The Woman Who Tamed Lightning

Naomi Alderman tells the story of engineer Hertha Ayrton, who refined street lights.

• 28 mins

Mesmerism

Philip Ball tells the story of Anton Mesmer and the rise and fall of animal magnetism.

• 28 mins

Jumping Genes

Philip Ball tells the story of US geneticist and 1983 Nobel prize-winner Barbara McLintock

• 28 mins

The Birth of Photography

How William Fox Talbot captured a moment in time.

• 28 mins

Pavlov and his Dogs

Naomi Alderman tells the story of Pavlov and his selectively drooling dogs.

• 28 mins

The Medieval Bishop's Big Bang Theory

Philip Ball on a very modern medieval Big Bang Theory forged by a 13th-century bishop.

• 28 mins

The Anglo-Saxon remedy that kills MRSA

Naomi Alderman opens the pages of medieval recipe books to find antimicrobial salves.

• 28 mins

The Man Who Found Physics in Shells, Seeds and Bees

The man who put maths into biology and saw physics in shells, seeds and bees 100 years ago

• 28 mins

Caroline Herschel and the Comets

Naomi Alderman tells the story of 18th-century comet spotter and singer Caroline Herschel.

• 28 mins

A wolf, a goat and some cabbages

Philip Ball dives into the Dark Ages to reveal the author of the river crossing riddle.

• 28 mins

The Wondrous Transformation of Caterpillars

How a 13-year-old girl mapped metamorphosis in the 1600s. Naomi Alderman presents.

• 30 mins

Lise Meitner: Humanitarian physicist who unlocked the science of the atom bomb

Lise Meitner, the humanitarian physicist who unlocked the science of the atom bomb.

• 28 mins

How Humphry Davy discovered laughing gas

Naomi Alderman describes how Humphry Davy discovered laughing gas.

• 28 mins

Michael Faraday and his 'instructess' in chemistry

Philip Ball tells the story of Michael Faraday and his 'first instructess' in chemistry.

• 28 mins

17th-Century Space Flight: The Real Cyrano de Bergerac

Philip Ball reveals the real Cyrano de Bergerac and his 17th-century spaceship.

• 28 mins

Urea and the Wohler Myth

Philip Ball tells the story of German chemist Friedrich Wöhler's creation of urea.

• 28 mins

Descartes' Daughter

Philip Ball goes back to the 17th century to tell the story of Descartes' 'daughter'.

• 28 mins

Hypatia: The Murdered Mathematician

Naomi Alderman's story is of Hypatia - the mathematician murdered by a mob in Alexandria.

• 28 mins

Mary Anning and Fossil Hunting

Naomi Alderman tells the story of Mary Anning, who discovered many important fossils.

• 28 mins

Eddington's Eclipse and Einstein's Celebrity

Philip Ball tells the story of Arthur Eddington's confirmation of general relativity.

• 28 mins

Lucretius, Sheep and Atoms

Naomi Alderman's story is of Lucretius, sheep and atoms

• 28 mins

Kepler's Snowflakes

Philip Ball's tale is of Kepler's Snowflakes, a New Year's gift and of crystallography.

• 28 mins

Lady Mary Montagu's Smallpox Experiment

Naomi Alderman on how Lady Mary Montagu used her own child to prove smallpox inoculation.

• 28 mins

Ibn al-Haytham and How We See

Philip Ball's story is of Ibn al-Haytham, the first scientist, and how we see.

• 28 mins

Galileo's lost letter

Galileo's lost letter questions how he challenged the Church. With Philip Ball.

• 28 mins

Series 9

Madame Lavoisier's Translation of Oxygen

Philip Ball tells the story of Madame Lavoisier, the translator of oxygen.

• 28 mins

Series 9

Ignaz Semmelweiss: The Hand Washer

Lindsey Fitzharris tells the story of Ignaz Semmelweiss, the hand washer.

• 28 mins

Series 9

Ramon Llull: the medieval prophet of computer science

Philip Ball tells the story of Ramon Llull, the medieval prophet of computer science.

• 28 mins

Series 9

Alexis Carrel and the immortal chicken heart

Philip Ball tells the tale of Alexis Carrel's immortal chicken heart.

• 28 mins

Mary Somerville, pioneer of popular science writing

Naomi Alderman tells the story of Mary Somerville, pioneer of popular science writing

• 28 mins