LMS-Gresham College Lectures

Gresham College in London has been presenting mathematics lectures to the public since 1598, when Henry Briggs (co-inventor of logarithms) was appointed the first Gresham Professor of Geometry. Later holders of that Chair have included Isaac Barrow, Robert Hooke, and more recently Sir Christopher Zeeman, Ian Stewart and Sir Roger Penrose. The current position now covers all areas of mathematics, not just geometry.

In 2007, the Society and Gresham College established a yearly joint lecture with the Society providing the speakers while Gresham provides the attractive venue and covers the costs of the lecture and a reception. These events have proved highly popular.

Next Lecture: 17 May 2011

Undecidable and Decidable Problems in Mathematics: A survey and some reflections, for the centenary of Turing's birth
Professor Angus Macintyre (Queen Mary University of London and LMS President)

Past lectures [video and transcripts available]

2010, Indra’s Pearls:Geometry and Symmetry
Professor Caroline Series (University of Warwick)
'A Buddhist myth describes the heaven of Indra as containing a net of pearls, each of which was reflected in its neighbour, so that the whole Universe was mirrored in each pearl. Join Caroline Series on the path from basic mathematical ideas to simple algorithms whose repetition creates delicate fractal filigrees which are only now beginning to be fully explored.'

2009, Mathematics and Smallpox
Professor Tom Körner (University of Cambridge)
'250 years ago Daniel Bernoulli used mathematics and statistics to try to weigh the risks and benefits of inoculation against smallpox. The arguments of Bernoulli and his critics still remain relevant today.'

2008, Cancer can give you Maths!
Professor Philip Maini (University of Oxford)
'Verbal reasoning alone cannot be used to understand the outcome of the complex interactions that typically comprise biological function, so more and more researchers are turning to mathematical and computational modelling to gain insights on experimental results. Some approaches and advances will be illustrated concerning understanding the basic dynamics of solid tumour growth.'

2007, Multiplying and dividing whole numbers: why it is more difficult than you might think
Professor Timothy Gowers (University of Cambridge)

2006, Can maths catch criminals and bring them to justice?
Professor Chris Budd (University of Bath)
' Mathematical techinques lie at the heart of modern forensic methods for investigating crime and bringing the criminal to justice. Across all fields of crime detection and analysis, we encounter a rich range of applications of mathematical, statistical and probabilistic methods. This talk showed a broad range of mathematical and statistical methods used to bring the criminal to justice.'