Science Stories Podcast
Surprising stories from the history of science told by Naomi Alderman and Philip Ball.
Episodes to download
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Alexis Carrel and the immortal chicken heart—Series 9
Tue 10 Sep 2019
Philip Ball tells the tale of Alexis Carrel's immortal chicken heart.
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Ibn al-Haytham and How We See
Wed 9 Jan 2019
Philip Ball's story is of Ibn al-Haytham, the first scientist, and how we see.
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Lady Mary Montagu's Smallpox Experiment
Wed 2 Jan 2019
Naomi Alderman on how Lady Mary Montagu used her own child to prove smallpox inoculation.
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Kepler's Snowflakes
Boxing Day 2018
Philip Ball's tale is of Kepler's Snowflakes, a New Year's gift and of crystallography.
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Eddington's Eclipse and Einstein's Celebrity
Wed 12 Dec 2018
Philip Ball tells the story of Arthur Eddington's confirmation of general relativity.
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Mary Anning and Fossil Hunting
Wed 11 Jul 2018
Naomi Alderman tells the story of Mary Anning, who discovered many important fossils.
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Hypatia: The Murdered Mathematician
Wed 4 Jul 2018
Naomi Alderman's story is of Hypatia - the mathematician murdered by a mob in Alexandria.
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Descartes' Daughter
Wed 27 Jun 2018
Philip Ball goes back to the 17th century to tell the story of Descartes' 'daughter'.
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Urea and the Wohler Myth
Wed 20 Jun 2018
Philip Ball tells the story of German chemist Friedrich Wöhler's creation of urea.
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17th-Century Space Flight: The Real Cyrano de Bergerac
Wed 13 Jun 2018
Philip Ball reveals the real Cyrano de Bergerac and his 17th-century spaceship.
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The duchess who gatecrashed science
Wed 27 Jan 2016
Margaret Cavendish and the birth of the scientific method.
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The meteorite and the hidden hoax
Wed 20 Jan 2016
The riddle of the 19th century French meteorite that carried a secret for 100 years.
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How an eel sparked our interest in electricity
Wed 13 Jan 2016
How an eel sparked our interest in electricity
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Submarine for a Stuart King
Wed 6 Jan 2016
The magical world of Conelis Drebbel, inventor of the first submarine in 1621.
