Patricia Fara
Emeritus Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge
17 episodes
Appears in multiple episodes with: Simon Schaffer
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: David Wootton, 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 scientistsDorothy Hodgkin
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the work, ideas and life of the woman who won the 1964 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her work on the structures of vitamin B12 and penicillin.
3 October 2019
Also featuring: Georgina Ferry, Judith Howard
ScienceFellows of the Royal SocietyFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesRecipients of the Copley MedalForeign associates of the National Academy of SciencesRoyal Medal winnersMembers of the Order of MeritEnglish Nobel laureatesAlumni of Newnham College, CambridgeBritish Nobel laureatesAlumni of Somerville College, OxfordFellows of Somerville College, Oxford20th-century British biologistsNobel laureates in ChemistryForeign members of the USSR Academy of SciencesBritish biochemistsRecipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and ArtWomen Nobel laureatesRecipients of the Dalton MedalBritish scientists with disabilitiesBritish crystallographers, British biophysicists, 20th-century British chemistsRosalind Franklin
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the achievements of the pioneering scientist Rosalind Franklin.
22 February 2018
Also featuring: Jim Naismith, Judith Howard
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: David Wootton, Rob Iliffe
The Curies
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the scientific achievements of the Curie family, Marie and Pierre and their daughter Irene Joliot-Curie, all three of whom won Nobel Prizes.
26 March 2015
Also featuring: Robert Fox, Steven T Bramwell
HistoryFrench atheistsUniversity of Paris alumniLegion of Honour refusalsFormer Roman CatholicsFrench Nobel laureatesBurials at the Panthéon, ParisNobel laureates in PhysicsNobel laureates in ChemistryCorresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesExperimental physicistsDiscoverers of chemical elementsFrench agnosticsFrench women physicistsWomen Nobel laureatesWomen inventors19th-century French chemistsNaturalized citizens of FranceCorresponding Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1917–1925)Honorary members of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Recipients of the Matteucci MedalThe Eye
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of ideas about the eye and how it works.
27 February 2014
Also featuring: William Ayliffe, Robert Iliffe
Benjamin Franklin
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of the scientist, writer, printer, diplomat and American founding father Benjamin Franklin.
1 March 2012
Also featuring: Simon Middleton, Simon Newman
CultureFellows of the Royal SocietySocial philosophersPhilosophy writersFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesPhilosophers of literatureTheorists on Western civilizationWriters about activism and social changePhilosophers of historyPhilosophers of scienceMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyWriters about religion and scienceRecipients of the Copley MedalAphoristsAge of EnlightenmentHonorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesHall of Fame for Great Americans inducteesAmerican male non-fiction writersAmerican people of English descentSimple living advocatesPhilosophers of technologyPeople associated with electricityRhetoric theoristsAmerican political philosophersIndependent scientistsAmerican male journalistsHumor researchers18th-century pseudonymous writersActivists for African-American civil rightsAmerican slave ownersAmerican autobiographersAmerican philosophers of educationAmerican deistsAmerican philosophers of cultureAmerican philosophers of religionIndependent scholarsMasonic grand mastersPolitical activists from PennsylvaniaCreators of writing systemsPhilosophers from Massachusetts18th-century American writers, Founding Fathers of the United States, People of the American EnlightenmentWriters from Philadelphia, Recreational cryptographers, Writers from Boston18th-century American politicians, Signers of the United States Constitution, American FreemasonsWomen and Enlightenment Science
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the role played by women in Enlightenment science.
4 November 2010
Also featuring: Karen O'Brien, Judith Hawley
The Cavendish Family in Science
Melvyn Bragg and guests Jim Bennett, Simon Schaffer and Patricia Fara explore the scientific achievements of the Cavendish family, from the 17th to the 19th century.
20 May 2010
Also featuring: Jim Bennett, Simon Schaffer
Calculus
Melvyn Bragg and guests Patricia Fara, Simon Schaffer and Jackie Stedall discuss the dispute between Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz over who invented calculus.
24 September 2009
Also featuring: Simon Schaffer, Jackie Stedall
Baconian Science
Melvyn Bragg and guests Patricia Fara, Stephen Pumfrey and Rhodri Lewis discuss the Jacobean lawyer, political fixer and alleged founder of modern science Francis Bacon.
2 April 2009
Also featuring: Stephen Pumfrey, Rhodri Lewis
Vitalism
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Vitalism, an 18th and 19th century quest for the spark of life and the science behind Frankenstein.
16 October 2008
Also featuring: Andrew Mendelsohn, Pietro Corsi
Ada Lovelace
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 19th century mathematician and hard living daughter of Lord Byron, Ada Lovelace.
6 March 2008
Also featuring: Doron Swade, John Fuegi
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
Also featuring: Jason Wilson, Jim Secord
ScienceFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyRecipients of the Copley MedalMembers of the Royal Swedish Academy of SciencesHonorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesGerman LutheransMembers of the French Academy of SciencesMembers of the Prussian Academy of SciencesUniversity of Göttingen alumniMembers of the Bavarian Academy of SciencesRecipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)Members of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and HumanitiesIndependent scientistsForeign members of the Royal SocietyGerman travel writersHuman geographersGay scientists18th-century German LGBTQ peopleUniversity of Jena alumniElectrickery
Melvyn Bragg discusses the dawn of the age of electricity, from lightning conductors to leaping soldiers and Franklin to Frankenstein.
4 November 2004
Also featuring: Simon Schaffer, Iwan Morus
Rutherford
Melvyn Bragg discusses Ernest Rutherford. He is seen as the father of nuclear science, a great charismatic figure who mapped the landscape of the sub-atomic world.
19 February 2004
Also featuring: Simon Schaffer, Jim Al-Khalili
ScienceMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyRecipients of the Copley MedalBurials at Westminster AbbeyForeign associates of the National Academy of SciencesEnglish Nobel laureatesBritish Nobel laureates19th-century British physicistsRecipients of Franklin MedalNobel laureates in ChemistryExperimental physicistsKnights BachelorDiscoverers of chemical elementsFellows of Trinity College, CambridgeRadio pioneersAcademics of the Victoria University of ManchesterRecipients of the Dalton MedalPersons of National Historic Significance (Canada)Corresponding Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1917–1925)20th-century British scientistsHonorary Fellows of the Royal Society of EdinburghCavendish Professors of PhysicsHonorary members of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Recipients of the Matteucci MedalMembers of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, 20th-century British physicistsThe Scientist
Melvyn Bragg discusses how the role of the scientist and our understanding of it has changed, and examines when the word, figure and idea of the scientist emerged in a recognisably distinctive way.
24 October 2002
Also featuring: John Gribbin, Hugh Pennington