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
ScienceFrench physicists18th-century French women writers18th-century French writers18th-century French mathematicians18th-century philosophers18th-century French philosophersContributors to the Encyclopédie (1751–1772)French women physicistsFrench women philosophersDeaths in childbirth18th-century French scientistsDeaths from pulmonary embolism18th centuryFranceMathematicsDorothy 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
ScienceWomen Nobel laureatesRoyal Medal winnersMembers of the Order of MeritAlumni of Somerville College, OxfordForeign members of the USSR Academy of Sciences20th-century British biologists20th-century British chemists, British biophysicists, British crystallographersRecipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and ArtRecipients of the Dalton MedalEnglish Nobel laureatesFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesBritish scientists with disabilitiesRecipients of the Copley MedalBritish Nobel laureatesForeign associates of the National Academy of SciencesFellows of Somerville College, OxfordAlumni of Newnham College, CambridgeFellows of the Royal SocietyBritish biochemistsNobel laureates in Chemistry20th centuryRosalind Franklin
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the achievements of the pioneering scientist Rosalind Franklin.
22 February 2018
Also featuring: Jim Naismith, Judith Howard
ScienceJewish British scientistsJewish women scientistsEnglish agnostics20th-century British biologists20th-century British chemists, British biophysicists, British crystallographersAlumni of Newnham College, CambridgeJewish agnosticsDeaths from cancer in EnglandAcademics of King's College London20th centuryRobert 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
HistoryWomen Nobel laureatesUniversity of Paris alumniLegion of Honour refusalsFormer Roman CatholicsDiscoverers of chemical elementsHonorary members of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Recipients of the Matteucci MedalBurials at the Panthéon, ParisNaturalized citizens of FranceCorresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesCorresponding Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1917–1925)Nobel laureates in PhysicsWomen nuclear physicistsExperimental physicistsAcademic staff of the University of Paris19th-century French chemistsFrench Nobel laureatesWomen inventorsFrench agnosticsFrench women physicistsFrench atheistsNobel laureates in Chemistry19th centuryFranceThe 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
CultureHall of Fame for Great Americans inducteesPeople associated with electricityAmerican philosophers of educationHumor researchersActivists for African-American civil rightsAmerican philosophers of cultureCreators of writing systemsWriters about religion and scienceAmerican slave ownersRhetoric theoristsRecreational cryptographers, Writers from Boston, Writers from PhiladelphiaAmerican male non-fiction writersIndependent scientistsIndependent scholarsAmerican people of English descentAmerican deistsWriters about activism and social changeSimple living advocatesAmerican political philosophers18th-century American politicians, American Freemasons, Signers of the United States ConstitutionPhilosophy writersAmerican autobiographersAmerican philosophers of religionHonorary members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of SciencesPhilosophers of technologyMasonic grand mastersFellows of the American Academy of Arts and SciencesTheorists on Western civilizationPhilosophers of sciencePhilosophers of historyRecipients of the Copley MedalPolitical activists from PennsylvaniaPhilosophers from Massachusetts18th-century American writers, Founding Fathers of the United States, People of the American EnlightenmentAmerican male journalistsSocial philosophersMembers of the American Philosophical Society18th-century pseudonymous writersAphoristsAge of EnlightenmentPhilosophers of literatureFellows of the Royal Society18th centuryAmericaWomen 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
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 centuryElectrickery
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
ScienceRadio pioneers20th-century British physicists, Members of the Pontifical Academy of SciencesPersons of National Historic Significance (Canada)Fellows of Trinity College, CambridgeKnights BachelorDiscoverers of chemical elementsHonorary members of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Recipients of the Matteucci MedalHonorary Fellows of the Royal Society of EdinburghRecipients of Franklin MedalCorresponding Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1917–1925)Experimental physicistsCavendish Professors of PhysicsRecipients of the Dalton MedalEnglish Nobel laureatesAcademics of the Victoria University of ManchesterRecipients of the Copley MedalBritish Nobel laureates20th-century British scientistsForeign associates of the National Academy of SciencesMembers of the American Philosophical SocietyNobel laureates in Chemistry19th-century British physicistsBurials at Westminster Abbey19th century20th centuryThe 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