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<DIV>From <A
href="http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/12/17/104130/66">Kuro5hin</A>: The BBC
inaugurated the <A
href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2003/history.shtml">Reith Lectures</A> in
1948. Every year a leading figure is invited to deliver a series of public
lectures informed by their particular field of expertise. The purpose of the
lectures is "to advance public understanding and debate about significant issues
of contemporary interest". The first Reith Lectures were given by Bertrand
Russell and notable contributors have consented to participate ever since.
Former Reith Lecturers include Robert Oppenheimer, JK Galbraith, John Searle,
Steve Jones and Edward Said. This year's Reith Lecturer was <A
href="http://psy.ucsd.edu/chip/ramabio.html">Professor Vilayanur
Ramachandran</A>, Director of the Centre for Brain and Cognition and professor
with the Psychology Department and the Neurosciences Programme at the University
of California, San Diego. <BR>Professor Ramachandran's approach to neuroscience
is guided by the principle that the examination of unusual and rare neurological
disorders can yield fresh insights into the mechanisms of the normal brain. Many
of the disorders he investigates have been known to medicine for some time,
neglected as borderline cases or mere curiosities until now. In a series of
lectures entitled <A
href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/reith2003/lectures.shtml">The Emerging
Mind</A>, Professor Ramachandran takes the listener on a tour of unusual
psychological phenomena and, through an examination of the associated neurology,
arrives at some startling conclusions about the human brain. He goes on to
consider the possible implications of these conclusions for subjects as varied
as consciousness, identity, free will, religion, aesthetics, art and the origins
of language. Both the lectures and the discussions can be read in transcript
form or listened to as a RealAudio stream.</DIV></BODY></HTML>