The Sun

The Sun

Author: BBC Radio 4 July 10, 2014 Duration: 47:27

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Sun. The object that gives the Earth its light and heat is a massive ball of gas and plasma 93 million miles away. Thanks to the nuclear fusion reactions taking place at its core, the Sun has been shining for four and a half billion years. Its structure, and the processes that keep it burning, have fascinated astronomers for centuries. After the invention of the telescope it became apparent that the Sun is not a placid, steadily shining body but is subject to periodic changes in its appearance and eruptions of dramatic violence, some of which can affect us here on Earth. Recent space missions have revealed fascinating new insights into our nearest star.

With:

Carolin Crawford Gresham Professor of Astronomy and Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge

Yvonne Elsworth Poynting Professor of Physics at the University of Birmingham

Louise Harra Professor of Solar Physics at UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory

Producer: Thomas Morris.


Melvyn Bragg and a panel of academic experts gather each week to explore the vast history of scientific thought on In Our Time: Science. This BBC Radio 4 podcast delves far beyond simple explanations, instead tracing the long and often winding paths of discovery that shaped our understanding of the world. Each episode focuses on a single idea, from the concept of zero to the theory of plate tectonics, unpacking its origins, the controversies it sparked, and the key figures who championed or challenged it. You’ll hear lively, in-depth conversations that place science firmly within its human and historical context, revealing how principles we take for granted today were hard-won through centuries of debate, accident, and insight. The discussions are rigorous and accessible, designed for the curious mind eager to appreciate not just what we know, but how we came to know it. By treating science as a deeply historical endeavour, this series offers a richer appreciation of the discipline itself. Tune in for a thoughtful and engaging journey through the experiments, the arguments, and the brilliant flashes of imagination that have defined our quest for knowledge.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

In Our Time: Science
Podcast Episodes
Hybrids [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:49
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss what happens when parents from different species have offspring, despite their genetic differences. In some cases, such as the zebra/donkey hybrid in the image above, the offspring are usu…
Dorothy Hodgkin [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:22
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the work and ideas of Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin (1910-1994), awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1964 for revealing the structures of vitamin B12 and penicillin and who later determined…
Kinetic Theory [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:38
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how scientists sought to understand the properties of gases and the relationship between pressure and volume, and what that search unlocked. Newton theorised that there were static particl…
The Evolution of Teeth [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:15
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss theories about the origins of teeth in vertebrates, and what we can learn from sharks in particular and their ancestors. Great white sharks can produce up to 100,000 teeth in their lifetim…
Pheromones [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:09
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how members of the same species send each other invisible chemical signals to influence the way they behave. Pheromones are used by species across the animal kingdom in a variety of ways,…
Aristotle's Biology [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:10
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the remarkable achievement of Aristotle (384-322BC) in the realm of biological investigation, for which he has been called the originator of the scientific study of life. Known mainly as a…
Emmy Noether [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:20
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas and life of one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century, Emmy Noether. Noether’s Theorem is regarded as one of the most important mathematical theorems, influencing th…
Venus [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:25
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the planet Venus which is both the morning star and the evening star, rotates backwards at walking speed and has a day which is longer than its year. It has long been called Earth’s twin,…
Free Radicals [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:03
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the properties of atoms or molecules with a single unpaired electron, which tend to be more reactive, keen to seize an electron to make it a pair. In the atmosphere, they are linked to rea…
Automata [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:23
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of real and imagined machines that appear to be living, and the questions they raise about life and creation. Even in myth they are made by humans, not born. The classical Gree…