Public lecture podcasts
395 episodes - English - Latest episode: 9 days ago - ★★★ - 5 ratingsThe University of Bath podcasts are a series of public lectures available to download for free.
Enhance your understanding of subjects ranging from how babies develop to the workings of the universe. Learn from academics and business and industry experts.
The University of Bath is a leading UK insitution. We offer a distinctive blend of research-led teaching, an outstanding graduate employment record and personal development opportunties.
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Episodes
Rutherford's Legacy
May 23, 2011 00:00 - 1 hour - 33.4 MBDr Glenn Patrick of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory near Oxford looks at how particle physics has developed following Rutherford's discovery and what developments we might expect.
Graphene: Sketching out a new world
May 23, 2011 00:00 - 55 minutes - 25.6 MBDr David Horsell of the University of Exeter explores graphene, nature's thinnest material.
Founders Day lecture 2011: Great ideas of biology
April 28, 2011 00:00 - 1 hour - 32.3 MBIn this Founders Day lecture Sir Paul Nurse, president of the Royal Society, discusses the great ideas of biology.
Professor Yiannis Gabriel inaugural lecture: Losing the plot in era of image
April 28, 2011 00:00 - 46 minutes - 21.4 MBIn his Inaugural lecture Professor Yiannis Gabriel from the School of Management critiques our desire to look for a story in every image.
Creative tensions between science & technology
April 14, 2011 00:00 - 59 minutes - 27.2 MBRecent debate on the role and affordability of scientific research has too often been presented as a choice between 'blue skies science' and 'useful' engineering. This public lecture at the University of Bath by Professor Sir Richard Friend on 5 April 2011 argues that this is a highly mistaken outlook.
The Paralympic legacy
March 31, 2011 00:00 - 49 minutes - 22.5 MBSimone Lewis, Dr Polly Mcguigan and Dr James Bilzon examine how the University of Bath aims to become a research centre of excellence in disability and Paralympic sport ahead of and beyond London 2012.
The tale of the tulip
March 30, 2011 00:00 - 32 minutes - 14.8 MBFreelance garden historian Russell Bowes brings the story of the tulip to life with power, passion and petals!
The pre-history of Bathampton Down - Bath's sacred landscape
March 10, 2011 00:00 - 45 minutes - 21 MBDr Rod Thomas talks about a newly-discovered Iron-Age settlement and other findings in Bathampton Down.
Robots with emotions - do we need them?
March 10, 2011 00:00 - 50 minutes - 23.1 MBDr Joanna Bryson, an expert in machines that have their own artificial intelligence, explores the issues associated with the concept.
The science of drug politics
March 10, 2011 00:00 - 1 hour - 29.3 MBProfessor David Nutt talks about the regulation of drugs including alcohol and tobacco.
Kew in the digital age
January 05, 2011 00:00 - 1 hour - 34 MBProfessor Angela McFarlane explores how The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is using digital media to engage new, global audiences in its science and conservation work.
William Herschel Society lecture 2010: Our place in the Universe
November 18, 2010 00:00 - 1 hour - 29 MBProfessor John Barrow, Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Cambridge University, sheds light upon the expanding universe and asks what the significance is of its age, shape and size at the annual Herschel lecture.
The arm - engineers armed for medical rehabilitation
October 15, 2010 00:00 - 58 minutes - 26.9 MBProfessor Garth Johnson will describe how biomechanical engineering is improving joint replacement treatment for older people, in this annual lecture organised by the Bath Institute of Medical Engineering.
UN ideas that changed the world
September 03, 2010 00:00 - 1 hour - 31.5 MBHonorary Professor and Research Associate of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex and co-ordinator of the UN Intellectual History Project draws on the 17-volume official history of the UN
Andreas Kyprianou inaugural lecture: Jumping about in applied probability
July 13, 2010 00:00 - 55 minutes - 25.3 MBProfessor Andreas Kyprianou from the Department of Mathematical Sciences gives a gentle introduction to probability theory and its pivotal role in current mathematics research.
Stephen Payne inaugural lecture: The Science of interaction between humans & computers
June 25, 2010 00:00 - 53 minutes - 24.3 MBProfessor Stephen Payne from the University of Bath, will discuss how his research combines an understanding of the human mind with the design of interactive systems.
Our future: understanding the big picture
June 25, 2010 00:00 - 1 hour - 42.5 MBDr James Martin, founder of the James Martin 21st Century School at the University of Oxford, explain why decision-makers need to look at the global big picture to avoid world catastrophe.
Poetry in motion pictures
June 25, 2010 00:00 - 35 minutes - 16.4 MBPoet and author Kevan Manwarring looks at poets who have graced the silver screen from Shakespeare to the Beats and the Romantics to Slam.
The history and development of Buddhism
June 09, 2010 00:00 - 44 minutes - 20.5 MBDr Robert Heath, lecturer at the school of management at the University of Bath and study lecturer on Buddhism, talks about the history and development of the religion from its inception in India to the present day.
The Sunflower and the rose
June 04, 2010 00:00 - 53 minutes - 24.6 MBBeloved by artists as well as gardeners, flowers are everywhere in art. But are they just flowers or do they carry hidden meanings? Is there a deeper significance - spiritual, cultural or aesthetic - than we realise? Put on your deerstalker and prepare to exercise your little grey cells as we tour a virtual art gallery looking for the clues that artists have left for us between the petals of the rose and the sunflower, two of summer's most beautiful flowers.
The future of brand management
June 04, 2010 00:00 - 1 hour - 37.2 MBProfessor Michael Beverland, head of the marketing group at the University of Bath School of Management examines how the marketers behind some of the world¿s most enduring brands are responding to a new environment.
Climate change: challenge or swindle?
June 04, 2010 00:00 - 45 minutes - 21 MBReverend Professor Ian James questions whether climate change is a challenge or a swindle and presents some of the certainties, complexities and controversies from the science of climate change.
What world do you see?
June 04, 2010 00:00 - 57 minutes - 26.4 MBJames Alexander, a highly practical business creator and innovative strategist, is a co-founder and Board Director of Zopa, the marketplace where people meet to lend and borrow money. In this wide ranging lecture, James, who is a superb speaker, will touch on a number of topics including how to make the most of opportunities in building a successful career. This is an opportunity for you to learn from someone who has been hugely successful in the business world.
Professor Alison Walker inaugural lecture: Devices and desires
June 04, 2010 00:00 - 50 minutes - 23.4 MBOrganic devices are revolutionising lighting and solar cells, Professor Alison Walker will describe how this change will impact our lives. Light emission from organic materials is not very common in everyday life. However, some living creatures, such as fireflies and many sea creatures, emit light with amazingly high efficiencies.
How crows make tools and other clever tricks
June 04, 2010 00:00 - 1 hour - 28.6 MBDr Alex Kacelnik from the Department of Zoology at the University of Oxford talks about how crows make tools to find food and explains how animals think.
Nuclear explosives: the technology of destruction
March 30, 2010 00:00 - 50 minutes - 23.1 MBLecturer, writer and editor, Rick Marshall talks about how explosives are made and what to do if they're detonated.
Professor Adrian Hyde-Price inaugural lecture: War, peace and justice
March 24, 2010 00:00 - 50 minutes - 23.3 MBProfessor Adrian Hyde-Price from the University's Department of Politics, Languages & International Studies examines the nature and causes of contemporary war and conflict, and considers the prospect of peace in the 21st Century.
Avebury - megaliths and myths
March 02, 2010 00:00 - 1 hour - 28 MBFreelance and professional writer Roger Vlitos examines the theories and myths about Avebury.
Have economists gone mad?
December 07, 2009 00:00 - 51 minutes - 23.7 MBPaul Ormerod, the author of three best-selling books on economics talks about what mainstream economists have to say about the turmoil of world economy.
Lady Miller of Batheaston
November 23, 2009 00:00 - 47 minutes - 21.7 MBMartin Sturge talks about Lady Anna Miller of Batheaston. Mr Sturge is deeply involved with the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution and sponsored the rebinding of a rare volume of Lady Miller's Poetical Assemblies held in the institution's historic library.
William Herschel Society lecture 2009: The cosmic web
November 23, 2009 00:00 - 1 hour - 27.7 MBProfessor Peter Coles from the School of Physics & Astronomy at Cardiff University will talk about the large scale structure of the Universe and the ideas that physicists are weaving together to explain how it came to be the way it is.
Intimations of immortality
November 12, 2009 00:00 - 52 minutes - 24.1 MBProfessor Malcolm Johnson from the Department of Social and Policy Sciences at the University of Bath looks at the changing face of death in an ageing society.
Airfields: a phenomenon of the 20th century
November 06, 2009 00:00 - 55 minutes - 25.6 MBAuthor and archaeologist Bob Clarke charts the progress of aviation through airfields and asks why some stations are located where they are.
Assisted dying: rights, choices and palliative care
October 30, 2009 00:00 - 1 hour - 34.7 MBLord Joel Joffe believes that there is an 'urgent need' to change the law on assisted dying and will argue in his lecture that assisted dying and palliative care are essential and complementary aspects of care for people suffering from painful incurable diseases.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh - The Glasgow legacy
October 28, 2009 00:00 - 48 minutes - 22 MBStuart Robertson, the director of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society, gives a personal view of the great Scottish architect and designer.
Against the flow: Technology for managing incontinence
October 28, 2009 00:00 - 52 minutes - 23.9 MBProfessor Alan Cottenden, from University College London, describes new technology for managing incontinence.
CSI unmasked - the facts about forensics
October 28, 2009 00:00 - 42 minutes - 19.7 MBForensic anthropologist Kathleen Conabree discusses issues surrounding what really goes on at a crime scene and what the term forensic actually means.
William Herschel Society lecture 2008: The effect of gravity on light
October 28, 2009 00:00 - 55 minutes - 25.4 MBProfessor Mark Birkinshaw talks about the effect of gravity on light as part of the 2008 Herschel lecture, named in remembrance of the Bath astronomer who discovered the planet Uranus in 1781.
Cure or weapon? Towards a new ethics of biological research
October 28, 2009 00:00 - 16 minutes - 7.73 MBIn this Charter Day lecture, Dr Alexander Kelle, from the University of Bath's Department of European Studies and Modern Languages, talks about biological research and its possible applications for good, and ill. Illustrating a track record over a century long of biological developments being put to uses outside their original purpose, he proposes the creation of an International Framework Agreement to ensure that we learn from the mistakes of the past.
How to amaze your friends
October 19, 2009 00:00 - 41 minutes - 19 MBProfessor Chris Budd from the University of Bath takes mathematics into the dark territory of murder, suicide, love, sex and conquest.
Bio-technology in Africa
October 14, 2009 00:00 - 1 hour - 27.5 MBFlorence Muringi Wambugu talks about the contribution of bio-technology, including GM crops, for improving the sustainable livelihoods of resource poor families in Africa.
At the court of the great moghul
October 12, 2009 00:00 - 59 minutes - 27.3 MBNicholas Fogg describes life at the Court of the Great Moghul, his campaigns, his foibles and his lasting impact on the history of India.
The psychology of habit
October 09, 2009 00:00 - 48 minutes - 22.3 MBProfessor Bas Verplanken from the University of Bath talks about the psychology of habit and how much of what we do is done at the same time in the same location.
Pain science: discovering the limits of experience
June 30, 2009 00:00 - 1 hour - 35.3 MBMembers of the new Bath Centre for Pain Research celebrate its launch. The lecture is introduced by Professor Chris Eccleston, the centre's director, and includes an address by Dr Lindsey Cohen and talks by Dr Lance McCracken, Dr Candy McCabe and Dr Ed Keogh.
Professor Guy Standing inaugural lecture: Work after globalisation
June 25, 2009 00:00 - 1 hour - 27.6 MBAccording to the experts globalisation ended in 2008, but where does that leave us? Is the financial crisis a turning point in the global transformation? Professor Guy Standing examines these issues in his inaugural lecture.
Academics and public policy: a new alignment?
June 22, 2009 00:00 - 44 minutes - 20.2 MBProfessor Dame Janet Finch talks about how academia and government can work together.
Rediscovering the common wealth
June 02, 2009 00:00 - 48 minutes - 22.2 MBProfessor Geof Wood of the University of Bath investigates our human motivations for sustainable behaviour beyond our own immediate interest.
Professor Melanie Welham inaugural lecture: Understanding stem cells
May 19, 2009 00:00 - 52 minutes - 24.2 MBProfessor Melanie Welham from the University of Bath's Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology talks about the benefits of stem cells.
Creativity in the face of crisis: How great entrepreneurs rise from recessions
April 29, 2009 00:00 - 42 minutes - 19.3 MBDavid Rogers talks about how entrepreneurs use innovation and creativity to survive and thrive in hard times.
Spirit country
April 20, 2009 00:00 - 50 minutes - 22.9 MBProfessional photographer Roger Vlitos talks about nature writer Richard Jefferies, who coined the phrase Spirit Country for the west of England countryside that inspired him and many other followers.