BBC Radio 4 LW

Migrated podcast image for: Seven Ages of Science

Seven Ages of Science

Seven Ages of Science: Episode 1: Age of Ingenuity

Documentaries

Factual: Science & Nature

Episode 1

Episode 1: Age of Ingenuity

Age of Ingenuity

BBC Radio 4 - Seven Ages of Science, Age of Ingenuity

Lisa Jardine explores the birth of modern science in Restoration England.

Lisa Jardine explores the birth of modern science in Restoration England: an age of ingenuity, when mechanically minded citizens pioneered a new way of thinking about the world.

In the first of her Seven Ages of Science, Lisa Jardine explores the history of modern science in Britain from its birth in Restoration England.

It was an Age of Ingenuity: an age when hundreds of hard-working artisans in the City of London made clocks, watches, microscopes and spectacles; when Robert Hooke revealed an exquisite microscopic world; and when Isaac Newton stood on the shoulders of giants. An Age when, Lisa argues, an ability to make things work was as important as a flair for mathematics.'

One giant telescope is now a familiar item on the London skyline: The Monument, built in memory of the Great Fire of London, by Robert Hooke. The ingenious Mr Hooke was a familiar figure on London's streets; helping to rebuild the city whilst bustling between the many of his projects. He worked on devices which are still familiar to us today - the microscope, springs, and Hooke's Joint - a universal joint, which is still used in our car transmissions.

Isaac Newton, now remembered as a lone mathematical genius, was very much part of all this ingenuity - although his animosity with Hooke is well-documented. Newton said he stood on the shoulders of giants: those shoulders belonged not to previous generations of philosophers, but rather to a host of ingenious mechanics.

Producer: Anna Buckley.

BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

A history of science in Britain from the Restoration to the present day

A history of science in Britain from the Restoration to the present day. Weaving science back into everyday life, Lisa Jardine shows how the concerns of the scientist are the concerns of us all

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Seven Ages of Science

Episode 1: Age of Ingenuity

Genres

Formats

Series

BBC Radio 4 LW

About BBC Radio 4