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IN OUR TIME
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The big ideas which form the intellectual agenda of our age are illuminated by some of the best minds in the world. Melvyn Bragg and three guests investigate the history of ideas and debate their application in modern life. |
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BIOGRAPHY |
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| "I'm fascinated by the fact that we live in a time when so many people are doing fantastic work, and thinking in areas which it's not remotely possible for me to keep up with & and these people are prepared to talk about it. They're prepared to come on In Our Time and other programmes on Radio 4 and try and talk to the rest of us ..." |
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LATEST PROGRAMME |
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ORDER OR CHAOS?
When Newton published his Principia Mathematica in 1687 his work was founded on one simple message: Nature has laws and we can find them.
His explanation of the movements of the planets, and of gravity, was rooted in the principle that the universe functions like a machine and its patterns are predictable.
Newton’s equations not only explained why night follows day but, importantly, predicted that night would continue to follow day for evermore.
Three hundred years later Newton’s principles were thrown into question by a dread word that represented the antithesis of his vision of order: that word was Chaos.
According to Chaos Theory, the world is far more complicated than was previously thought. Instead of the future of the universe being irredeemably fixed, we are, in fact, subject to the whims of random unpredictability.
Tiny actions can change the world by setting off an infinite chain of reactions: famously, if a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil - it could cause a tornado in Berlin.
So what’s the answer? Is the universe chaotic or orderly? If it’s all so complicated, why does night still follow day?
And what is going on in that most complex machine of all - the brain - to filter and construct our perception of the world?
Guests
Susan Greenfield
Senior Research Fellow, Lincoln College, Oxford University
David Papineau
Professor of the Philosophy of Science, Kings College, London
Neil Johnson
University Lecturer in Physics at Oxford University
Next programme:
Since the beginnings of human history, narcotics and stimulants have been used to alter people's moods and to change their perceptions. Enduring works of literature from Coleridge to De Quincey to Huxley have been inspired by the use of drugs, but the trail of destruction and wasted lives has never been far away. Guests Mike Jay, Sadie Plant and Richard Davenport Hines.
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