Reality Is Not What It Seems

Episodes

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01Fiat Lux2016112820161129 (R4)Do space and time truly exist? What is reality made of? Can we understand its deep texture? Scientist Carlo Rovelli has spent his whole life exploring these questions and pushing the boundaries of what we know.

He describes how our understanding of reality has changed throughout the centuries, from the philosophers and scientists of antiquity to contemporary researchers into quantum gravity.

Episode 1: Fiat Lux

The foundations of 21st century science draw on concepts first introduced thousands of years ago by philosophers such as Anaximander and Democritus, whose ideas were given new life by scientists from the Enlightenment onwards.

Author: Carlo Rovelli

Reader: Mark Meadows

Abridger/Producer: Sara Davies

Carlo Rovelli's provocative account of how science affects our understanding of the world.

02The Most Beautiful Of Theories2016112920161130 (R4)Do space and time truly exist? What is reality made of? Can we understand its deep texture? Scientist Carlo Rovelli has spent his whole life exploring these questions and pushing the boundaries of what we know.

He describes how our understanding of reality has changed throughout the centuries, from the philosophers and scientists of antiquity to contemporary researchers into quantum gravity.

Episode 2: The Most Beautiful of Theories

In 1905, Albert Einstein published three papers which constructed the pillars of our modern understanding of the world and, in the process, formulated the most famous equation of modern science.

Author: Carlo Rovelli

Reader: Mark Meadows

Abridger/Producer: Sara Davies

In 1905, Albert Einstein formulates the most famous equation of modern science.

03The Quantum Leap2016113020161201 (R4)Do space and time truly exist? What is reality made of? Can we understand its deep texture? Scientist Carlo Rovelli has spent his whole life exploring these questions and pushing the boundaries of what we know.

He describes how our understanding of reality has changed throughout the centuries, from the philosophers and scientists of antiquity to contemporary researchers into quantum gravity.

Episode 3: The Quantum Leap

Twentieth century discoveries in the fields of quantum science provide the basis for our contemporary understanding of the nature of the world - but also pose questions about the very fabric of reality.

Author: Carlo Rovelli

Reader: Mark Meadows

Abridger/Producer: Sara Davies

Carlo Rovelli explores 20th-century discoveries in the fields of quantum science.

04The Dances Of Time2016120120161202 (R4)Do space and time truly exist? What is reality made of? Can we understand its deep texture? Scientist Carlo Rovelli has spent his whole life exploring these questions and pushing the boundaries of what we know.

He describes how our understanding of reality has changed throughout the centuries, from the philosophers and scientists of antiquity to contemporary researchers into quantum gravity.

Episode 4: The Dances of Time

As the very notions of space and time are called into question, scientists are exploring theories of quantum gravity in order to find answers to some of the great mysteries about the structure of the physical world.

Author: Carlo Rovelli

Reader: Mark Meadows

Abridger/Producer: Sara Davies

How scientists are exploring quantum gravity to solve mysteries about the physical world.

05 LASTBeyond Space And Time2016120220161203 (R4)Do space and time truly exist? What is reality made of? Can we understand its deep texture? Scientist Carlo Rovelli has spent his whole life exploring these questions and pushing the boundaries of what we know.

He describes how our understanding of reality has changed throughout the centuries, from the philosophers and scientists of antiquity to contemporary researchers into quantum gravity.

Episode 5: Beyond Space and Time

What happened before the Big Bang? Rovelli's account of scientific discovery takes us to the very frontiers of what we know about the creation of our universe.

Author: Carlo Rovelli

Reader: Mark Meadows

Abridger/Producer: Sara Davies

Carlo Rovelli's account of scientific discovery examines what happened before the Big Bang