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2. Rumours of War

Nick Spencer examines the history of science and religion and questions the extent to which they have been in conflict with one another.

Nick Spencer explores the history of the relationship between science and religion and questions the received wisdom that they have always been in conflict with one another. He tells the story of science and religion not as if they were big, abstract ideas but as it happened, through the lives and cultures of different people and different times. From Newton to Darwin via Voltaire and Descartes he examines the fault lines during times of social and political upheaval in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Contributors:
Robert Iliffe - Professor of History of Science at Oxford University and author of "Priest of Nature: the Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton";
Peter Harrison - Professor in the History of Science at the University of Queensland and author of “The Territories of Science and Religion”;
John Hedley Brooke - Historian of Science and author of "Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives";
Thomas Dixon - Professor of History at Queen Mary University of London;
Ruth Barton - Honorary Research Fellow in History at the University of Auckland and author of "The X Club: Power and Authority in Victorian Science";
Bernard Lightman - Professor of Humanities and Science and Technology Studies at York University in Toronto;
John Holmes - Professor of Victorian literature and culture at Birmingham University.

Producer: Dan Tierney
Series Editor: Christine Morgan

Available now

28 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Fri 28 Jun 2019 11:00
  • Tue 18 Feb 2020 15:30