On October 31, 2007, being invited by the library in the Custody Prison in Zwaag, NL (the Penitentiary Institution Noord-Holland Noord, unit Zwaag), T.W.M. van Berkel held a lecture on the life and work of Nostradamus and the value of the predictions in the Centuries for three groups of detainees, who were very interested in this matter. Two books on Nostradamus and the Centuries are part of the collection of the library: a Dutch translation of a book, written by John Hogue, and a Dutch translation of a book, written by Peter Lorie. 
In the first part of the lecture The Prophecies of Nostradamus - their present-day significance, the present-day interest in the Centuries was discussed and the fields of research, such as research upon which predictions became fulfilled, bibliographic research and research on allusions to the Centuries in publications, written by contemporaries of Nostradamus.
In the second part, the life and work of Nostradamus was discussed, the compilation of the various Century-editions, published in the sixteenth century and the Dutch translation of the Centuries which was published in 1941 in The Hague.
In the third part, the contents of the Preface to Cesar and the Epistle to Henry II were discussed as far as they are connected with the time span of the Centuries, the geographical covering and the way in which the predictions were supposed to be composed.
In the fourth part, the value of the predictions was discussed. Positive comments were compared with negative ones, resulting from the research upon which the project Nostradamus, astrology and the Bible is founded. Clues that might mean that the Centuries were written by more than one author were also discussed.
In the fifth and last part, abuses of the Centuries and/or the name and reputation of Nostradamus were discussed. It was explained how in World War II propaganda was produced, based upon the Centuries and/or Century-comments.
The information in the lecture was supported by a PowerPoint-presentation. For this occasion, the library had put a laptop and a beamer at disposal.
Frequently, the audience made use of the opportunity to ask questions and from time to time, a vivid debate took place about the presented information.