Mercury

In Our Time: Science by BBC

May 30, 202453:49Society & Culture

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the planet which is closest to our Sun. We see it as an evening or a morning star, close to where the Sun has just set or is about to rise, and observations of Mercury helped Copernicus un...

Related Episodes

Continue listening to more episodes from In Our Time: Science.

The Mariana Trench

Feb 19, 2026 - 58:04

Misha Glenny and guests discuss one of the wonders of the natural world. In 1875 in the western Pacific,...

The Evolution of Lungs

Jul 10, 2025 - 48:24

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the evolution of lungs and of the first breaths, which can be traced back...

Lise Meitner

Jun 5, 2025 - 57:22

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the decisive role of one of the great 20th Century physicists in solving...

Pollination

Apr 3, 2025 - 50:10

Since plants have to mate and produce offspring while rooted to the spot, they have to be pollinated – by...

Slime Moulds

Jan 30, 2025 - 51:30

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss slime mould, a basic organism that grows on logs, cowpats and compost hea...

The Habitability of Planets

Jan 9, 2025 - 52:50

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss some of the great unanswered questions in science: how and where did life...

The Antikythera Mechanism

Dec 12, 2024 - 50:35

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 2000-year-old device which transformed our understanding of astronomy...

Wormholes

Oct 24, 2024 - 60:56

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the tantalising idea that there are shortcuts between distant galaxies, s...