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...astronomy, or politics. The early Holmes’s narrow areas of expertise are decadent in the sense that the late Victorian psychologist and criminologist Havelock Ellis defined decadence: as the part obscuring the whole. Moral health is to be found in being an all-rounder, rather like Doyle himself (a medical general practitioner who wrote in a range of genres, and was...

...astronomy. The extraction of iron, which led to the Iron Age, is a chemical process which early metallurgists developed without understanding any of the science involved. Nevertheless, they were still able to optimise the extraction by trial and error. Before this, copper and tin were extracted (which led to the Bronze Age) and later, zinc. Exactly how each of these...

...astronomy, the so-called Almagest, which would remain highly influential for over a millennium. Still today, around half of the 88 modern constellations bear names given to them by Ptolemy. But who or what lies behind the name Perseus? It might not seem, at first glance, to be one of the most recognisable mythological names in the modern world. Unlike an Odysseus,...

...astronomy episode we chat to Dr Tara Shears just before the LHC was switched on in September 2008; catch up with two space scientists to find out about their heroes of science; and eavesdrop on a fascinating conversation between Dr Dave Rothery and Dr Mahesh Anand about the moon. The interviews are recorded by OU staff and the programme is hosted by Dr Mike Bullivant from...