Portrait of Lord Melvyn Bragg, host of In Our Time

Members of the French Academy of Sciences

The French Academy of Sciences (French: Académie des sciences) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French scientific research. It was at the forefront of scientific developments in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, and is one of the earliest Academies of Sciences.

7 episodes

Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:

HistoryPhilosophyScienceFellows of the Royal SocietyFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesPhilosophers of religionEnlightenment philosophersMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyRecipients of the Copley MedalWriters about religion and scienceAge of EnlightenmentAtheist philosophers18th-century philosophersForeign associates of the National Academy of SciencesMembers of the Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesFrench Roman CatholicsFrench atheistsGerman LutheransHonorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesMembers of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and SciencesUniversity of Paris alumniMembers of the Académie FrançaiseRoyal Medal winnersTheoretical historiansFrench philosophers of educationFrench philosophers of historyFrench philosophers of scienceMembers of the Bavarian Academy of SciencesMembers of the Prussian Academy of SciencesPeople associated with electricityRationalistsRecipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)University of Göttingen alumni19th-century British physicistsEnglish inventorsEnglish physicistsFrench feministsFrench male non-fiction writersFrench philosophers of culture, French sociologistsIndependent scientistsMembers of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and HumanitiesScholars of feminist philosophyÉcole Normale Supérieure alumni18th-century French male writers18th-century French mathematicians18th-century French writersBurials at Highgate CemeteryBurials at the Panthéon, ParisDeterministsExperimental physicistsForeign members of the Royal SocietyFrench deistsFrench physicistsGerman travel writersGrand Cross of the Legion of HonourMembers of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and ArtsOptical physicists18th-century French scientists18th-century German LGBTQ people18th-century lexicographers, 18th-century writers in Latin19th-century British chemists19th-century English scientists19th-century French chemists19th-century French male writers19th-century French writersBotanical nomenclatureDeputies to the French National ConventionEnglish ProtestantsFrench abolitionistsFrench agnosticsFrench ethicists, French biographersFrench male writersFrench mathematicians, French fluid dynamicists, French probability theoristsFrench political scientistsFrench scientists with disabilitiesGay scientistsGrand Officers of the Legion of HonourHuman geographersLamarckismLinear algebraistsMagneticiansPeople killed in the French RevolutionProto-evolutionary biologistsProto-feministsTaxon authorities of Hypericum speciesUniversity of Jena alumniVoting theorists
  1. Condorcet

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the influential French philosopher and mathematician who tried to apply his Enlightenment ideas on the benefit of education to the French Revolution.

    11 January 2024

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    Featuring: Rachel Hammersley, Richard Whatmore, Tom Hopkins

     
  2. Humboldt

    Melvyn Bragg discusses the Prussian naturalist and explorer, Alexander Von Humboldt. A hero in South America; Charles Darwin described him as ‘the greatest scientific traveller who ever lived’.

    28 September 2006

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    Featuring: Jason Wilson, Patricia Fara, Jim Secord

     
  3. Lamarck and Natural Selection

    Melvyn Bragg discusses Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, the 18th century French scientist, and his theory of Natural Selection. Who was he and how far did he pave the way for Darwin?

    26 December 2003

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    Featuring: Sandy Knapp, Steve Jones, Simon Conway Morris

     
  4. 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

     
  5. Louis Pasteur

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of Louis Pasteur, microbiologist, developer of vaccines, saviour of the French beer and wine industries and preserver of milk.

    18 May 2017

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    Featuring: Andrew Mendelsohn, Anne Hardy, Michael Worboys

     
  6. 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

     
  7. 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