In Our Time With Melvyn Bragg show

In Our Time With Melvyn Bragg

Summary: Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the history of ideas - including topics drawn from philosophy, science, history, religion and culture.

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 IOT: States of Matter 03 Apr 14 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 47:07

The states in which matter can exist is a fascinating area of scientific enquiry. Most people are familiar with the idea that a substance like water can exist in solid, liquid and gaseous forms. But as much as 99% of the matter in the universe is now believed to exist in a fourth state, plasma. Today scientists recognise a number of other exotic states, such as glass, gels and liquid crystals - many of them with useful properties. Melyvn Bragg is joined by Andrea Sella, Professor of Chemistry at University College London; Athene Donald, Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Cambridge and Justin Wark, Professor of Physics and Fellow of Trinity College at the University of Oxford.

 IOT: Weber's The Protestant Ethic 27 Mar 14 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 50:40

Max Weber's book the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, published in 1905, proposed that Protestantism had been a significant factor in the emergence of capitalism. He made an explicit connection between religious ideas and economic systems. Weber suggested that Calvinism, with its emphasis on personal asceticism and the merits of hard work, had created an ethic which had enabled the success of capitalism in Protestant countries. Weber's essay has come in for some criticism since he published the work, but it is still seen as one of the seminal texts of 20th-century sociology. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Peter Ghosh, Fellow in History at St Anne's College, Oxford; Sam Whimster, Honorary Professor in Sociology at the University of New South Wales and Linda Woodhead, Professor of Sociology of Religion at Lancaster University.

 IOT: Bishop Berkeley 20 Mar 14 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 47:29

George Berkeley, an Anglican bishop, was one of the most important philosophers of the 18th century. Bishop Berkeley believed that objects only truly exist in the mind of somebody who perceives them - an idea he called immaterialism. His work on the nature of perception was a spur to many later thinkers, including Hume and Kant. The clarity of Berkeley's writing, and his ability to pose a problem in an easily understood form, has made him one of the most admired early modern thinkers. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Peter Millican, Gilbert Ryle Fellow and Professor of Philosophy at Hertford College, Oxford; Tom Stoneham, Professor of Philosophy at the University of York and Michela Massimi, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy of Science at the University of Edinburgh.

 IOT: The Trinity 13 Mar 14 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 42:11

The Trinity, the idea that God is a single entity but one known in three distinct forms (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), has been a central belief for most Christians since the earliest years of the religion. The doctrine was often controversial in the early Church, until clarified by the Council of Nicaea in the late 4th century. St Augustine and Thomas Aquinas recognised that this religious mystery posed profound theological questions. The Trinity's influence on Christian thought and practice is considerable, although it is interpreted in different ways by different Christian traditions. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Janet Soskice, Professor of Philosophical Theology at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Jesus College; Martin Palmer, Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education, and Culture, and The Reverend Graham Ward, Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford and a Canon of Christ Church.

 IOT: Spartacus 06 Mar 14 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 41:59

Spartacus was the famous gladiator who led a major slave rebellion against the Roman Republic in the 1st century BC. An accomplished military leader, he was celebrated by some ancient historians and reviled by others. Later, in the 19th century, he became a hero to revolutionaries in Europe. Modern perceptions of his character have been influenced by Stanley Kubrick's 1960 film, but ancient sources give a more complex picture of Spartacus and the aims of his rebellion. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Mary Beard, Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge; Maria Wyke, Professor of Latin at University College, London and Theresa Urbainczyk, Associate Professor of Classics at University College, Dublin.

 IOT: The Eye 27 Feb 14 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 42:11

The eye has been the subject of research for at least 2500 years. Some ancient philosophers believed that the eye enabled creatures to see by emitting its own light. The function of the eye became an area of particular interest to doctors in the Islamic Golden Age. In Renaissance Europe the work of thinkers including Kepler and Descartes revolutionised thinking about how the organ worked, but it took several hundred years for the eye to be thoroughly understood. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Patricia Fara, Senior Tutor of Clare College, University of Cambridge; William Ayliffe, Gresham Professor of Physic at Gresham College and Robert Iliffe, Professor of Intellectual History and History of Science at the University of Sussex.

 IOT: Social Darwinism 20 Feb 14 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 41:41

Social Darwinism was the idea that Charles Darwin's theory about evolution, as set out in his masterpiece On the Origin of Species in 1859, could also be applied to human society. One thinker particularly associated with this movement was Herbert Spencer, who argued that competition among humans was beneficial, because it ensured that only the healthiest and most intelligent individuals would succeed. Social Darwinism remained influential for several decades, although its connection with eugenics and adoption as an ideological position by Fascist regimes ensured its eventual downfall from intellectual respectability. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Adam Kuper, Centennial Professor of Anthropology at the LSE, University of London; Gregory Radick, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Leeds and Charlotte Sleigh, Reader in the History of Science at the University of Kent.

 IOT: Chivalry 13 Feb 14 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 42:15

Chivalry was the moral code observed by knights of the Middle Ages. It originated in the military practices of aristocratic French and German soldiers, but developed into an elaborate system governing many different aspects of knightly behaviour. It influenced the conduct of military campaigns and gave rise to the phenomenon of courtly love, the subject of much romance literature, as well as to the practice of heraldry. The remnants of the chivalric tradition linger in European culture even today. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Miri Rubin, Professor of Medieval and Early Modern History and Head of the School of History at Queen Mary, University of London; Matthew Strickland, Professor of Medieval History at the University of Glasgow and Laura Ashe, Associate Professor in English at the University of Oxford and Fellow of Worcester College.

 IOT: The Phoenicians 06 Feb 14 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 41:59

The Phoenicians were an ancient people from the Levant who were accomplished sailors and traders, and are thought to have taught the Greeks their alphabet. By about 700 BC they were trading all over the Mediterranean, taking Egyptian and Syrian goods as far as Spain and North Africa. Although they left few records of their own, they were hugely influential in the ancient world. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Mark Woolmer, Assistant Principal at Collingwood College, Durham University; Josephine Quinn, Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Oxford and Cyprian Broodbank, Professor of Mediterranean Archaeology at University College London.

 IOT: Catastrophism 30 Jan 14 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 41:54

Catastrophism is the idea that natural disasters have had a significant influence in moulding the Earth's geological features. In 1822 William Buckland ascribed most of the fossil record to the effects of Noah's flood. Charles Lyell later challenged these writings, arguing that geological change was slow and gradual, and that the processes responsible could still be seen at work today - a theory known as Uniformitarianism. But in the 1970s the idea that catastrophes were a major factor in the Earth's geology was revived by the discovery of evidence of a giant asteroid impact 65 million years ago, believed by many to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Andrew Scott, Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow in the Department of Earth Sciences at Royal Holloway, University of London; Jan Zalasiewicz, Senior Lecturer in Geology at the University of Leicester and Leucha Veneer, Visiting Scholar at the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Manchester.

 IOT: Sources of Early Chinese History 23 Jan 14 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 42:19

The first records of historical events in China date from the Shang dynasty of the 2nd millennium BC. The earliest surviving records were inscribed on bones or tortoise shells; in later centuries, chroniclers left detailed accounts on paper or silk. In the last 100 years, archaeologists have discovered a wealth of new materials, including a cache of previously unknown texts which were found in a cave on the edge of the Gobi Desert. Such sources are shedding new light on Chinese history, although interpreting them presents a number of challenges. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Roel Sterckx, Joseph Needham Professor of Chinese History at the University of Cambridge; Tim Barrett, Professor of East Asian History at SOAS, University of London and Hilde de Weerdt, Professor of Chinese History at Leiden University.

 IOT: The Battle of Tours 16 Jan 14 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 42:05

The Battle of Tours took place in 732 when a large Arab army invaded Gaul from northern Spain. They were defeated near Poitiers by Charles Martel and his Frankish forces. The result confirmed the regional supremacy of Charles, who went on to establish a strong Frankish dynasty. The Battle of Tours was the last major incursion of Muslim armies into northern Europe; some historians, including Edward Gibbon, have seen it as the decisive moment that determined that the continent would remain Christian. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Hugh Kennedy, Professor of Arabic at SOAS, University of London; Rosamond McKitterick, Professor of Medieval History at the University of Cambridge and Matthew Innes, Vice-Master and Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London.

 IOT: Plato's Symposium 02 Jan 14 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 42:11

Plato's Symposium is one of the Greek philosopher's most celebrated works. Written in the 4th century BC, it is a dialogue set at a dinner party attended by a number of prominent ancient Athenians, including the philosopher Socrates and the playwright Aristophanes. Each of the guests speaks of Eros, or erotic love. This fictional discussion of the nature of love, how and why it arises and what it means to be in love, has had a significant influence on later thinkers, and is the origin of the modern notion of Platonic love. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Angie Hobbs, Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield; Richard Hunter, Regius Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge and Frisbee Sheffield, Director of Studies in Philosophy at Christ's College, University of Cambridge.

 IOT: The Medici 26 Dec 2013 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 42:03

The Medici family dominated Florence's political and cultural life for three centuries. They came to prominence in Italy in the 15th century as a result of the wealth they built up through banking. With the rise of Cosimo de' Medici, they became Florence's most powerful and influential dynasty, effectively controlling the city's government. Their patronage of the arts turned Florence into a leading centre of the Renaissance and the Medici Bank was one of the most successful institutions of its day. As well as producing four popes, members of the Medici married into various European royal families. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Evelyn Welch, Professor of Renaissance Studies at King’s College, University of London; Robert Black, Professor of Renaissance History at the University of Leeds and Catherine Fletcher, Lecturer in Public History at the University of Sheffield.

 IOT: Complexity 19 Dec 13 | File Type: audio/mpeg | Duration: 41:49

Complexity is a young discipline which can help us understand the world around us. When individuals come together and act in a group, they do so in complicated and unpredictable ways: societies often behave very differently from the people within them. Research into complex systems now has important applications in many different fields, from biology to political science. Today it is being used to explain how birds flock, to predict traffic flow in cities and to study the spread of diseases. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Ian Stewart, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick; Jeff Johnson, Professor of Complexity Science and Design at the Open University and Professor Eve Mitleton-Kelly, Director of the Complexity Research Group at the London School of Economics.

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