Origins of Biological & Chemical Warfare

Today we’re going back to the beginning – no Romans, Celts, Egyptians or Macedonians in sight. Billions of years of prehistory as we look at the emergence of life on Earth. From the rise of the earliest microscopic membranes to the arrival of the dinosaurs.Tristan Hughes is joine ...  Afficher plus

Think of the Ice Age and tales of ferocious sabre-toothed tigers and giant megafauna likely spring to mind - but what do we know about prehistoric human culture 25,000 years ago and how people survived a perilous landscape of marauding Woolly Mammoths, bitterly cold temperatures ...  Afficher plus

Napalm. One of the most controversial weapons of the 20th century, it's an incendiary substance that if it comes into contact with your skin, it will burn directly to the bone. Used in the Second World War, and later the Korean and Vietnam war, what are the origins of this devast ...  Afficher plus

For centuries people from all walks of life sought to eliminate friends, strangers and enemies using the devious, subtle poison known as arsenic. Arsenic poisoning became such a well-known method of murder that people in Britain began calling it ''inheritance powder''. But wha ...

How did warfare work in Ancient Greece? The weapons and armour of the Greek hoplite are legendary, as are the warrior cultures of city-states like Sparta. But how would a Greek battle have played out on the ground?

Dan is joined by Roel Konijnendijk, Darby Fellow in ...

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the evolution of the human species. Where did we come from - we being Homo Sapiens? Let’s not go back to the Big Bang or in search of Genesis, but sift through the evidence from biology, palaeontology, climatology and anthropology.The story of huma ...  Afficher plus