Adventures In Human Being By Gavin Francis

Episode

First
Broadcast

Repeated

Comments

20150608

20200413/14 (BBC7)

Gavin Francis leads us round a cultural map of the body - an adventure in what it means to be human. Taking in health and illness, and offering insights on everything from the ribbed surface of the brain to the unique engineering of the foot.

He begins with the moment, age 19, when he first held a human brain.

Physician Gavin Francis leads us round a cultural map of the body, starting with the brain

Gavin Francis leads us round a cultural map of the body – an adventure in what it means to be human. Taking in health and illness, and offering insights on everything from the ribbed surface of the brain to the unique engineering of the foot.

20150609

20200414/15 (BBC7)

Gavin Francis leads us through a cultural map of the body - an adventure in what it means to be human. Drawing on his own experiences as a physician and writer, he blends first-hand case studies with reflections on the way the body has been imagined and portrayed over millennia.

Francis has dissected many human faces during medical training, and as a demonstrator of anatomy, but he has never lost the sense of privilege that doing so brings.

Our faces are key to our human identity - when faces are available, we pay more attention to them than to any part of the visual world. When our ability to use our facial muscles to convey our emotions is harmed, as in Bell's palsy, it can be socially devastating.

But even when a face is damaged, it's still vital to our sense of self.

Physician Gavin Francis explores how facial muscles tell the story of our emotional lives.

Gavin Francis leads us through a cultural map of the body – an adventure in what it means to be human. Drawing on his own experiences as a physician and writer, he blends first-hand case studies with reflections on the way the body has been imagined and portrayed over millennia.

Our faces are key to our human identity – when faces are available, we pay more attention to them than to any part of the visual world. When our ability to use our facial muscles to convey our emotions is harmed, as in Bell's palsy, it can be socially devastating.

20150610

20200415/16 (BBC7)

A serious motorbike crash brings a young soldier to A&E with a badly injured shoulder. His arm is paralysed, and may not recover.

Since Homer wrote the Iliad almost three thousand years ago, military strategists have understood the power of wounds to the brachial plexus, the network of nerves behind our collarbones. Our arms' are both parts of our body, and weapons of war.

A serious motorbike crash brings a young soldier to A&E. His arm is badly injured.

Since Homer wrote the Iliad almost three thousand years ago, military strategists have understood the power of wounds to the brachial plexus, the network of nerves behind our collarbones. Our ‘arms' are both parts of our body, and weapons of war.

20150611

20200416/17 (BBC7)

The liver is a mysterious organ - essential to life, multifarious in its actions, its tissue unusual in being able to regenerate.

Ancient cultures used the livers of sacrificed animals to predict events; Biblical kings planned wars according to what the liver foretold. Livers appear in the proverbs of eastern Europe and in the folk tales gathered by the Brothers Grimm. And when a young gardener scratches her finger on a thorn and falls into a coma, it might be her liver which saves her life.

Physician Gavin Francis' journey round the body reaches the mysterious organ - the liver.

05 LAST

20150612

20200417/18 (BBC7)

His journey ends at the foot - a marvel of engineering often overlooked by anatomists and medical students.

It's thanks to the arches of our feet that we stepped into our humanity more than two million years ago.

Physician Gavin Francis ends his tour of the body at the foot - a marvel of engineering.

His journey ends at the foot – a marvel of engineering often overlooked by anatomists and medical students.

Episodes

Episode	First Broadcast	Repeated	Comments
01	20150608	20200413/14 (BBC7)	Gavin Francis leads us round a cultural map of the body - an adventure in what it means to be human. Taking in health and illness, and offering insights on everything from the ribbed surface of the brain to the unique engineering of the foot. He begins with the moment, age 19, when he first held a human brain. Physician Gavin Francis leads us round a cultural map of the body, starting with the brain Gavin Francis leads us round a cultural map of the body – an adventure in what it means to be human. Taking in health and illness, and offering insights on everything from the ribbed surface of the brain to the unique engineering of the foot.
02	20150609	20200414/15 (BBC7)	Gavin Francis leads us through a cultural map of the body - an adventure in what it means to be human. Drawing on his own experiences as a physician and writer, he blends first-hand case studies with reflections on the way the body has been imagined and portrayed over millennia. Francis has dissected many human faces during medical training, and as a demonstrator of anatomy, but he has never lost the sense of privilege that doing so brings. Our faces are key to our human identity - when faces are available, we pay more attention to them than to any part of the visual world. When our ability to use our facial muscles to convey our emotions is harmed, as in Bell's palsy, it can be socially devastating. But even when a face is damaged, it's still vital to our sense of self. Physician Gavin Francis explores how facial muscles tell the story of our emotional lives. Gavin Francis leads us through a cultural map of the body – an adventure in what it means to be human. Drawing on his own experiences as a physician and writer, he blends first-hand case studies with reflections on the way the body has been imagined and portrayed over millennia. Our faces are key to our human identity – when faces are available, we pay more attention to them than to any part of the visual world. When our ability to use our facial muscles to convey our emotions is harmed, as in Bell's palsy, it can be socially devastating.
03	20150610	20200415/16 (BBC7)	Gavin Francis leads us through a cultural map of the body - an adventure in what it means to be human. Drawing on his own experiences as a physician and writer, he blends first-hand case studies with reflections on the way the body has been imagined and portrayed over millennia. A serious motorbike crash brings a young soldier to A&E with a badly injured shoulder. His arm is paralysed, and may not recover. Since Homer wrote the Iliad almost three thousand years ago, military strategists have understood the power of wounds to the brachial plexus, the network of nerves behind our collarbones. Our arms' are both parts of our body, and weapons of war. A serious motorbike crash brings a young soldier to A&E. His arm is badly injured. Gavin Francis leads us through a cultural map of the body – an adventure in what it means to be human. Drawing on his own experiences as a physician and writer, he blends first-hand case studies with reflections on the way the body has been imagined and portrayed over millennia. Since Homer wrote the Iliad almost three thousand years ago, military strategists have understood the power of wounds to the brachial plexus, the network of nerves behind our collarbones. Our ‘arms' are both parts of our body, and weapons of war.
04	20150611	20200416/17 (BBC7)	Gavin Francis leads us through a cultural map of the body - an adventure in what it means to be human. Drawing on his own experiences as a physician and writer, he blends first-hand case studies with reflections on the way the body has been imagined and portrayed over millennia. The liver is a mysterious organ - essential to life, multifarious in its actions, its tissue unusual in being able to regenerate. Ancient cultures used the livers of sacrificed animals to predict events; Biblical kings planned wars according to what the liver foretold. Livers appear in the proverbs of eastern Europe and in the folk tales gathered by the Brothers Grimm. And when a young gardener scratches her finger on a thorn and falls into a coma, it might be her liver which saves her life. Physician Gavin Francis' journey round the body reaches the mysterious organ - the liver. Gavin Francis leads us through a cultural map of the body – an adventure in what it means to be human. Drawing on his own experiences as a physician and writer, he blends first-hand case studies with reflections on the way the body has been imagined and portrayed over millennia.
05 LAST	20150612	20200417/18 (BBC7)	Gavin Francis leads us through a cultural map of the body - an adventure in what it means to be human. Drawing on his own experiences as a physician and writer, he blends first-hand case studies with reflections on the way the body has been imagined and portrayed over millennia. His journey ends at the foot - a marvel of engineering often overlooked by anatomists and medical students. It's thanks to the arches of our feet that we stepped into our humanity more than two million years ago. Physician Gavin Francis ends his tour of the body at the foot - a marvel of engineering. Gavin Francis leads us through a cultural map of the body – an adventure in what it means to be human. Drawing on his own experiences as a physician and writer, he blends first-hand case studies with reflections on the way the body has been imagined and portrayed over millennia. His journey ends at the foot – a marvel of engineering often overlooked by anatomists and medical students.