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What is the World Made Of?

Michael Mosley explores how history shaped science. Here, he looks at how atomic theories and the strange concepts of quantum physics came into being.

Michael Mosley takes an informative and ambitious journey exploring how the evolution of scientific understanding is intimately interwoven with society's historical path.

In this episode, Michael demonstrates how our society is built on our search to find the answer to what makes up everything in the material world. This is a story that moves from the secret labs of the alchemists and their search for gold to the creation of the world's first synthetic dye - mauve - and onto the invention of the transistor.

This quest may seem abstract and highly theoretical. Yet it has delivered the greatest impact on humanity. By trying to answer this question, scientists have created theories from elements to atoms, and the strange concepts of quantum physics that underpin our modern, technological world.

1 hour

Credits

RoleContributor
PresenterMichael Mosley
DirectorNat Sharman
ProducerAidan Laverty
Executive ProducerJohn Lynch

Broadcasts

  • Tue 4 May 201021:00
  • Tue 4 May 201022:30
  • Wed 5 May 201019:00
  • Tue 7 Dec 201002:55
  • Sun 20 Feb 201119:00
  • Mon 23 May 201101:45
  • Sat 7 Jun 201420:00
  • Sun 8 Jun 201402:40
  • Tue 10 Jun 201400:00