two Rivers Press).
Lesley Saunders reading from her new collection, Cloud Camera.
Dr John Holmes talking about poetry and science.
Professor Jim Bennett
Thoughts and Things: the role of craft in 16th-century astronomy and cosmography
Professor Jim Bennett talks about the craft and workmanship of scientific workshops and print-shops in the 16th Century. This lecture lasts for 51 minutes and 35 seconds.
Nicholas Crane
Mercator: The Man who Mapped the Planet
Nicholas Crane, geographer, explorer, writer and broadcaster Nicholas Crane talks about the inspirations behind his book on Gerard Mercator. This lecture lasts for 1 hour and 8 minutes.
Dr Efstathios Arapostathis
Owning and Disowning Wireless: Inventions, Experts and the Law Courts, 1890-1930
Dr Efstathios Arapostathis, University of Athens, gives the Douglas Byrne Marconi Lecture 2012. This lecture lasts for 1 hour and 8 minutes.
Dr Matthew Shaw
Decimalising Time: Calendar and Clocks in the French Revolution
Dr Matthew Shaw, British Library, talks about The extraordinary revisions of time measurement adopted in the French Revolution. This lecture lasts for 56 minutes.
David Rooney
Selling Time: Science, Commerce and Dirty Tricks in the Distribution of Greenwich Mean Time
David Rooney, Curator of Transport at the Science Museum, London, talks about how Greenwich Mean Time was distributed and tells the curious story of Ruth Belville, the Greenwich Time Lady. This lecture lasts for 59 minutes.
Professor Ian Walmsley
Ultrafast Physics: Past, Present, Future
Ian Walmsley is Hooke Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Oxford. In a public lecture at the Museum, he presented the shifting research frontier of extremely short-duration physics, where time is measured in femtoseconds and attoseconds. This lecture lasts for 43 minutes.
Dr Inga Elmqvist
A Portrait of Hevelius
Inga Elmqvist talks about the Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius and his use of art in his publications. This lecture lasts for 42 minutes.
Michael Wright
The Eccentric Turner
The fourth in a series of public lectures linked to the Museum’s ‘Eccentricity’ exhibition. This lecture lasts for 1 hour and 3 minutes.
Dr Lauren Kassell
Simon Forman: astrology, Medicine and Quackery in Elizabethan England
The third in a series of public lectures linked to the Museum’s ‘Eccentricity’ exhibition. View a pdf of the lecture slides here. This lecture lasts for 54 minutes.
Dr Vicky Carroll
From Alligator Wrestling to Fossil Skeletons: Scientific Eccentricity in the Early 19th Century
The second in a series of public lectures linked to the Museum’s ‘Eccentricity’ exhibition. This lecture lasts for 48 minutes.
Dr Brian Regal
Crackpots and Eggheads: Eccentricity in Natural History
The first in a series of public lectures linked to the Museum’s ‘Eccentricity’ exhibition. This lecture lasts for 50 minutes and 18 seconds.
Dr Silke Ackermann
Astrolabes in Cultural Context
The third in a series of public lectures linked to the Museum’s ‘Al-Mizan’ exhibition. This lecture lasts for 52 minutes and 11 seconds.
Professor Emilie Savage Smith
Mapping the Earth in Medieval Islam
The first of a public lecture series linked to the Museum’s ‘Al-Mizan’ exhibition. This lecture lasts for 55 minutes and 28 seconds.
Dr Venetia Porter
The Power of the Word – Amulets in Islam
The second in a series of public lectures linked to the Museum’s ‘Al-Mizan’ exhibition. This lecture lasts for 43 minutes.
Professor Monica Grady
Meteorites in Science and Culture
A public lecture linked to the Museum’s ‘Anvilled Stars’ exhibition. This lecture lasts for 53 minutes and 7 seconds.
Dr Anna Marie Roos
The Oxford Philosophical Society and the Royal Society: a meeting of minds?
Part of the Museum’s celebration of the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society. This lecture lasts for 41 minutes.
Pleasures and Sorrows: The Photographer
Photographer Richard Baker talks about his experience documenting the travels of philosopher Alain de Botton. This excerpt lasts for 3 minutes and 40 seconds.
Professor Michael Hunter, FBA
The Great Experiment: the Early Evolution of the Royal Society
Part of the Museum’s celebration of the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society. This excerpt lasts for 3 minutes and 40 seconds.
Dr William Poole
Oxford and the Royal Society in the Seventeenth Century.
Part of the Museum’s celebration of the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society. This lecture lasts for 41 minutes.
Professor Alan Watson
the Pierre Auger Observatory
From a series of lectures about some of the major developments in telescopes in the modern era. This lecture lasts for 1 hour and 9 minutes.
Professor Roger Davies
the Gemini Telescopes
From a series of lectures about some of the major developments in telescopes in the modern era. This lecture lasts for 1 hour and 2 minutes.
Professor Phil Diamond
Jodrell Bank, the Lovell Telescope and e-MERLIN
From a series of lectures about some of the major developments in telescopes in the modern era. This lecture lasts for 1 hour and 11 minutes.
Professor Alexander Boksenberg
the William Herschel and the Hubble Telescopes
From a series of lectures about some of the major developments in telescopes in the modern era. This lecture lasts for 1 hour and 20 minutes.