Lisa Jardine
Centenary Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London
8 episodes
Appears in multiple episodes with: Stephen Pumfrey
Covers topics in categories such as:
The Fire of London
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss The Great Fire of London in 1666 and how the city rose from the ashes.
11 December 2008
Also featuring: Vanessa Harding, Jonathan Sawday
The Royal Society
Melvyn Bragg discusses how the formation of the Royal Society heralded the dawning of a new scientific era in the 17th century.
23 March 2006
Also featuring: Stephen Pumfrey, Michael Hunter
ScienceSocial history of the United KingdomRoyal Society1660 establishments in EnglandLearned societies of the United Kingdom, National academies of sciences, Scientific organizations established in 1660, Professional associations based in the United Kingdom, Members of the International Science Council, Organizations associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, Non-profit organisations based in London, Members of the International Council for Science, Organisations based in London with royal patronageMagnetism
Melvyn Bragg discusses the history of the mysterious force of magnetism.
29 September 2005
Also featuring: Stephen Pumfrey, John Heilbron
Machiavelli and the Italian City States
Melvyn Bragg discusses the political philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli. Inspired by the model of Cesare Borgia, he wrote a notorious manual of power still read today.
9 December 2004
Also featuring: Quentin Skinner, Evelyn Welch
Zero
Melvyn Bragg discusses the history of the number between 1 and -1, which has strange and uniquely beguiling qualities. How was zero invented and what role does it play in mathematics today?
13 May 2004
Also featuring: Robert Kaplan, Ian Stewart
Cryptography
Melvyn Bragg discusses the history of codes including the Caesar cipher, the ‘uncrackable’ Vigenere code, the Enigma machine and the cryptography that underwrites the information age.
29 January 2004
Also featuring: Simon Singh, Fred Piper
Milton
Melvyn Bragg examines the literary and political career of the 17th century poet John Milton, examining work such as Paradise Lost as well as his role as propagandist during the English Civil War.
7 March 2002
Also featuring: John Carey, Blair Worden
CultureSocial philosophersWriters about activism and social changeEnglish male poetsEnlightenment philosophersSonneteersCritics of the Catholic ChurchEnglish essayistsChristian humanists17th-century English male writersEnglish non-fiction writersLiteracy and society theoristsEnglish male dramatists and playwrightsEpic poets17th-century English poetsLiterary theorists17th-century English writersAnglican poetsChristian poetsPeople from the City of London17th-century writers in LatinRhetoric theorists17th-century English dramatists and playwrightsMale essayistsMetaphor theoristsWriters from London17th-century English philosophersEnglish republicansEnglish political philosophersNeoclassical writersPamphleteersEnglish writers with disabilitiesEnglish educational theoristsCalvinist and Reformed poetsMythopoeic writersAnglican philosophersBritish free speech activistsBlind writersDeaths from kidney failure in the United KingdomEnglish Anglican theologians17th-century English educatorsRhetoriciansBritish philosophers of religionEnglish DissentersAlumni of Christ's College, CambridgeBlind poetsEnglish theologiansAnti-Catholicism in the United KingdomHumanism
Melvyn Bragg examines what happened to Humanism after its invention by Cicero in the first century BC. What does humanism actually mean and is it still a classical force in contemporary ideas?
8 February 2001
Also featuring: Tony Davies, Simon Goldhill