In Our Time With Melvyn Bragg

The Physiocrats were an important group of economic thinkers in 18th-century France. They believed that the land was the ultimate source of all wealth and that markets should not be constrained by governments. Their ideas were important not just to economists but to the course of politics in France. Later they influenced the work of Adam Smith. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Richard Whatmore, Professor of Intellectual History & the History of Political Thought at the University of Sussex; Joel Felix, Professor of History at the University of Reading and Helen Paul, Lecturer in Economics and Economic History at the University of Southampton.

Prophecy has great meaning and significance in the Abrahamic religions. Prophets, those with the ability to convey divinely-inspired revelation, are significant figures in the Hebrew Bible and later became important not just to Judaism but also to Christianity and Islam. Although these three religions share many of the same prophets, their interpretation of the nature of prophecy often differs. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic and Interreligious Studies at the University of Edinburgh; Justin Meggitt, University Senior Lecturer in the Study of Religion and the Origins of Christianity at the University of Cambridge and Jonathan Stökl, Post-Doctoral Researcher at Leiden University.

Einstein's theories of relativity transformed our understanding of the Universe. The twin theories of Special and General Relativity offered insights into the nature of space, time and gravitation which changed the face of modern science. It's regarded today as one of the greatest intellectual achievements of the 20th century, and had an impact far beyond the world of science. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Ruth Gregory, Professor of Mathematics and Physics at Durham University; Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal and Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the University of Cambridge and Roger Penrose, Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford.

Queen Zenobia was a distinguished military leader of the ancient world. Born in about 240 AD, Zenobia became Empress of the Palmyrene Empire in the Middle East. She is renowned for launching a rebellion against the Roman Empire and conquering Egypt before being finally defeated by the Emperor Aurelian. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Edith Hall, Professor of Classics at King's College, London; Kate Cooper, Professor of Ancient History at the University of Manchester and Richard Stoneman, Honorary Visiting Professor in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter.

Anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss was one of 20th-century France's most celebrated intellectuals. He set out to show in his work that human thought processes were universal, whether people lived in tribal rainforest societies or in the rich intellectual life of Paris. He was the leading exponent of structuralism, and his books about the nature of myth, thought and kinship are now seen as some of the most important anthropological texts. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Adam Kuper, Visiting Professor of Anthropology at Boston University; Christina Howells, Professor of French at Oxford University and Vincent Debaene, Associate Professor of French Literature at Columbia University.

Cosmic rays were discovered in 1912 by the physicist Victor Hess. The Earth is under constant bombardment from this radiation coming from beyond our atmosphere. Cosmic rays can cause damage to satellites and electronic devices on Earth, but the study of cosmic rays has led to major breakthroughs in particle physics. Today physicists are still trying to establish where these highly energetic particles come from. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Carolin Crawford, Gresham Professor of Astronomy and a member of the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge; Alan Watson, Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Leeds and Tim Greenshaw, Professor of Physics at the University of Liverpool.

The Icelandic Sagas were first written down in the 13th century and tell the stories of the Norse settlers who began to arrive in Iceland 400 years before. They contain some of the richest and most extraordinary writing of the Middle Ages. Full of heroes, feuds, ghosts and outlaws, the sagas inspired later writers including Sir Walter Scott, William Morris and WH Auden. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Carolyne Larrington, Fellow and Tutor in Medieval English Literature at St John's College, Oxford; Elizabeth Ashman Rowe, University Lecturer in Scandinavian History at the University of Cambridge and Emily Lethbridge, Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Árni Magnússon Manuscripts Institute in Reykjavík.

Gnosticism was a belief system associated with early Christianity. Gnostics believed that a special hidden knowledge, or gnosis, would enable them to escape the evils of the physical world and reach the higher spiritual realm. The Gnostics were regarded as heretics by most of the early Church Fathers, but their influence was important in defining the course of Christianity. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Martin Palmer, Director of the International Consultancy on Religion, Education, and Culture; Caroline Humfress, Reader in History at Birkbeck College, University of London and Alastair Logan, Honorary University Fellow of the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Exeter.

Montaigne's Essays deal with an eclectic range of subjects, from the dauntingly weighty to the apparently trivial. Born in France in 1533, Montaigne is often seen as one of the most outstanding Sceptical thinkers of his time. His approachable style, intelligence and subtle thought have made him one of the most widely admired writers of the Renaissance. Melvyn Bragg is joined by David Wootton, Anniversary Professor of History at York University; Terence Cave, Emeritus Professor of French Literature at the University of Oxford and Felicity Green, Chancellor's Fellow in History at the University of Edinburgh.

The Putney Debates took place in late 1647, after the defeat of King Charles I in the first English Civil War. Representatives of the New Model Army and the radical Levellers met in a Putney church to debate the future of England, who should be allowed to vote, civil liberties and religious freedom. Their debates had much influence on centuries of political thought. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Justin Champion, Professor of the History of Early Modern Ideas at Royal Holloway, University of London; Ann Hughes, Professor of Early Modern History at Keele University and Kate Peters, Fellow in History at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge.

The Amazons were a mythical tribe of female warriors who first appeared in Greek culture. In later centuries, particularly in the Renaissance, the Amazons became a popular theme of literature and art. After the discovery of the New World, the Amazon River was named after them. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture at Cambridge University; Chiara Franceschini, Teaching Fellow at University College London and an Academic Assistant at the Warburg Institute and Caroline Vout, Senior Lecturer in Classics and Fellow and Director of Studies at Christ's College, Cambridge.

Japan's Sakoku period was a time when the country isolated itself from the Western world. It began with a series of edicts in the 1630s which restricted the rights of Japanese to leave their country and expelled most of the Europeans living there. Although historians used to think of Japan as completely isolated from external influence for the next 200 years, recent scholarship suggests that Japanese society was far less cut off from European ideas during this period than previously thought. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Richard Bowring, Emeritus Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Cambridge; Andrew Cobbing, Associate Professor of History at the University of Nottingham and Rebekah Clements, Research Associate at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge.

The chemistry of the water molecule - Andrea Sella, Hasok Chang and Patricia Hunt join Melvyn Bragg to discuss one of the most fascinating substances on Earth.

The biologist Alfred Russel Wallace was a pioneer of evolutionary theory. Born in 1823, he travelled extensively, charting the distribution of animal species throughout the world. In 1858 he sent his paper on the theory of evolution by natural selection to Charles Darwin, who was spurred into the publication of his own masterpiece On the Origin of Species. But despite his visionary work, Wallace has been overshadowed by the greater fame of Darwin. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Steve Jones, Emeritus Professor of Genetics at University College London; George Beccaloni, Director of the Wallace Correspondence Project at the Natural History Museum and Ted Benton, Professor of Sociology at the University of Essex.

Anton Chekhov, the 19th-century Russian writer, is perhaps best known for his plays including The Cherry Orchard and Three Sisters. He is also celebrated today as one of the greatest of short story writers. His works are often powerful character studies and chronicle the changing nature of Russian society. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Catriona Kelly, Professor of Russian at the University of Oxford; Cynthia Marsh, Emeritus Professor of Russian Drama and Literature at the University of Nottingham and Rosamund Bartlett, Founding Director of the Anton Chekhov Foundation.