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Human Intelligence Episodes

  1.

    Travellers: Aristotle

    The very first scientist, who thought every part of the world could be a place of learning

  2. Travellers: Ida Pfeiffer

    A 19th-century solo female traveller who opened up the idea of travel for everyone.

  3. Travellers: Jean Rhys

    A novelist whose sequel to Jane Eyre turned storytelling on its head

  4. Travellers: The Buddha

    A young prince who journeyed towards enlightenment

  5. Manhattan Project: Albert Einstein

    How a world famous pacifist jump-started the Manhattan Project and revolutionised science.

  6. Manhattan Project: Lise Meitner

    The woman who discovered nuclear fission but would have nothing to do with the bomb.

  7. Manhattan Project: John von Neumann

    The game theory pioneer who made the information age possible.

  8. Manhattan Project: Niels Bohr

    A scientific genius who saw poetry in the subatomic world

  9. Manhattan Project: J Robert Oppenheimer

    The father of the atom bomb who longed to be an all-American hero.

  10. Collectors: Charles Darwin

    A life-long collector of curiosities, Darwin saw massive significance in tiny changes.

  11. Collectors: Samuel Johnson

    Working in chaos at a desk strewn with papers, 'Dictionary Johnson' left a great legacy.

  12. Collectors: Pamphila

    A prolific historian from ancient Greece 鈥� female, freelance and working from home.

  13. Collectors: Denis Diderot

    The Enlightenment encyclopaedist; the ultimate interdisciplinary thinker.

  14. Collectors: Sei Sh艒nagon

    The author of a Japanese masterpiece who saw the beauty and absurdity in everyday life.

  15. Teachers: Diogenes

    The irascible Greek thinker who lived in a barrel and argued for a simpler happier life.

  16. Teachers: Peter Ramus

    A radical teacher who believed passionately in knowledge and education for all.

  17. Teachers: Mary Somerville

    A remarkable 19th-century polymath inspired by the natural world and the universe beyond.

  18. Teachers: Maimonides

    The celebrated medieval philosopher who reconciled faith and reason.

  19. Teachers: Michael Faraday

    An obsessive, meticulous intellect that gave us ideas behind world-changing technology.

  20. Disruptors: Malcolm X

    Naomi Alderman explores the mind of Malcolm X and his role in black nationalism in the US.

  21. Disruptors: Martin Luther

    Naomi Alderman explores the mind of Martin Luther, who inspired the Protestant Reformation

  22. Disruptors: Mary Wollstonecraft

    Naomi Alderman explores the mind of the brilliant feminist pioneer, Mary Wollstonecraft.

  23. Disruptors: George Washington

    Naomi Alderman explores the mind of the first US president, George Washington.

  24. Disruptors: Socrates

    Naomi Alderman explores the mind of Socrates, the original disruptor.

  25. Travellers: Sir Patrick Manson

    'Mosquito Manson' found a travelling parasite and unravelled a medical mystery.

  26. What Is Human Intelligence?

    Naomi Alderman looks at brilliant minds from the past.