2012

Episode 1 2 Jan

Melvyn Bragg investigates the development of the written word and how it has shaped our intellectual history.
000 Computer science, knowledge and systems
Episode 2 3 Jan

In the second instalment of his survey of the written word, Melvyn Bragg traces the evolution of writing technology from the time of classical antiquity to the invention of printing.
000 Computer science, knowledge and systems
Episode 3 4 Jan

Melvyn Bragg continues his survey of the history of the written word by investigating how writing has influenced the spread of religion.
200 Religion
Literature 5 Jan

Melvyn Bragg investigates how the written word, a technology originally used for accountancy, gave rise to all of human literature.
800 Literature, rhetoric and criticism
Episode 5 6 Jan

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The Safavid Dynasty 12 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Safavid Dynasty, rulers of the Persian empire between the 16th and 18th centuries.
900 History
1848: Year of Revolution 19 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss 1848, the year that saw Europe engulfed in revolution.
940 History of Europe
The Scientific Method 26 Jan

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the evolution of the Scientific Method, the systematic and analytical approach to scientific thought.
500 Science

The Kama Sutra 2 Feb

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Kama Sutra, one of the most celebrated and often misunderstood texts of Indian literature.
290 Other religions
Erasmus 9 Feb

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of the Dutch humanist scholar Desiderius Erasmus.
270 History of Christianity
The An Lushan Rebellion 16 Feb

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the An Lushan Rebellion, a major uprising against the imperial rule of the Chinese Tang Dynasty.
950 History of Asia
Conductors and Semiconductors 23 Feb

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the physics of electrical conduction.
530 Physics

Benjamin Franklin 1 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of Benjamin Franklin.
970 History of North America
Lyrical Ballads 8 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Lyrical Ballads, the collection of poems by William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge first published in 1798.
820 English and Old English literatures
Vitruvius and De Architectura 15 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Vitruvius’ De Architectura.
720 Architecture
Moses Mendelssohn 22 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the work and influence of the eighteenth-century philosopher Moses Mendelssohn.
190 Modern Western Philosophy
The Measurement of Time 29 Mar

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the measurement of time.
510 Mathematics

George Fox and the Quakers 5 Apr

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the origins of Quakerism.
280 Christian denominations
Early Geology 12 Apr

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the emergence of geology as a scientific discipline.
550 Earth sciences and geology
Neoplatonism 19 Apr

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Neoplatonism, the school of thought founded in the 3rd century AD by the philosopher Plotinus.
100 Philosophy
The Battle of Bosworth Field 26 Apr

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Battle of Bosworth Field, the celebrated encounter between Lancastrian and Yorkist forces in August 1485.
940 History of Europe

Voltaire’s Candide 3 May

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Voltaire’s novel Candide.
840 French and related literatures
Game Theory 10 May

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss game theory, the mathematical study of decision-making.
510 Mathematics
Clausewitz and On War 17 May

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss On War, a treatise on the theory and practice of warfare written by the Prussian soldier and intellectual Carl von Clausewitz.
350 Public administration and military science
Marco Polo 24 May

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the celebrated Venetian explorer Marco Polo.
910 Geography and travel
The Trojan War 31 May

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Trojan War, one of the best known events of Greek mythology.
880 Classical and modern Greek literatures

King Solomon 7 Jun

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the biblical king Solomon, celebrated for his wisdom and as the architect of the First Temple in Jerusalem.
220 The Bible
James Joyce’s Ulysses 14 Jun

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss James Joyce’s novel Ulysses.
820 English and Old English literatures
Annie Besant 21 Jun

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life of the prominent 19th-century social reformer Annie Besant.
300 Social sciences, sociology and anthropology
Al-Kindi 28 Jun

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of the Arab philosopher al-Kindi.
180 Ancient, medieval, and Eastern philosophy

Scepticism 5 Jul

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Scepticism, the idea that it may be impossible to know anything with complete certainty.
140 Philosophical schools of thought
Hadrian’s Wall 12 Jul

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Hadrian’s Wall, the largest Roman structure and one of the most important archaeological monuments in Britain.
930 History of the Ancient World

The Cell 13 Sep

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the cell, the fundamental building block of life.
570 Biology
The Druids 20 Sep

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Druids, the priests of ancient Europe.
290 Other religions
The Ontological Argument 27 Sep

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Ontological Argument.
210 Philosophy and theory of religion

Gerald of Wales 4 Oct

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the medieval scholar Gerald of Wales.
940 History of Europe
Hannibal 11 Oct

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and achievements of Hannibal.
350 Public administration and military science
Caxton and the Printing Press 18 Oct

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and influence of William Caxton, the merchant who brought the printing press to the British Isles.
650 Management and public relations
Fermat’s Last Theorem 25 Oct

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Fermat’s Last Theorem.
510 Mathematics

The Anarchy 1 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss The Anarchy, the civil war that took place in mid-twelfth century England.
940 History of Europe
The Upanishads 8 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Upanishads, the ancient sacred texts of Hinduism.
290 Other religions
Simone Weil 15 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the French philosopher and social activist Simone Weil.
190 Modern Western Philosophy
The Borgias 22 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Borgias, the most notorious family in Renaissance Italy.
940 History of Europe
Crystallography 29 Nov

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the history of crystallography, the study of crystals and their structure.
530 Physics

Bertrand Russell 6 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the influential British philosopher Bertrand Russell.
190 Modern Western Philosophy
Shahnameh of Ferdowsi 13 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the epic poem the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi, the ‘Book of Kings’, which has been at the heart of Persian culture for the past thousand years.
890 Other literatures
The South Sea Bubble 20 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss The South Sea Bubble, the speculation mania in early 18th-century England which ended in the financial ruin of many of its investors.
330 Economics
The Cult of Mithras 27 Dec

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the cult of Mithras, a mystery religion that existed in the Roman Empire from the 1st to the 4th centuries AD.
290 Other religions