This week Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Daniel Tammet, Graham Farmelo, Ben Goldacre and Kathryn Hunter.
Presenter: TOM SUTCLIFFE
DANIEL TAMMET is a writer, linguist and educator and describes himself as an ‘autistic savant’. He debunks the myths of autistic genius, arguing that savants are not ‘super computers’ but part of a spectrum of mental abilities. By drawing on his own experiences with Asperger Syndrome, he questions the way we view intelligence and how all our minds develop. Embracing the Wide Sky is published by Hodder & Stoughton.
Paul Dirac was one of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century, linking relativity and quantum mechanics for the first time and predicting the existence of antimatter, and yet he is comparatively unknown. The scientist GRAHAM FARMELO argues that Dirac has been overlooked due to his extreme distaste for publicity, which may have been a manifestation of his autism. The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Quantum Genius is published by Faber and Faber.
DR BEN GOLDACRE attacks the media’s bad science reporting, claiming that it is a blot on the intellectual and economic landscape of this country. He believes that the lack of scientific knowledge amongst editors breeds cynicism, health scares and fashionable diagnoses. Ben will be speaking at the public lecture Bad Science at the London School of Economics on Wednesday 28 January at 6.30pm and his book of the same name was recently published by Fourth Estate.
The renowned actor KATHRYN HUNTER discusses directing Othello for the Royal Shakespeare Company and its contemporary relevance for a globalised society as Barack Obama is inaugurated as the first black president of the USA. She argues that the play raises ideas of ‘the other’ and how we make sense of those different from ourselves. Othello begins a national tour on 30 January, with an accompanying exhibition marking fifty years of Othello at the RSC and the legacy of Paul Robeson. A series of events also discusses the contemporary resonance of the play as Barack Obama is inaugurated.
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