Series consists of recordings of lectures and speeches made at commemorative or celebratory events. These recordings were made or maintained by the National Research Council (NRC).
The lectures and speeches included in the series consist of four types:
1. Sound recordings of speeches delivered in 1950 by Lord Alexander of Tunis (Governor-General of Canada), C.D. Howe (Minister of Trade and Commerce of Canada), and C.J. Mackenzie (NRC President), at the occasion of the laying of the cornerstone for the NRC high-speed aerodynamics building (accession number 1975-0008);
2. Sound recordings of the presentation of the Kelvin Medal to C.J. Mackenzie by Lord Alertarden in 1954 (accession number 1975-0191);
3. Sound recordings of lectures delivered in 1966 during the Fiftieth Anniversary Ceremonies of the NRC (accession number 1969-0001);
4. Videotaped proceedings of NRC lecture series, "Physical Sciences in the '80s" to celebrate the 80th birthday of Gerhard Herzberg (accession number 1986-0329).
The lectures delivered in 1966 were titled as follows: "The Genetic Code" delivered by Dr. F.H.C. Crick (Medical Research Council, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University Postgraduate Medical School, Cambridge, England); "The Sex Chromosomes in Evolution and Medicine," delivered by Dr. M.L. Barr (Department of Anatomy, University of Western Ontario); "Space Chemistry" delivered by Dr. W. Libby (Department of Chemistry, University of California at Los Angeles); "Le Canada français et la politique scientifique canadienne," delivered by M. R. Gaudry (membre éminent de la Société royale du Canada et recteur de l'Université de Montréal); "L'organisation de la recherce scientifique en France," delivered by M. A. Marechal (délégué à la recherche scientifique et technique, Paris); and "Information Processing Machines and Modern Science," delivered by Dr. W.O. Baker (Vice-President (Research), Bell Telephone Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey, U.S.A).
The lectures delivered in 1984 were titled as follows: "The Galactic Center," delivered by Charles H. Townes (University of California); "A Romp through Relativity," delivered by Werner Israle (University of Alberta); "Time-Reversal and Irreversible Processes," delivered by Hendrik Casimir (Eindhoven, Netherlands); "The Beginning and the Ending of the Universe," delivered by Sir Denys Wilkinson (University of Sussex); "Mixed-valence Molecules," delivered by Henry Taube (Stanford University); "Renewable Sources of Fuel and Materials," delivered by Melvin Calvin (University of California).
