BBC Radio Podcasts from Human Intelligence

Travellers: Aristotle

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

Travellers: Ida Pfeiffer

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

Travellers: Sir Patrick Manson

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

Travellers: Jean Rhys

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

Travellers: The Buddha

A young prince who journeyed towards enlightenment

Manhattan Project: Albert Einstein

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

Manhattan Project: Lise Meitner

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

Manhattan Project: John von Neumann

The game theory pioneer who made the information age possible.

Manhattan Project: Niels Bohr

A scientific genius who saw poetry in the subatomic world

Manhattan Project: J Robert Oppenheimer

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

Collectors: Charles Darwin

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

Collectors: Samuel Johnson

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

Collectors: Pamphila

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

Collectors: Denis Diderot

The Enlightenment encyclopaedist; the ultimate interdisciplinary thinker.

Collectors: Sei Shōnagon

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

Teachers: Diogenes

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

Teachers: Peter Ramus

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

Teachers: Mary Somerville

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

Teachers: Maimonides

The celebrated medieval philosopher who reconciled faith and reason.

Teachers: Michael Faraday

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

Disruptors: Malcolm X

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

Disruptors: Martin Luther

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

Disruptors: Mary Wollstonecraft

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

Disruptors: George Washington

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

Disruptors: Socrates

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

What Is Human Intelligence?

Naomi Alderman looks at brilliant minds from the past.