The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry

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BBC Radio 4 LW

The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry

Podcasts

Factual: Science & Nature

Factual: Science & Nature: Science & Technology

Science sleuths Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Hannah Fry investigate everyday mysteries.

Science sleuths Dr Adam Rutherford and Dr Hannah Fry investigate everyday mysteries sent by listeners.

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The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry: Series 21: The Puzzle of the Pyramids

The Puzzle of the Pyramids

Series 21

BBC Radio 4 - The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry, Series 21, The Puzzle of the Pyramids

The Egyptian pyramids have inspired some wacky theories. Rutherford and Fry investigate how - and why - they were really constructed.

The Great Pyramids of Giza are awesome feats of engineering and precision. So who built them - and how? Was it a mysteriously super-advanced civilization now oddly extinct? Was it even aliens?  

Nah, course not! Rutherford and Fry investigate how these inspiring monuments were really constructed, and learn about the complex civilisation and efficient bureaucracy that made them possible. 

Professor Sarah Parcak busts the myth that they were built by slaves. In fact, she reveals, it was gangs of well-paid blokes fuelled by the ancient Egyptian equivalent of burgers and beer.  And Dr Chris Naunton explains how it was not some mysterious tech, but incredible organisation and teamwork which made it possible to transport massive stone blocks over long distances several thousand years before trucks arrived. 

Dr Heba Abd El Gawad points out how racism led to bizarre assumptions in the history of archaeology, and how those assumptions linger in contemporary conspiracy theories which refuse to accept that Egyptians could have built the pyramids themselves!  

Presenters: Hannah Fry and Adam Rutherford 
Contributors: Professor Sarah Parcak, University of Alabama, Dr Chris Naunton, Egyptologist and broadcaster, Dr Heba Abd El Gawad, University College London
Producers: Ilan Goodman & Emily Bird

The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry: Series 21

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The Curious Cases of Rutherford & Fry

Series 21

The Puzzle of the Pyramids

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