Animals
7 episodes
Alfred Russel Wallace
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Victorian pioneer of evolutionary theory Alfred Russel Wallace.
21 March 2013
Featuring: Steve Jones, George Beccaloni, Ted Benton
HistoryRecipients of the Copley MedalBritish botanical illustrators19th-century English scientists20th-century British biologists19th-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 LondonGeorgistsEnglish activistsMembers of the Order of MeritEnglish people of Scottish descentEnglish socialists20th-century English non-fiction writersPeople from MonmouthshireRoyal Medal winnersVictorian writersFellows of the Royal Society19th-century British writersBritish deistsCharles Darwin19th century20th centuryAnimalsAnimal Experiments and Rights
Melvyn Bragg discusses the place of animals in our society and examines whether their role in our search for knowledge is morally unacceptable in the light of new research into animal consciousness.
18 March 1999
Featuring: Colin Blakemore, Lynda Birke
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
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 centuryAnimalsEcholocation
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how animals such as bats and dolphins evolved to use high frequency sounds to navigate their environments and find their prey.
21 June 2018
Featuring: Kate Jones, Gareth Jones, Dean Waters
Feathered dinosaurs
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss theories about dinosaur feathers. Which ones had them, what sorts of feathers were they and where were they found on their bodies?
26 October 2017
Featuring: Mike Benton, Steve Brusatte, Maria McNamara
Homo erectus
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of our ancestors whose span on Earth extended at least five times more than Homo sapiens has so far, and who was found from Africa to Asia.
14 April 2022
Featuring: Peter Kjærgaard, José Joordens, Mark Maslin
Human Origins
Melvyn Bragg examines the evidence from palaeontology and anthropology in examining how we arrived at a period unique in the earth’s history when a sole human species is in evidence across the globe.
27 April 2000
Featuring: Leslie Aiello, Robert Foley, Mark Roberts
