2006

The Oath 5 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the importance of the oath in ancient Greece and Rome, The importance of oaths in the Classical world cannot be overstated.
930 History of the Ancient World
Prime Numbers 12 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss prime numbers: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17 .
510 Mathematics
Relativism 19 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss relativism, a philosophy of shifting sands.
100 Philosophy
Seventeenth Century Print Culture 26 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss 17th century print culture.
000 Computer science, knowledge and systems

The Abbasid Caliphs 2 Feb

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Abbasid Caliphs, dynastic rulers of the Islamic world from the mid eighth to the tenth century.
900 History
Chaucer 9 Feb

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Geoffrey Chaucer, often called the father of English literature.
820 English and Old English literatures
Human Evolution 16 Feb

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the story of human evolution, which stretches back over six million years.
560 Fossils and prehistoric life
Catherine the Great 23 Feb

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Catherine the Great.
940 History of Europe

Friendship 2 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the concept of friendship.
170 Ethics
Negative Numbers 9 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss negative numbers, a history of mystery and suspicion.
510 Mathematics
Don Quixote 16 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Miguel de Cervantes’ 17th century novel, Don Quixote.
800 Literature, rhetoric and criticism
The Royal Society 23 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the formation of the Royal Society.
500 Science
The Carolingian Renaissance 30 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne and the Carolingian Renaissance.
940 History of Europe

Jorge Luis Borges 6 Apr

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of the Argentinian master of the short story, Jorge Luis Borges.
860 Spanish, Portuguese, Galician literatures
Goethe 6 Apr

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Johann Wolfgang Goethe, the great German polymath.
830 German and related literatures
The Oxford Movement 13 Apr

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Oxford Movement in the Church of England in the 19th century.
270 History of Christianity
Immunisation 20 Apr

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the search for immunisation.
610 Medicine and health
The Great Exhibition of 1851 27 Apr

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 1851 Great Exhibition.
940 History of Europe

Astronomy and Empire 4 May

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the relationship between astronomy and the British Empire.
520 Astronomy
Fairies 11 May

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the literary and visual depiction of fairies, supernatural creatures that inhabit a half-way world between this one and the next.
390 Customs, etiquette and folklore
Mill 18 May

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the great nineteenth century political philosopher John Stuart Mill.
320 Political science
Mathematics and Music 25 May

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the mathematical structures that lie within the heart of music.
780 Music

The Heart 1 Jun

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the heart.
610 Medicine and health
Uncle Tom’s Cabin 8 Jun

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the anti slavery novel, ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin’.
320 Political science
Carbon 15 Jun

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Carbon.
540 Chemistry
The Spanish Inquisition 22 Jun

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Spanish Inquisition, the defenders of medieval orthodoxy.
940 History of Europe
Galaxies 29 Jun

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the galaxies.
520 Astronomy

Pastoral Literature 6 Jul

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss pastoral literature.
820 English and Old English literatures
Comedy in Ancient Greek Theatre 13 Jul

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss comedy in Ancient Greek theatre including Aristophanes and Menander.
880 Classical and modern Greek literatures

Humboldt 28 Sep

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Prussian naturalist and explorer Alexander Von Humboldt.
500 Science

Averroes 5 Oct

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the philosopher Averroes who worked to reconcile the theology of Islam with the rationality of Aristotle achieving fame and infamy in equal measure In The Divine Comedy Dante subjected all the sinners in Christendom to a series of grisly punishments, from being buried alive to being frozen in ice.
100 Philosophy
The Diet of Worms 12 Oct

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Diet of Worms, an event that helped trigger the European Reformation.
270 History of Christianity
The Needham Question 19 Oct

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Needham Question; why Europe and not China developed modern technology.
500 Science
The Encyclopédie 26 Oct

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the French encyclopedie, the European Enlightenment in book form.
030 Encyclopedias and books of facts

The Poincaré Conjecture 2 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Poincare Conjecture.
510 Mathematics
Pope 9 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of Alexander Pope.
820 English and Old English literatures
The Peasants’ Revolt 16 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381.
940 History of Europe
Altruism 23 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss altruism.
170 Ethics
The Speed of Light 30 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the speed of light.
530 Physics

Anarchism 7 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Anarchism and why its political ideas became synonymous with chaos and disorder.
320 Political science
Indian Mathematics 14 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the contribution Indian mathematicians have made to our understanding of the subject.
510 Mathematics
Hell 21 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss hell and its representation in literature and the visual arts, through the ages from Ancient Egypt to modern Christianity.
230 Christianity
Constantinople Siege and Fall 28 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the siege of Constantinople in 1453.
940 History of Europe