Episodes
| Series | Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20100110 | Geoff Watts introduces an omnibus edition of the Moments of Genius which have aired throughout the past week on Radio 4, from the moment a Dutch draper stared at a drop of pond water to an experiment that put Einstein to the test.
Geoff and guests enjoy and discuss the choices of, among others, mathematician Marcus du Sautoy, writer Eoin Colfer, Professor Lord Winston, Carol Vorderman and comedian Ben Miller. They consider if scientists really do have moments of genius or if it is just a useful fiction, and what it takes to be a genius.
Geoff Watts and guests discuss some of the past week's Moments of Genius choices. | ||||
| 20100530 | Geoff Watts and guests describe the week's Moments of Genius chosen by five well known figures and explore what drives scientific research.
With moments of scientific genius chosen by Stephen Fry, Brian Eno, the first Green MP Caroline Lucas, Nobel Prize winning scientist, Sir Tim Hunt, and actor Samuel West; this Omnibus edition of Moments of Genius shows that it's not only scientists who get excited about science.
From a mathematical breakthrough, the Game of Life, to the importance of washing your hands, guests Phil Ball and Patricia Fara listen again to the moments of genius broadcast during the week and discuss what makes such moments happen.
Producer: Anna Buckley.
Geoff Watts and guests discuss the week's Moments of Genius. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius chosen | ||||
| Omnibus | 20101212 | Geoff Watts and guests, Nobel laureate Sir Tim Hunt and Mark Henderson, listen to and discuss the week's Moments of Genius and ask if scientists get the recognition they deserve.
Moments include the discovery of the structure of DNA when playing with cardboard cutouts of the different building blocks; how Hooke's observations of the behaviour of a metal spring launched modern science and the moment Edward Jenner proved the principle of vaccination, experimenting on an eight year old boy.
Producer: Anna Buckley.
Geoff Watts and guests discuss the past week's Moments of Genius. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius | |||
| 01 | Stephen Fry | 20100524 | Stephen Fry describes his favourite moment in the history of science. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius chosen | ||
| 01 | Stephen Fry | 20100524 | 20100528 (R4) | Stephen Fry describes his favourite moment in the history of science. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius chosen | |
| 02 | Brian Eno | 20100524 | Music producer, Brian Eno, describes his favourite moment in the history of science.
In 1970, the British mathematician John Conway worked out the Game of Life. "I'm not a mathematician but this idea made immediate sense to me", says Brian.
The Game of Life proves that incredibly complex things can be generated from something startlingly simple.
It's like a board game that has a very simple set of rules. You expect to be able to predict the outcome but you absolutely can't. "You just have to keep watching it happen to believe it, " says Brian who has spent many many hours doing just that.
The Game of Life is deeply counter-intuitive. It sheds light on what makes evolution possible and has had a huge influence on Brian Eno's music.
Music producer Brian Eno describes his favourite moment in the history of science. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius chosen | ||
| 02 | Brian Eno | 20100524 | 20100528 (R4) | Music producer, Brian Eno, describes his favourite moment in the history of science.
In 1970, the British mathematician John Conway worked out the Game of Life. "I'm not a mathematician but this idea made immediate sense to me", says Brian.
The Game of Life proves that incredibly complex things can be generated from something startlingly simple.
It's like a board game that has a very simple set of rules. You expect to be able to predict the outcome but you absolutely can't. "You just have to keep watching it happen to believe it, " says Brian who has spent many many hours doing just that.
The Game of Life is deeply counter-intuitive. It sheds light on what makes evolution possible and has had a huge influence on Brian Eno's music.
Music producer Brian Eno describes his favourite moment in the history of science. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius chosen | |
| 03 | Sir Tim Hunt | 20100525 | Nobel prize winning scientist, Sir Tim Hunt describes his favourite moment in the history of science.
The experimental German biologist, Theodore Boveri, is one of Tim Hunt's heros: "He isn't exactly a household name but he should be".
In 1902, Boveri knew nothing about DNA and yet, in a beautiful set of experiments on sea urchin eggs, he worked out what happens when cells divide. This was fifty years before Watson and Crick and others confirmed that Boveri's theory of chromsomes was absolutely spot on.
A moment of genius chosen by Nobel prize winning scientist Sir Tim Hunt. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius chosen | ||
| 03 | Sir Tim Hunt | 20100525 | 20100526 (R4) | Nobel prize winning scientist, Sir Tim Hunt describes his favourite moment in the history of science.
The experimental German biologist, Theodore Boveri, is one of Tim Hunt's heros: "He isn't exactly a household name but he should be".
In 1902, Boveri knew nothing about DNA and yet, in a beautiful set of experiments on sea urchin eggs, he worked out what happens when cells divide. This was fifty years before Watson and Crick and others confirmed that Boveri's theory of chromsomes was absolutely spot on.
A moment of genius chosen by Nobel prize winning scientist Sir Tim Hunt. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius chosen | |
| 04 | Samuel West | 20100525 | Actor Samuel West describes his favourite moment in the history of science.
Why things burn, why we have any weather at all, why everything living tends to die: these are just a few of the questions that are answered by the rather prosaically named, Second Law of Thermodynamics.
The Second Law states that, energy-wise, everything tends to chaos.
It's a law of physics but also a personal motto for actor, Samuel West.
Actor Samuel West describes his favourite moment in the history of science. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius chosen | ||
| 04 | Samuel West | 20100525 | 20100527 (R4) | Actor Samuel West describes his favourite moment in the history of science.
Why things burn, why we have any weather at all, why everything living tends to die: these are just a few of the questions that are answered by the rather prosaically named, Second Law of Thermodynamics.
The Second Law states that, energy-wise, everything tends to chaos.
It's a law of physics but also a personal motto for actor, Samuel West.
Actor Samuel West describes his favourite moment in the history of science. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius chosen | |
| 06 | Caroline Lucas | 20100526 | The first Green MP, Caroline Lucas, describes her favourite moment in the history of science: the invention of the contraceptive pill.
The maverick scientist, Gregory Pincus, is often credited with the invention of the first contraceptive pill but, , without the direction and commitment of two influential women, he may never have pursued this line of scientific research.
"There's more to a moment of scientific genius than getting the science right ", argues Caroline Lucas. And it's time the credit for this moment was shared between Margaret Sanger, who dreamed of a magic pill to prevent pregnancy; the biologist Katherine McCormick who hired Pincus to do the work; and the scientist who worked it out, Gregory Pincus.
Caroline Lucas describes her favourite moment in the history of science. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius chosen | ||
| 06 | Caroline Lucas | 20100526 | 20100527 (R4) | The first Green MP, Caroline Lucas, describes her favourite moment in the history of science: the invention of the contraceptive pill.
The maverick scientist, Gregory Pincus, is often credited with the invention of the first contraceptive pill but, , without the direction and commitment of two influential women, he may never have pursued this line of scientific research.
"There's more to a moment of scientific genius than getting the science right ", argues Caroline Lucas. And it's time the credit for this moment was shared between Margaret Sanger, who dreamed of a magic pill to prevent pregnancy; the biologist Katherine McCormick who hired Pincus to do the work; and the scientist who worked it out, Gregory Pincus.
Caroline Lucas describes her favourite moment in the history of science. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius chosen | |
| 02 | 01 | Venki Ramakrishnan | 20101206 | Nobel laureate Venki Ramakrishnan describes how the structure of DNA was discovered. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius | |
| 02 | 01 | Venki Ramakrishnan | 20101206 | 20101208 (R4) | Nobel laureate Venki Ramakrishnan describes how the structure of DNA was discovered. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius |
| 02 | 02 | Sir Martin Evans | 20101206 | Nobel laureate Sir Martin Evans describes his favourite moment of scientific genius. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius | |
| 02 | 02 | Sir Martin Evans | 20101206 | 20101209 (R4) | Nobel laureate Sir Martin Evans describes his favourite moment of scientific genius. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius |
| 02 | 03 | Barry Marshall | 20101207 | Nobel Laureate Barry Marshall describes his favourite moment in the history of science. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius | |
| 02 | 03 | Barry Marshall | 20101207 | 20101209 (R4) | Nobel Laureate Barry Marshall describes his favourite moment in the history of science. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius |
| 02 | 04 | Sir Harry Kroto | 20101207 | Nobel laureate Harry Kroto describes his favourite moment in the history of science. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius | |
| 02 | 04 | Sir Harry Kroto | 20101207 | 20101210 (R4) | Nobel laureate Harry Kroto describes his favourite moment in the history of science. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius |
| 02 | 05 | Elizabeth Blackburn | 20101208 | 20101210 (R4) | Nobel laureate Elizabeth Blackburn describes her favourite moment of scientific genius. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius Nobel laureate Elizabeth Blackburn describes her favourite moment of scientific genius. Well-known figures discuss moments of scientific genius |