Editing Public lecture

{{short description|Spoken presentation aimed at the general public}}
{{globalize|date=February 2014}}
[[File:Faraday xmas detail.jpg|thumb|Michael Faraday, nineteenth century scientist and electrician, shown delivering the British Royal Institution's Christmas Lecture for Juveniles during the Institution's Christmas break in 1856.]]

A '''public lecture''' (also known as an '''open lecture''') is one means employed for educating the public.  [[Gresham College]], in London, has been providing free public lectures since its founding in 1597 through the will of [[Sir Thomas Gresham]].  The [[Royal Society]] held its first ever meeting at Gresham College in November 1660, after one of [[Christopher Wren]]'s lectures, and continued to meet there for the next fifty years.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/about-us/our-history | title=Our History &#124; Gresham College }}</ref>

The [[Royal Institution|Royal Institution of Great Britain]] has a long history of public [[lecture]]s and demonstrations given by prominent experts in the field. In the 19th century, the popularity of the public lectures given by [[Sir Humphry Davy]] at the Royal Institution was so great that the volume of carriage traffic in [[Albemarle Street]] caused it to become the first one-way street in [[London]]. The [[Royal Institution's Christmas Lectures]] for young people are nowadays also shown on [[television]].  [[Alexander von Humboldt]] delivered a series of public lectures at the [[University of Berlin]] in the winter of 1827–1828, that formed the basis for his later work ''Kosmos''.

==Public autopsies==
Besides public lectures, public autopsies have been important in promoting knowledge of medicine.  The autopsy of Dr. [[Johann Spurzheim|Johann Gaspar Spurzheim]], advocate of [[phrenology]], was conducted in public, and his brain, skull, and heart were removed, preserved in jars of alcohol, and put on display to the public.   Public autopsies have verged on entertainment: [[United States|American]] showman [[P. T. Barnum]] held a public autopsy of [[Joice Heth]] after her death. Heth was a woman whom Barnum had been featuring as being over 160 years old. Barnum charged 50 cents admission. The autopsy demonstrated that she was between 76 and 80 years old.

== References ==
{{Rhetoric}}
* {{cite web|accessdate=26 January 2005|url=http://rigb.org/rimain/heritage/index.jsp|title=Heritage|work=The Royal Institution of Great Britain|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050204171311/http://www.rigb.org/rimain/heritage/index.jsp|archive-date=4 February 2005|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web|accessdate=26 January 2005|url=http://www.hup.harvard.edu/reviews/REISHO_R.html|title=Review of 'The Showman and the Slave: Race, Death, and Memory in Barnum's America' by Benjamin Reiss|work=Gary Cross, Journal of American History |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20041228092221/http://www.hup.harvard.edu/reviews/REISHO_R.html|archivedate = 28 December 2004}}
* {{cite web|accessdate=26 January 2005|url=http://www.osv.org/education/OSVisitor/MindGames.html|title=Mind Games: A look at phrenology in the 1830s|work=Tom Kelleher, Research Historian, Old Sturbridge Visitor, Fall, 1997; pp. 13–15|archive-url=https://archive.today/20010624120443/http://www.osv.org/education/OSVisitor/MindGames.html|archive-date=24 June 2001|url-status=dead}}

== See also ==
* [[Collège de France]]
* [[Lecture]]
* [[List of public lecture series]]

== External links ==
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070106195823/http://lectures.monkhq.com/ Online Lectures. Webcasts]}}
* [http://lecturefinder.com/ Lecturefinder]: Search academic and college grade lectures online.
* [http://platformed.org/ platformed.org]: A New York-based organization advocating public lecture attendance.
* [http://www.yovisto.com/ yovisto.com]: An academic e-lecture search engine.
* [http://www.open-lectures.com/ Open Lectures and Talks] : Find lists of UK public lectures and talks

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

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{{Use British English|date=October 2024}}
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[[Category:Teaching]]
[[Category:Public speaking]]
[[Category:Lectures|+]]