18th Century
Browse the 18th Century era within the In Our Time archive.
The Federalist Papers
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Hamilton, Madison and Jay's urgings for a US Constitution.
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Linnaeus
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas and legacy of the pioneering Swedish botanist.
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Mercantilism
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the idea which dominated European economies for 300 years.
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The Irish Rebellion of 1798
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the causes and early consequences of the 1798 rebellion.
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John Bull
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the origins and evolution of the satirical everyman figure
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Olympe de Gouges
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the author of The Declaration of the Rights of Woman, 1791
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William and Caroline Herschel
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the siblings at the forefront of 18th-century astronomy
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Edward Gibbon
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the author of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
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Kant's Copernican Revolution
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Kant's insight into how we relate to the world around us.
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Longitude
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the idea of longitude and the race to calculate it at sea.
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The Franco-American Alliance 1778
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the French fight against Britain in America and its impact
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Pierre-Simon Laplace
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the great French mathematician behind metrication.
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Emilie du Châtelet
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss an astonishing mathematician of the French Enlightenment.
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John Wesley and Methodism
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Wesley's role in the rise of Methodism in the 18th Century
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The Zong Massacre
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the infamous drowning of enslaved Africans in 1781.
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Mary Astell
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the philosopher Mary Astell (1666 – 1731).
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Maria Theresa
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the woman who ruled Austria, shaking up the European order
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The Gin Craze (repeat)
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the cause and impact of the 18th Century gin craze.
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Coffee
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history of coffee and its impact
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Robert Burns
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the poetry, ideas and life of Robert Burns (1759-1796).
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Rousseau on Education
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Jean-Jacques Rousseau's ideas on the education of children
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The Gordon Riots
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the causes of the violence of June 1780 and repercussions.
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Marie Antoinette
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Austrian princess, guillotined as Queen of France.
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The Fable of the Bees
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Mandeville's work on the public benefit of private vices.
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