Erasmus Darwin Memorial Lectures
2023 Dr. Henrik Mellin
James Webb Fellow
The James Webb telescope: new light on the universe
2022 Sir Adrian Smith PRS
President of The Royal Society
The brave new world of artificial intelligence
2020 Dr Tim Brooks CBE
Head of the Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory, Public Health England
Dangerous Pathogens: Past, Present and Future
2019 Professor Jonathan Van-Tam MBE, BMedSci, BMBS, DM, FFPH, FRCPath, Hon FFPM, CBiol, CSci, FRSPH, FSB
Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England
Influenza Pandemic Preparedness and Response
2018 Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell DBE, FRS, FRSE, FRAS
Visiting Professor of Astrophysics, University of Oxford
Pulsars: Stars, Cars or Watches?
2017 Sir Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, PRS
Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Visualizing Molecules
2016 Dame Nancy Rothwell, DBE, FRS
President and Vice-chancellor, University of Manchester,
A Life in Science
2015 Dame Wendy Hall, DBE, FRS, FREng.
Professor of Computer Science, University of Southampton,
Director of the Web Science Institute
The Evolution of the World Wide Web
2014 Professor Sir Colin Blakemore,
Professor of Neuroscience & Philosophy, University of London.
The Evolution of the Human Brain – A Tale of Two Darwins
2013 Professor Tony Ryan OBE,
Pro-Vice-Chancellor – Pure Science, The University of Sheffield
Project Sunshine
2012 Professor Sir Paul Nurse PRS,
Nobel Laureate, President of the Royal Society,
Director and CEO of the Francis Crick Institute
Great Ideas of Biology
2011 Lord Rees of Ludlow,
Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, Astronomer Royal,
Past President of The Royal Society
Life and the Cosmos
2010 Sir Alec Jeffreys,
Professor of Genetics and Royal Society Wolfson Research Professor,
University of Leicester
Genetic Fingerprinting: Past, Present and Future
2009 Dr Alice Roberts, BSc, MB, BCh,
Anatomist, University of Bristol
The Incredible Human Journey
2008 Lord Alec Broers,
Professor of Electrical Engineering Emeritus at Cambridge University and Fellow of Churchill College
Harnessing Science: Was it easier in Darwin’s Time?
2007 Professor Steve Jones,
Professor of Genetics, University College London
Why Evolution is right and Creationism is wrong
2006 Lawrence S. Young,
Professor of Cancer Biology, Institute Director and Head of Division,
Cancer Research UK Institute for Cancer Studies,
University of Birmingham Medical School
From Cause to Cure
2005 Richard Haslam-Jones,
Director of Project Management, Carnival Corporation
Cruise Liner Architecture
2004 Professor David Bellamy
Stitching Natural History Back into Working Order
2003 Dr Bernard Dixon OBE,
European Editor for the American Society of Microbiology
Why Modify Genes?
2002 Professor Sir Kenneth Calman,
Vice-Chancellor and Warden, University of Durham
An Examination of Wit: Erasmus Darwin’s Unwritten Book
2001 Baroness Greenfield CBE,
Director of the Royal Institution, Professor of Pharmacology,
University of Oxford
Brain of the Future
2000 Dr Adam Hart-Davis
The Lunaticks of Birmingham
1999 Professor Paul McMaster,
Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham
Transplant Surgery in the Next Millennium
1998 Dr James Jackson,
Dept of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge
Exploring the Earth: Finding Out How Our Planet Works
1997 Professor Sir Robert May,
Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford
Diversity of Life on Earth: Past, Present and Likely Future
1996 Professor David Kerr,
CRC Centre for Cancer Studies, University of Birmingham
Cancer Treatment for the Next Millennium
1995 Professor Heinz Wolff,
Head of Department of Bioengineering, Brunel University
Colonizing Outer Space
1994 Professor Ian Fells,
Professor of Energy Conversion, University of Newcastle-on-Tyne
Energy, Economics and the Environment
1993 Professor Brian Legg,
Director of the Silsoe Institute
Feeding the World – Can Engineering Help
1992 Dr David Drewry,
Director of the British Antarctic Survey
Antarctica and its Rôle in Global Environmental Change
1991 Dr R Keay,
Secretary,The Royal Society
Tropical Rain Forests
1990 Dr Richard Dawkins,
Department of Zoology, University of Oxford
Darwinizing with a Vengeance