Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Lecture

The Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Lecture is a public lecture organised annually by the Royal Society of London.

Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Lecture
Awarded for	Prize lecture given on a subject relating to the history, philosophy or social function of science.
Sponsored by	Royal Society
Website	royalsociety.org/awards/wilkins-bernal-medawar

It was formed in 2005 by the merger of the Wilkins Lecture, the Bernal Lecture and the Medawar Lecture. The subject matter for the lecture is some aspect of the social function of science as per the Bernal Lecture, the philosophy of science as per the Medawar Lecture or the history of science as per the Wilkins Lecture.

List of lecturers

Year	Name	Lecture	laudation	Notes
2007	Jeremy Butterfield	The uses of infinity: a philosopher looks at emergent phenomena in physics[1]	-	[2]
2008	Sian Ede	Hard questions : Contemporary art and the obsession with science[3]	-	[2]
2009	David Edgerton	The social function of history: policy, history and twentieth-century science[4]	-	[2]
2010	Melvyn Bragg	Notes from an Amateur: On the History of the Royal Society[5]	-	[2]
2012	Roger Highfield	Heroes of science[6]	-	[2]
2015	Hasok Chang	Who cares about the History of Science?[7]	-	[2]
2016	Jon Agar	The curious history of curiosity-driven research[8]	-	[2]
2017	Michela Massimi	Why philosophy of science matters to science[9]	-	[2]
2018	Mark Jackson	Life begins at 40: the biological and cultural roots of the midlife crisis[10]	-	[2]
2019	Simon Schaffer	Defining science through history.[11]	-	[2]
2020	Jim Al-Khalili	What is (Quantum) Life?[12]	for his exceptional work in explaining complex ideas in modern physics in an approachable way, his contributions to televised histories of electricity and quantum physics, and his work ranging from very recent history of science to the history of Arabic science	[2]
2021	June Barrow-Green	The History of Women and Maths[13]	for her research in 19th and 20th century mathematics, notably on historical roots of modern computing, dynamical systems and the three-body problem. Her work places special emphasis on the under-representation of women in historical narratives and in contemporary mathematics. Her recent work includes decolonising of the mathematical curriculum	[2]
2022	Philip Ball	Remaking Ourselves[14]	for his outstanding commitments to sharing the social, cultural, and historical context of science through award-winning science communication in books, articles, and as a speaker and commentator	[2]
2023	Sarah Franklin	Talking embryos: changing public perceptions of embryo research[15]	for her research into, and advocacy for, the social aspects of new reproductive technologies	[2]
2024	Matthew Cobb		for his work documenting the history of biology as both an author and broadcaster	[2]