Royal Institution Christmas Lectures
As you may have heard if you follow us on Twitter, Facebook or G+, we are sponsoring this year’s Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. The lectures are part of British educational history: Michael Faraday started them in 1825 to introduce science to ordinary people – especially young people – and they’ve been running ever since, with only one break in 1939-42 during World War II.
Professor Danielle George, presenter of this year’s lectures. Photo credit: Paul Wilkinson
We’re incredibly proud to be associated with the lectures. They’re a real educational jewel, and they provide some of the best television in the UK over the Christmas period. British readers can watch this year’s lectures on BBC4 on December 29, 30 and 31 – the theme (which, serendipitously, has a lot of relevance for Raspberry Pi users) is Sparks will fly: How to hack your home. International viewers will be able to watch later on on the Royal Institution’s website.
Here’s a teaser the Royal Institution released on YouTube yesterday.
If you’d like to read more about this year’s lectures, there’s a long interview with Professor Danielle George in the Guardian, where she explains why hacking is such a crucial skill for children. We hope you’ll be watching the lectures along with us!
15 comments
Ben Nuttall
Rachel and I got to go along to see them recorded last week – great fun! Look forward to seeing it broadcast at the end of the month.
Rachel Rayns
Yeah…. I wonder if they’ll cut out all the bits of Ben shouting extra Raspberry Pi info from the balcony..
Stewart Watkiss
Love that quote “Nobody likes a fried Raspberry Pi”
Looking forward to watching them on the TV.
Ravenous
“Love that quote – Nobody likes a fried Raspberry Pi”
I dunno, it’s an acquired taste :) (don’t ask)
Sarah Church
Thanks for a great article and we are so glad Ben and Rachel enjoyed the show! I just wandered past the lecture theatre and nearly tripped over a robot – hope Alex enjoys tonight’s robot bonanza!
Andrew
We provided some of the demos — it should be really good. Look out for a behind the scenes blog post in the next couple of days.
John
I’m in the US. Will this program be available on YOUTUBE?
Raspberry Pi Staff Liz Upton — post author
There’s a link in the post to where you can watch if you’re not in the UK.
AndrewS
I watched the first of the 1977 (Carl Sagan) Christmas Lectures last night. Got a tingle in my spine when he talked about how the Voyager spacecraft were *due* to visit Jupiter in the future!
alecthegeek
Are there any plans to publish any of the projects or related materials? It would be great as resources for the Jams, hackerspaces and schools.
Our hackerspace has a laser cutter so we could get peeps doing the first demo project….
ColinD
Love the Christmas Lectures. I’ve been watching them for years. If anyone’s never seen them you should give them a go this year. They’re always lighthearted and informative, and often involve big things on stage that make noises or rock back and forth.
Raspberry Pi Staff Liz Upton — post author
…or little rectangular green things that make other things EXPLODE!
Gareth
Looking forward to these – I still have vivid memories of watching George Porter and Eric Laithwaite in the ’60s in B&W – MagLev and linear motors. And in this days you had to be in the house to watch it (transmitted live I think?) – the family were tied to the schedule. Thee’s a rather fantastic page on the history of the RI Christmas Lectures here http://www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/history
Dave Akerman
The Eric Laithwaite ones were great.
Dave Akerman
And here they are :-) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNPVzwuH5g0&list=PLoqW1tDux5_XVlHsdXdv5JMOrJOSKCKm4