In Our Time: Science Folgen

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss William Herschel (1738 – 1822) and his sister Caroline Herschel (1750 – 1848) who were born in Hanover and made their reputation in Britain. William was one of the most eminent astronomers in British history. Although he started life as a musician, as a young man he became interested in studying the night sky. With an extraordinary talent, he constructed telescopes that were able to see further and more clearly than any others at the time. He is most celebrated today for discovering the planet Uranus and detecting what came to be known as infrared radiation. Caroline also became a distinguished astronomer, discovering several comets and collaborating with her brother.WithMonica Grady Professor of Planetary and Space Sciences at the Open UniversityCarolin Crawford Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge and an Emeritus Fellow of Emmanuel College, University of CambridgeAndJim Bennett Keeper Emeritus at the Science Museum in London.Studio producer: John Goudie

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the simple animals which informed Charles Darwin's first book, The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, published in 1842. From corals, Darwin concluded that the Earth changed very slowly and was not fashioned by God. Now coral reefs, which some liken to undersea rainforests, are threatened by human activity, including fishing, pollution and climate change. WithSteve Jones Senior Research Fellow in Genetics at University College LondonNicola Foster Lecturer in Marine Biology at the University of Plymouth AndGareth Williams Associate Professor in Marine Biology at Bangor University School of Ocean SciencesProducer Simon Tilllotson.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the race to build an atom bomb in the USA during World War Two. Before the war, scientists in Germany had discovered the potential of nuclear fission and scientists in Britain soon argued that this could be used to make an atom bomb, against which there could be no defence other than to own one. The fear among the Allies was that, with its head start, Germany might develop the bomb first and, unmatched, use it on its enemies. The USA took up the challenge in a huge engineering project led by General Groves and Robert Oppenheimer and, once the first bomb had been exploded at Los Alamos in July 1945, it appeared inevitable that the next ones would be used against Japan with devastating results.The image above is of Robert Oppenheimer and General Groves examining the remains of one the bases of the steel test tower, at the atomic bomb Trinity Test site, in September 1945.WithBruce Cameron Reed The Charles A. Dana Professor of Physics Emeritus at Alma College, MichiganCynthia Kelly Founder and President of the Atomic Heritage FoundationAndFrank Close Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Exeter College, OxfordProducer: Simon Tillotson