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Fellows of the Royal Society

Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematics, engineering science, and medical science".Fellowship of the Society, the oldest known scientific academy in continuous existence, is a significant honour. It has been awarded to many eminent scientists throughout history, including Isaac Newton (1672), Michael Faraday (1824), Charles Darwin (1839), Ernest Rutherford (1903), Srinivasa Ramanujan (1918), Albert Einstein (1921), Paul Dirac (1930), Winston Churchill (1941), Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1944), Dorothy Hodgkin (1947), Alan Turing (1951), Lise Meitner (1955) and Francis Crick (1959).

22 episodes

Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:

Culture History Philosophy Science Ontologists Social philosophers Philosophy writers Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Philosophers of literature Theorists on Western civilization Philosophers of history Writers about activism and social change Philosophers of science Enlightenment philosophers Members of the American Philosophical Society Aphorists Critics of the Catholic Church English essayists Recipients of the Copley Medal Writers about religion and science Age of Enlightenment Atheist philosophers Burials at Westminster Abbey English male non-fiction writers Philosophers of law Philosophers of social science 20th-century atheists Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Metaphilosophers Nobel laureates in Literature Philosophers of economics Philosophers of mathematics Aristotelian philosophers British male essayists English Anglicans English people of Scottish descent French Roman Catholics German Lutherans Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Logicians Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Philosophers of love Philosophers of sexuality 19th-century English poets 19th-century atheists American male non-fiction writers Critics of work and the work ethic Empiricists English male novelists English non-fiction writers French political philosophers Members of the French Academy of Sciences Victorian novelists 19th-century English novelists Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge American people of English descent Analytic philosophers English agnostics English travel writers Members of the Académie Française Philosophers of technology Royal Medal winners Simple living advocates 18th-century English male writers 19th-century English writers Anti-nationalists British critics of religions British philosophers of education Charles Darwin English Nobel laureates English atheists English socialists French philosophers of history Irony theorists Members of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences Members of the Order of Merit Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Metaphysics writers People associated with electricity Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)Rhetoric theorists University of Göttingen alumni Writers about globalization 18th-century classical composers 19th-century British philanthropists 19th-century British physicists 19th-century German male musicians 20th-century English philosophers Academic staff of the University of Göttingen Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Edinburgh American political philosophers British Nobel laureates British ethicists British philosophers of mind British political philosophers English abolitionists English inventors English people of Welsh descent English philanthropists English physicists English political philosophers European democratic socialists Fellows of the British Academy Freethought writers Independent scientists Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities Utilitarians Victorian writers 18th-century American writers, Founding Fathers of the United States, People of the American Enlightenment 18th-century English non-fiction writers 18th-century French male writers 18th-century French mathematicians 18th-century French philosophers 18th-century German composers 18th-century pseudonymous writers 19th-century Anglicans 19th-century British inventors 19th-century English dramatists and playwrights 19th-century English essayists 19th-century English philosophers 20th-century British biologists 20th-century English LGBTQ people 20th-century English mathematicians Activists for African-American civil rights Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge American autobiographers American deists American male journalists American philosophers of culture American philosophers of education American philosophers of religion American slave owners British consciousness researchers and theorists British free speech activists British historians of philosophy British philosophers of language British social reformers Burials at Highgate Cemetery Castrated people Color scientists Consequentialists Contributors to the Encyclopédie (1751–1772)Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Deaths from coronary thrombosis Determinists English activists English emigrants to the United States English logicians English people of Irish descent English political writers Experimental physicists Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge French deists French physicists Georgists German classical composers Human evolution Humor researchers Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars Jerusalem Prize recipients Knights of the Garter Linguistic turn Lycée Henri-IV alumni Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies, British MPs 1780–1784 Mental calculators Nobel laureates in Chemistry Nobel laureates in Physics Optical physicists Presidents of the Aristotelian Society Victorian era Writers from the London Borough of Camden 18th-century American politicians, Signers of the United States Constitution, American Freemasons 18th-century English historians 18th-century English people 18th-century German astronomers 18th-century keyboardists 18th-century lexicographers, 18th-century writers in Latin 19th-century British chemists 19th-century British writers 19th-century English architects 19th-century English mathematicians 19th-century English politicians 19th-century English scientists 20th-century British scientists 20th-century English non-fiction writers Academics of King's College London Academics of the London School of Economics, British philosophers of science Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Botanical nomenclature British MPs 1774–1780 British atheism activists British biochemists British botanical illustrators British critics of Christianity British crystallographers, British biophysicists, 20th-century British chemists British deists British philosophers of logic British philosophers of religion British scientific instrument makers British scientists with disabilities Cavendish Professors of Physics Circumnavigators of the globe Classical-period composers Computer designers Creators of writing systems Deaths from nephritis Deaths from stomach cancer in England English Protestants English Quakers English anti-fascists English biographers English civil engineers, People of the Industrial Revolution English humanists English pacifists, British philosophers of culture English people of French descent English prisoners and detainees English reformers English rhetoricians English sceptics Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society, 19th-century British biologists, 19th-century English naturalists, British evolutionary biologists, Fellows of the Zoological Society of London, Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Foreign members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Free love advocates Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England French agnostics French mathematicians, French fluid dynamicists, French probability theorists French political writers Gay academics Gay scientists German male classical composers Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour History of Greater Manchester Independent scholars LGBTQ mathematicians, LGBTQ philosophers Linear algebraists Lords Privy Seal Magneticians Maritime writers Masonic grand masters Mathematical physicists, British theoretical physicists Members of the Lincean Academy Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, 20th-century British physicists Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People convicted for homosexuality in the United Kingdom, People who have received posthumous pardons People educated at Westminster School, London People from Monmouthshire People of the Victorian era Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)Philosophers from Massachusetts Political activists from Pennsylvania Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art Recipients of the Dalton Medal Rectors of the University of Glasgow Secular humanists Set theorists Suicides by cyanide poisoning Taxon authorities of Hypericum species Theoretical biologists UK MPs 1865–1868 Universal basic income writers University of California, Los Angeles faculty University of Chicago faculty, Intellectual historians Winners of the Max Planck Medal Women Nobel laureates Writers about communism Writers from Philadelphia, Recreational cryptographers, Writers from Boston

Alan Turing

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas and life of the founder of computer science - whose work helped crack enemy codes in WW2 - and his exploration of artificial intelligence.

15 October 2020

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Featuring: Leslie Ann Goldberg, Simon Schaffer, Andrew Hodges

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Science Fellows of the Royal Society 20th-century atheists English people of Scottish descent English atheists 20th-century English philosophers English inventors 20th-century English LGBTQ people 20th-century English mathematicians Castrated people English logicians English people of Irish descent Suicides by cyanide poisoning Computer designers Gay academics Gay scientists Theoretical biologists LGBTQ mathematicians, LGBTQ philosophers People convicted for homosexuality in the United Kingdom, People who have received posthumous pardons
Alfred Russel Wallace

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Victorian pioneer of evolutionary theory Alfred Russel Wallace.

21 March 2013

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Featuring: Steve Jones, George Beccaloni, Ted Benton

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History Fellows of the Royal Society Recipients of the Copley Medal English people of Scottish descent Royal Medal winners Members of the Order of Merit English socialists Charles Darwin Victorian writers 20th-century British biologists English activists Georgists 20th-century English non-fiction writers British botanical illustrators British deists 19th-century English scientists 19th-century British writers People from Monmouthshire Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society, 19th-century British biologists, 19th-century English naturalists, British evolutionary biologists, Fellows of the Zoological Society of London, Fellows of the Linnean Society of London
Benjamin Disraeli

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the most famous politicians of the Victorian age, who broadened his fame and spread his ideas through popular novels.

19 September 2024

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Featuring: Lawrence Goldman, Emily Jones, Daisy Hay

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History Fellows of the Royal Society English Anglicans 19th-century English poets English male novelists English non-fiction writers Victorian novelists 19th-century English novelists Victorian era 19th-century Anglicans 19th-century English dramatists and playwrights Knights of the Garter Writers from the London Borough of Camden 19th-century English politicians English biographers Lords Privy Seal Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People of the Victorian era Rectors of the University of Glasgow UK MPs 1865–1868
Benjamin Franklin

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of the scientist, writer, printer, diplomat and American founding father Benjamin Franklin.

1 March 2012

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Featuring: Simon Middleton, Simon Newman, Patricia Fara

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Culture Fellows of the Royal Society Social philosophers Philosophy writers Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Philosophers of literature Theorists on Western civilization Writers about activism and social change Philosophers of history Philosophers of science Members of the American Philosophical Society Writers about religion and science Recipients of the Copley Medal Aphorists Age of Enlightenment Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees American male non-fiction writers American people of English descent Simple living advocates Philosophers of technology People associated with electricity Rhetoric theorists American political philosophers Independent scientists American male journalists Humor researchers 18th-century pseudonymous writers Activists for African-American civil rights American slave owners American autobiographers American philosophers of education American deists American philosophers of culture American philosophers of religion Independent scholars Masonic grand masters Political activists from Pennsylvania Creators of writing systems Philosophers from Massachusetts 18th-century American writers, Founding Fathers of the United States, People of the American Enlightenment Writers from Philadelphia, Recreational cryptographers, Writers from Boston 18th-century American politicians, Signers of the United States Constitution, American Freemasons
Bertrand Russell

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the influential 20th-century British thinker Bertrand Russell, widely regarded as one of the founders of Analytical philosophy.

6 December 2012

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Featuring: A. C. Grayling, Mike Beaney, Hilary Greaves

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Philosophy Fellows of the Royal Society Ontologists Philosophers of literature Theorists on Western civilization Writers about activism and social change Philosophers of history Critics of the Catholic Church Writers about religion and science English essayists Atheist philosophers English male non-fiction writers Philosophers of law Philosophers of social science Philosophers of mathematics 20th-century atheists Metaphilosophers Philosophers of economics Nobel laureates in Literature Aristotelian philosophers Philosophers of love Logicians Philosophers of sexuality English people of Scottish descent 19th-century atheists Empiricists Critics of work and the work ethic Analytic philosophers English agnostics Philosophers of technology Anti-nationalists Members of the Order of Merit British critics of religions Rhetoric theorists English Nobel laureates English socialists Metaphysics writers Writers about globalization British philosophers of education 20th-century English philosophers European democratic socialists British philosophers of mind English people of Welsh descent British ethicists Utilitarians English political philosophers Freethought writers British political philosophers British philosophers of language Presidents of the Aristotelian Society British historians of philosophy 20th-century English mathematicians English logicians 19th-century English philosophers Jerusalem Prize recipients Georgists 19th-century English essayists Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British consciousness researchers and theorists Consequentialists English political writers Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge British free speech activists Linguistic turn University of California, Los Angeles faculty Set theorists English humanists British atheism activists Universal basic income writers English anti-fascists Writers about communism People from Monmouthshire 19th-century English mathematicians British critics of Christianity English prisoners and detainees English sceptics Free love advocates British philosophers of logic British philosophers of religion Secular humanists University of Chicago faculty, Intellectual historians Academics of the London School of Economics, British philosophers of science English pacifists, British philosophers of culture
Booth's Life and Labour Survey

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Charles Booth's ambitious project to discover how many people in late Victorian London were living in poverty, and understand why

10 June 2021

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Featuring: Emma Griffin, Sarah Wise, Lawrence Goldman

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History Fellows of the Royal Society English male non-fiction writers English non-fiction writers 19th-century British philanthropists English philanthropists British social reformers Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom English reformers
Brunel

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the Victorian engineer responsible for bridges, tunnels and railways still in use today.

13 November 2014

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Featuring: Julia Elton, Ben Marsden, Crosbie Smith

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History Fellows of the Royal Society 19th-century British inventors Lycée Henri-IV alumni 19th-century English architects Deaths from nephritis English people of French descent English civil engineers, People of the Industrial Revolution
Carl Friedrich Gauss

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas of Gauss, 'prince of mathematicians', including those on number theory, geometry, probability theory, astronomy and electromagnetism.

30 November 2017

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Featuring: Marcus du Sautoy, Colva Roney-Dougal, Nick Evans

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Science Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Recipients of the Copley Medal Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences German Lutherans University of Göttingen alumni Members of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)Academic staff of the University of Göttingen Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities Mental calculators Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Optical physicists 18th-century German astronomers Linear algebraists
Darwin: On the Origins of Charles Darwin

Melvyn Bragg presents a series about the life and work of Charles Darwin. Darwin's early life and time at Cambridge, where his interests shifted from religion to natural science.

5 January 2009

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Featuring: Jim Moore, Steve Jones, David Norman, Colin Higgins

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Science Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the American Philosophical Society Recipients of the Copley Medal Burials at Westminster Abbey Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences English Anglicans Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences English agnostics Royal Medal winners English travel writers 19th-century English writers Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)Charles Darwin Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Utilitarians English abolitionists Independent scientists 19th-century Anglicans Deaths from coronary thrombosis Human evolution Theoretical biologists Members of the Lincean Academy Circumnavigators of the globe English sceptics Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society, 19th-century British biologists, 19th-century English naturalists, British evolutionary biologists, Fellows of the Zoological Society of London, Fellows of the Linnean Society of London
Dorothy Hodgkin

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the work, ideas and life of the woman who won the 1964 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her work on the structures of vitamin B12 and penicillin.

3 October 2019

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Featuring: Georgina Ferry, Judith Howard, Patricia Fara

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Science Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Recipients of the Copley Medal Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Royal Medal winners Members of the Order of Merit English Nobel laureates Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge British Nobel laureates Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford Fellows of Somerville College, Oxford 20th-century British biologists Nobel laureates in Chemistry Foreign members of the USSR Academy of Sciences British biochemists Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art Women Nobel laureates Recipients of the Dalton Medal British scientists with disabilities British crystallographers, British biophysicists, 20th-century British chemists
Edward Gibbon

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and ideas of the writer of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, one of the most celebrated works of its kind.

17 June 2021

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Featuring: David Womersley, Charlotte Roberts, Karen O'Brien

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Culture Fellows of the Royal Society Theorists on Western civilization English essayists English male non-fiction writers British male essayists 18th-century English male writers British critics of religions Irony theorists Rhetoric theorists 18th-century English non-fiction writers Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford 18th-century English historians British MPs 1774–1780 English Protestants English rhetoricians Freemasons of the Premier Grand Lodge of England People educated at Westminster School, London Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies, British MPs 1780–1784
John Dalton

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss scientist John Dalton, who pioneered the development of atomic theory and carried out research into meteorology and colour blindness.

27 October 2016

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Featuring: Jim Bennett, Aileen Fyfe, James Sumner

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History Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Royal Medal winners 19th-century British physicists English Quakers History of Greater Manchester 19th-century British chemists
Linnaeus

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the pioneering 18th century Swedish botanist, who devised a method of naming species and a new system for classifying plants and animals.

20 April 2023

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Featuring: Staffan Müller-Wille, Stella Sandford, Steve Jones

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Science Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the American Philosophical Society Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Members of the French Academy of Sciences Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Botanical nomenclature Taxon authorities of Hypericum species 18th-century lexicographers, 18th-century writers in Latin
Maxwell

Melvyn Bragg discusses the life and work of the often overlooked 19th century Scottish scientist, and his enormous contribution to the creation of the technological age in which we live.

2 October 2003

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Featuring: Simon Schaffer, Peter Harman, Joanna Haigh

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Science Fellows of the Royal Society People associated with electricity Alumni of the University of Edinburgh 19th-century British physicists Optical physicists Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Color scientists Academics of King's College London Magneticians Deaths from stomach cancer in England Cavendish Professors of Physics Mathematical physicists, British theoretical physicists
Michael Faraday

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Michael Faraday, the most famous British scientist of the 19th century.

25 December 2015

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Featuring: Geoffrey Cantor, Laura Herz, Frank James

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Science Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Writers about religion and science Recipients of the Copley Medal Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the French Academy of Sciences Royal Medal winners People associated with electricity Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)English inventors 19th-century British physicists English physicists Optical physicists Experimental physicists Burials at Highgate Cemetery English Protestants 19th-century British chemists 19th-century English scientists Magneticians
Montesquieu

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas of the French political philosopher (1689-1755) whose work on liberty and republicanism, banned at home, influenced the US constitution.

14 June 2018

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Featuring: Richard Bourke, Rachel Hammersley, Richard Whatmore

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History Fellows of the Royal Society Enlightenment philosophers Philosophers of law French Roman Catholics French political philosophers Members of the Académie Française French philosophers of history Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences 18th-century French male writers 18th-century French philosophers Contributors to the Encyclopédie (1751–1772)French political writers
Paul Dirac

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Bristolian theoretical physicist, ranked alongside Einstein by his peers, who won a Nobel for his work on quantum mechanics.

5 March 2020

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Featuring: Graham Farmelo, Valerie Gibson, David Berman

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Science Fellows of the Royal Society Members of the American Philosophical Society Recipients of the Copley Medal Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge English agnostics Royal Medal winners Members of the Order of Merit English Nobel laureates Academic staff of the University of Göttingen British Nobel laureates Nobel laureates in Physics Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars 20th-century English mathematicians English emigrants to the United States Winners of the Max Planck Medal Foreign members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, 20th-century British physicists Mathematical physicists, British theoretical physicists
Pierre-Simon Laplace

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the great French mathematician who tackled questions on the stability of the Solar System and planet rotation and devised the basis for metrication

8 April 2021

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Featuring: Marcus du Sautoy, Timothy Gowers, Colva Roney-Dougal

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History Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the French Academy of Sciences Members of the Académie Française 18th-century French mathematicians French deists Determinists French physicists Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour French agnostics Linear algebraists French mathematicians, French fluid dynamicists, French probability theorists
Pitt Rivers

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the work of the Victorian anthropologist and archaeologist Augustus Pitt-Rivers.

28 February 2013

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Featuring: Adam Kuper, Richard Bradley, Dan Hicks

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Science Fellows of the Royal Society 19th-century British philanthropists
The Needham Question

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Needham Question, which asks why China’s medieval technological advancement was overtaken by that of a relative backwater called Europe.

19 October 2006

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Featuring: Chris Cullen, Tim Barrett, Frances Wood

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Science Fellows of the Royal Society Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Fellows of the British Academy British biochemists Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour 20th-century British scientists
Voyages of James Cook

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the science behind Capt James Cook's three voyages of discovery, from 1768 to 1779, one of over a thousand ideas suggested by listeners.

3 December 2015

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Featuring: Simon Schaffer, Rebekah Higgitt, Sophie Forgan

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History Fellows of the Royal Society Recipients of the Copley Medal English people of Scottish descent 18th-century English people Circumnavigators of the globe Maritime writers Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
William and Caroline Herschel

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the pioneering brother and sister who, between them, discovered Uranus, comets, double stars and infrared light at the end of the 18th century.

11 November 2021

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Featuring: Monica Grady, Carolin Crawford, Jim Bennett

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Science Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Recipients of the Copley Medal Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Honorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences German Lutherans 18th-century classical composers 19th-century German male musicians 18th-century German composers German classical composers 18th-century German astronomers Classical-period composers British scientific instrument makers 18th-century keyboardists German male classical composers