Visit the Royal Institution's Christmas Lectures web page
The Christmas Lectures at the Royal Institution began in 1825 and continue today, and the series has seen many celebrated scientists at the podium (full listing HERE). The lectures have been televised since the mid-'60s (many available on Youtube), and still are aimed at general audiences, especially young people. With typical British urgency in matters of diversity, the first woman to preside was Susan Greenfield in 1994, a mere 169 years after the series began. In the 42 years since, seven or so more women have been honored to lecture. British science organizations have been characterized as stuffy clubs for old boys, but I can't imagine why, can you?
If any class periods remain after our treatment of Faraday's candle lectures and his life, we might watch together and discuss recent lectures, focusing on modern women in science, and perhaps compensating a small amount for the many years that went by before the first woman was invited to present the lectures.
