How 17th-century death records laid the foundation for modern demography
In short: Explore the 350th anniversary of John Graunt's London Bills of Mortality. This lecture examines how tracking deaths in 1662 London transformed the study of human populations into a formal scientific discipline.
The conference at Gresham College investigates mortality patterns in 17th-century London and evaluates the historical impact of Graunt's work. It serves as a primary case study for the birth of demography, analyzing how systematic data collection on life and death evolved into a modern academic field.
Gresham College, which has hosted free public lectures since 1597, provides the academic context for this symposium. The event highlights the transition from simple record-keeping to the complex analysis of population change.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Mortality Past and Present: Introduction to the conference on John Graunt's Bills of Mortality
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