Public lecture

<h2 id="public-autopsies">Public autopsies</h2>
<p>Besides public lectures, public autopsies have been important in promoting knowledge of medicine.  The autopsy of Dr. <a href="/facts/Johann_Spurzheim/JskNpXBY">Johann Gaspar Spurzheim</a>, advocate of <a href="/facts/Phrenology/Te2TYuQA">phrenology</a>, was conducted in public, and his brain, skull, and heart were removed, preserved in jars of alcohol, and put on display to the public.   Public autopsies have verged on entertainment: <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">American</a> showman <a href="/facts/P._T._Barnum/NFnlvS8o">P. T. Barnum</a> held a public autopsy of <a href="/facts/Joice_Heth/Jh6qC4cj">Joice Heth</a> after her death. Heth was a woman whom Barnum had been featuring as being over 160 years old. Barnum charged 50 cents admission. The autopsy demonstrated that she was between 76 and 80 years old.
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<ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20050204171311/http://www.rigb.org/rimain/heritage/index.jsp">"Heritage"</a>. <i>The Royal Institution of Great Britain</i>. Archived from <a href="http://rigb.org/rimain/heritage/index.jsp">the original</a> on 4 February 2005. Retrieved 26 January 2005.</li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20041228092221/http://www.hup.harvard.edu/reviews/REISHO_R.html">"Review of 'The Showman and the Slave: Race, Death, and Memory in Barnum's America' by Benjamin Reiss"</a>. <i>Gary Cross, Journal of American History</i>. Archived from <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/reviews/REISHO_R.html">the original</a> on 28 December 2004. Retrieved 26 January 2005.</li>
<li><a href="https://archive.today/20010624120443/http://www.osv.org/education/OSVisitor/MindGames.html">"Mind Games: A look at phrenology in the 1830s"</a>. <i>Tom Kelleher, Research Historian, Old Sturbridge Visitor, Fall, 1997; pp. 13–15</i>. Archived from <a href="http://www.osv.org/education/OSVisitor/MindGames.html">the original</a> on 24 June 2001. Retrieved 26 January 2005.</li></ul>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Coll%C3%A8ge_de_France/zDuHr8f1">Collège de France</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Lecture/doDfvaSE">Lecture</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/List_of_public_lecture_series/7589QytI">List of public lecture series</a></li></ul>
<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070106195823/http://lectures.monkhq.com/">Online Lectures. Webcasts</a>[<i>usurped</i>]</li>
<li><a href="http://lecturefinder.com/">Lecturefinder</a>: Search academic and college grade lectures online.</li>
<li><a href="http://platformed.org/">platformed.org</a>: A New York-based organization advocating public lecture attendance.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.yovisto.com/">yovisto.com</a>: An academic e-lecture search engine.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.open-lectures.com/">Open Lectures and Talks</a> : Find lists of UK public lectures and talks</li></ul>
<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"Our History | Gresham College". <a href="https://www.gresham.ac.uk/about-us/our-history" target="_blank">https://www.gresham.ac.uk/about-us/our-history</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
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Public lecture open-in-new

Public lecture