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Bill Bryson: Why The Royal Society is so important - 350th Anniversary Celebration Lecture

2,083 views · Published 8 October 2010 · 2:09 · Indexed 1 November 2026

Channel: Gresham College · 2010 · Science & Technology

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The internet, the theory of evolution, Big Bang theory and the unravelling of DNA - these are just some of the contributions of The Royal Society to the world we live in today.
With 350 research fellowships, Grants supporting 3,000 scientists worldwide and much more besides, it is "the scientific conscious of the nation", as Bill Bryson explains in this extract from his Gresham College lecture marking the 350th anniversary of the birth of The Royal Society: 'An Even Shorter History of Nearly Everything'.

In the talk he spoke about the history of science and of the Royal Society, founded 350 years ago by Gresham College Professors (such as Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke) within Gresham College.
The lecture was given to 800 people within the Guildhall on the 30th of September 2010. The event was hosted in conjunction with the City of London Corporation and the Royal Society.

Bill Bryson's full lecture is available to download (like all of our lectures) in its complete form from the Gresham College website, in video, audio or text formats:
http://www.gresham.ac.uk

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download.

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