David Wootton
Anniversary Professor of History at the University of York
16 episodes
Appears in multiple episodes with: Justin Champion
Covers topics in categories such as:
Emilie du Châtelet
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 18th-century mathematical genius whose insights into Newton and Leibniz were part of the great advance in science in the Enlightenment.
4 February 2021
Also featuring: Patricia Fara, Judith Zinsser
Science18th-century philosophersFrench women philosophers18th-century French mathematicians18th-century French writers18th-century French women writers18th-century French philosophersFrench physicistsContributors to the Encyclopédie (1751–1772)French women physicistsDeaths in childbirthDeaths from pulmonary embolism18th-century French scientistsThe Fable of the Bees
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Bernard Mandeville's scandalous and influential work on private vices and public benefits, published first as The Grumbling Hive, a poem, in 1705.
25 October 2018
Also featuring: Helen Paul, John Callanan
Johannes Kepler
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the German astronomer Johannes Kepler.
29 December 2016
Also featuring: Ulinka Rublack, Adam Mosley
Robert Hooke
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Robert Hooke, the 17th-century scientist with a wide variety of interests from elasticity to microscopes who fell out with Newton.
18 February 2016
Also featuring: Patricia Fara, Rob Iliffe
Pascal
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of the French polymath Blaise Pascal.
19 September 2013
Also featuring: Michael Moriarty, Michela Massimi
CultureAphoristsChristian humanistsCatholic philosophersCritics of atheismFrench physicistsPeople with hypochondriasisRoman Catholic mysticsFrench Roman Catholic writersConverts to Roman CatholicismChristian apologists17th-century Christian mysticsCartesianismFrench mathematicians, French fluid dynamicists, French probability theoristsMontaigne
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and work of Michel de Montaigne. Best known for his influential Essays, Montaigne is regarded as the father of modern sceptical thought.
25 April 2013
Also featuring: Terence Cave, Felicity Green
Voltaire's Candide
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Voltaire's satirical novel Candide, first published in 1759.
3 May 2012
Also featuring: Nicholas Cronk, Caroline Warman
The Trial of Charles I
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the trial of Charles I, recounting the high drama in Westminster Hall and the ideas that led to the execution.
4 June 2009
Also featuring: Justin Champion, Diane Purkiss
The Four Humours
Melvyn Bragg discusses the four humours, a medical theory that saw the body as a concoction of four essential juices.
20 December 2007
Also featuring: Vivian Nutton, Noga Arikha
The Encyclopédie
Melvyn Bragg discusses the French encyclopédie, one of the great achievements of the Enlightenment with contributors such as Voltaire, Rousseau, D’Alembert and Dennis Diderot.
26 October 2006
Also featuring: Judith Hawley, Caroline Warman
The Heart
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of ideas about the heart, a symbol to our spiritual, emotional, and moral core.
1 June 2006
Also featuring: Fay Bound Alberti, Jonathan Sawday
Hobbes
Melvyn Bragg discusses Thomas Hobbes, the great 17th century philosopher who famously said that ungoverned man lived a life that was ‘solitary, poor, brutish and short’.
1 December 2005
Also featuring: Quentin Skinner, Annabel Brett
PhilosophySocial philosophersOntologistsTheorists on Western civilizationPhilosophers of mindPhilosophers of historyPhilosophers of religionMetaphysiciansPhilosophers of culturePhilosophers of scienceEpistemologistsCritics of the Catholic ChurchPhilosophers of lawPhilosophers of mathematics17th-century English male writersNatural law ethicistsPhilosophers of languageEmpiricistsAlumni of St John's College, Cambridge17th-century English writers17th-century writers in LatinBritish critics of religionsRhetoric theoristsPolitical realistsBritish philosophers of education17th-century English philosophersEnglish physicistsEnglish political philosophersBritish critics of ChristianityThomas HobbesEnglish theologiansMaterialistsPoliteness
Melvyn Bragg discusses politeness, the revolution in manners that transformed the social scene in eighteenth century Britain.
30 September 2004
Also featuring: Amanda Vickery, John Mullan
Toleration
Melvyn Bragg discusses what had happened in England to make diverse religions ‘tolerable’. What was the philosophy and politics behind the idea of toleration, and does it differ from tolerance?
20 May 2004
Also featuring: Justin Champion, Sarah Barber
The Devil
Melvyn Bragg discusses how the Devil came into being and why it took so long for him to become an established figure in Christianity.
11 December 2003
Also featuring: Martin Palmer, Alison Rowlands
Democracy
Melvyn Bragg discusses the origins of democracy, across cultures and centuries of Europe and the Middle East.
18 October 2001
Also featuring: Melissa Lane, Tim Winter