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

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Book of the Week

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Serialised book readings, featuring works from various genres

Serialised book readings, featuring works of non-fiction, biography, autobiography, travel, diaries, essays, humour and history

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Book of the Week: Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells

Helen Scales

Sian Preece

Eilidh McCreadie

Book of the Week: Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells: Episode 2

Factual: Life Stories

Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells

Episode 2

BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week, Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells, Episode 2

Helen Scales considers human use of shells - as fertility symbols, jewellery and currency.

Helen Scales considers the human use of sea shells - as fertility symbols, jewellery and currency.

Marine biologist Dr Helen Scales tells the story of seashells; from the molluscs that create them to the humans who have used them as jewellery, symbol and even currency.

Episode 2
The author considers the human use of shells - from jewellery via fertility symbol through to their link with a dark episode in human history.

Written and read by Helen Scales
Abridged by Sian Preece
Producer: Eilidh McCreadie

Helen Scales' doctorate involved searching for giant, endangered fish in Borneo; she's also tagged sharks in California, and once spent a year cataloguing all the marine life she could find surrounding a hundred islands in the Andaman Sea. Helen appears regularly on BBC Radio 4 on programmes such as 'Inside Science' and 'Shared Planet' and has presented documentaries on topics such as whether people will ever live underwater, the science of making and surfing waves and the intricacies of sharks' minds.

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

Marine biologist Dr Helen Scales tells the story of seashells

Marine biologist Dr Helen Scales tells the story of seashells, from the molluscs that create them to the humans who have used them as jewellery, symbol and even currency

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Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells

Episode 2

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