The Most Important Number in the World
“Just a sleep-deprived activist and organizer.” That’s how environmentalist Bill McKibben describes his current incarnation, with writing career in abeyance while he proselytizes about the danger of climate change. The plight he first wrote about as hypothesis in 1989 has evolved into “deeply rooted consensus.” By 19
Climate Change in a Changing World: Meeting the Needs of Humanity and the Planet
The “dominant story of the next century” will be one of either gloom or redemption, says Steven Hamburg, depending on how humanity chooses to address climate change. To date, Earth’s inhabitants have not meaningfully acknowledged this choice. Yet Hamburg retains a streak of optimism, based on his belief that br
Sustainable Accessibility: A Grand Challenge for the World and for MIT
Transportation systems, as we know them today, will simply not sustain the worlds’ growing population. Imagine a projected population of nine billion individuals. If this future population had mobility patterns like drivers in the United States, there would be a staggering 7.6 billion motor vehicles, using 440 million barre
From Space to Energy: Changing the World. For Good.
What does it take to achieve the impossible? The lure of a lucrative payoff or of worldwide fame, and a talented team who simply say, “Enough is enough, we’re going to change things.” That’s the perspective of Diamandis and the X Prize Foundation, whose original $10-million award went to Bert Rutan’s SpaceSh
The Future of Civic Engagement in a Broadband-Enabled World
The digital revolution that brought us Facebook, Twitter and YouTube could help revive participatory democracy in the U.S., says Eugene J. Huang. He unveils the FCC’s plan for providing broadband access to every American, and describes how its recommendations could spur more open government and greater civic engagement.
Politics and Popular Poetry in the Arab World
Professor Clive Holes gives a short talk on Arabic popular poetry; a medium of social satire and cultural criticism that is as important in Arabic culture as much as Social satire is in British culture. He also reads three translations of political poetry
Muhammad Yunus: A Poverty-free World?
Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Laureate and pioneer of microcredit, gave this year’s Romanes lecture on ‘A poverty-free world: When? How?’
Challenges and opportunities in a changing world
Dr Kohn is a pharmacologist, entrepreneur and a musician. In his lecture he drew on his experience throughout his distinguished career, combining his love of music and his life as a baritone of professional standing with that of a medical scientist.
Challenges and opportunities in a changing world
Dr Kohn is a pharmacologist, entrepreneur and a musician. In his lecture he drew on his experience throughout his distinguished career, combining his love of music and his life as a baritone of professional standing with that of a medical scientist.
Societies in Transition: Early Metallurgy Around the World
Professor David Killick (Dept. Anthropology, University of Arizona) talks about the invention of metallurgy and the transition from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age and what the social roles of emerging metallurgy were in societies throughout the world.
Societies in Transition: Volcanogenic Origins of the Classical World
A lecture on the origins of the classical world: from the growth of Minoan Crete during the Bronze Age, 2000 BCE, where a possible volcanic eruption on Santorini led to the destruction of Minoan Crete and a catalyst to the creation of the Classical world.
He's got the whole world in his hands: US History and its discontents in the Obama Era
Robin Kelley's inaugral lecture comments on the absence of discussion about race as connected to Barak Obama's presidency, particularly in light of American history and politics.
Muhammad Yunus: A Poverty-free World?
Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Laureate and pioneer of microcredit, gave this year’s Romanes lecture on ‘A poverty-free world: When? How?’
History of Key Institutions IMF/World Bank/G8/G20 - What Why When?
Ngaire Woods, Jeni Whalen and Christina Ward discuss some of the key institutions and groups who are responding to the financial crisis.
4.2 Possible Answers to Scepticism of the External World
Part 4.2. Investigates some of the possible solutions to Descartes' sceptical problem of the external world, looking at G.E Moore's response, among others, to the problem.
4.1 Scepticism of the External World
Part 4.1. Introduces the problem of how do we have knowledge of the world, how do we know what we perceive is in fact what is there?
2007 Lecture 3: Locating ourselves in the world
One strategy for responding to the knowledge argument exploits an analogy between knowledge of phenomenal experience and essentially indexical or self-locating knowledge. I think this is a promising analogy, but I will argue that before we apply it, we need to get clearer about the contents of self-locating belief and knowledge.
He's got the whole world in his hands: US History and its discontents in the Obama Era
Robin Kelley's inaugral lecture comments on the absence of discussion about race as connected to Barak Obama's presidency, particularly in light of American history and politics.
He's got the whole world in his hands: US History and its discontents in the Obama Era
Robin Kelley's inaugral lecture comments on the absence of discussion about race as connected to Barak Obama's presidency, particularly in light of American history and politics.
