Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (Swedish: Kungliga Vetenskapsakademien) is one of the royal academies of Sweden. Founded on 2 June 1739, it is an independent, non-governmental scientific organization that takes special responsibility for promoting natural sciences and mathematics and strengthening their influence in society, whilst endeavouring to promote the exchange of ideas between various disciplines.
10 episodes
Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:
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
Featuring: Marcus du Sautoy, Colva Roney-Dougal, Nick Evans
ScienceRecipients of the Copley MedalMembers of the Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesUniversity of Göttingen alumniMembers of the Bavarian Academy of SciencesAcademic staff of the University of GöttingenHonorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences18th-century German astronomersMembers of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and SciencesGerman LutheransMembers of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and HumanitiesCorresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesOptical physicistsRecipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesMental calculatorsFellows of the Royal SocietyLinear algebraists18th centuryAstronomyMathematicsCondorcet
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
Featuring: Rachel Hammersley, Richard Whatmore, Tom Hopkins
PhilosophyFrench sociologistsFrench philosophers of education18th-century French writers18th-century French mathematiciansFrench biographers, French ethicistsVoting theoristsPhilosophers of religionUniversity of Paris alumniFrench male non-fiction writersFrench feministsFrench philosophers of scienceScholars of feminist philosophy18th-century philosophersBurials at the Panthéon, ParisPeople killed in the French RevolutionFrench abolitionists18th-century French male writersMembers of the Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesMembers of the Académie FrançaiseHonorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesProto-feministsFrench philosophers of historyTheoretical historiansFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesRationalistsAtheist philosophersEnlightenment philosophersMembers of the French Academy of SciencesDeputies to the French National ConventionAge of EnlightenmentFrench political scientistsFrench philosophers of cultureFrench atheists18th centuryFranceMathematicsDarwin: 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
Featuring: Jim Moore, Steve Jones, David Norman, Colin Higgins
ScienceEnglish agnosticsHuman evolutionRoyal Medal winnersCharles DarwinIndependent scientistsEnglish scepticsEnglish Anglicans19th-century British biologists, 19th-century English naturalists, British evolutionary biologists, Fellows of the Linnean Society of London, Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society, Fellows of the Zoological Society of LondonTheoretical biologistsMembers of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and SciencesAlumni of the University of EdinburghCircumnavigators of the globeMembers of the Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesUtilitariansMembers of the Lincean AcademyEnglish abolitionists19th-century AnglicansRecipients of the Copley MedalAlumni of Christ's College, Cambridge19th-century English writersMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyEnglish travel writersRecipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)Fellows of the Royal SocietyBurials at Westminster AbbeyDeaths from coronary thrombosis19th centuryAnimalsHumboldt
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
Featuring: Jason Wilson, Patricia Fara, Jim Secord
ScienceUniversity of Göttingen alumniMembers of the Bavarian Academy of SciencesGerman LutheransMembers of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities18th-century German LGBTQ peopleIndependent scientistsForeign members of the Royal SocietyGerman travel writersMembers of the Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesHuman geographersHonorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesUniversity of Jena alumniFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesRecipients of the Copley MedalMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyMembers of the French Academy of SciencesRecipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)Gay scientistsMembers of the Prussian Academy of Sciences18th century19th centuryLinnaeus
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
Featuring: Staffan Müller-Wille, Stella Sandford, Steve Jones
ScienceMembers of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences18th-century lexicographers, 18th-century writers in LatinBotanical nomenclatureFellows of the Royal SocietyMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyMembers of the French Academy of SciencesMembers of the Prussian Academy of SciencesTaxon authorities of Hypericum species18th centuryLise Meitner
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the only woman to have an atomic element named solely after her (Meitnerium), in recognition of her role in solving the question of nuclear fission.
8 May 2025
Featuring: Jess Wade, Frank Close, Steven Bramwell
ScienceMembers of the Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesJewish women scientistsWinners of the Max Planck MedalRecipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and ArtAustrian LutheransDiscoverers of chemical elementsForeign members of the Royal SocietyConverts to Lutheranism from JudaismRecipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesWomen nuclear physicists20th centuryMichael Faraday
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Michael Faraday, the most famous British scientist of the 19th century.
24 December 2015
Featuring: Geoffrey Cantor, Laura Herz, Frank James
SciencePeople associated with electricityWriters about religion and scienceRoyal Medal winnersEnglish Protestants19th-century British chemistsMembers of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and SciencesOptical physicistsExperimental physicistsMembers of the Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesEnglish inventors19th-century English scientistsHonorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesRecipients of the Copley MedalBurials at Highgate CemeteryForeign associates of the National Academy of SciencesMembers of the French Academy of SciencesRecipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)English physicistsFellows of the Royal Society19th-century British physicistsMagneticians19th centuryPierre-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
Featuring: Marcus du Sautoy, Timothy Gowers, Colva Roney-Dougal
HistoryMembers of the Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesMembers of the Académie FrançaiseFrench physicistsGrand Officers of the Legion of HonourDeterministsLinear algebraists18th-century French mathematiciansMembers of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and SciencesFrench fluid dynamicists, French mathematicians, French probability theoristsMembers of the French Academy of SciencesFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesFrench deistsFellows of the Royal SocietyFrench agnostics18th centuryFranceMathematicsThomas Edison
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the work of Thomas Edison, one of the great inventors and cultural figures of modern America.
9 December 2010
Featuring: Simon Schaffer, Kathleen Burk, Iwan Morus
ScienceHall of Fame for Great Americans inducteesMembers of the Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesPeople associated with electricityAmerican people of Dutch descentAmerican electrical engineers, People from ManhattanAmerican people of English descentAmerican deistsCongressional Gold Medal recipientsHonorary members of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Recipients of the Matteucci Medal19th-century American businesspeopleMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyRecipients of Franklin Medal20th-century American inventors, Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences19th century20th centuryWilliam 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
Featuring: Monica Grady, Carolin Crawford, Jim Bennett
ScienceRecipients of the Copley MedalMembers of the Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesClassical-period composersGerman male classical composers19th-century German male musicians18th-century classical composersHonorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences18th-century German astronomersGerman LutheransGerman classical composers18th-century keyboardistsBritish scientific instrument makersFellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences18th-century German composersFellows of the Royal Society18th century19th centuryAstronomyGermanyMusic