The Reith Lectures: Archive 1976-2012 - A Burning Fire

Download A Burning Fire

Neurobiologist and lecturer of Physiology at the University of Cambridge Colin Blakemore explores speech as the vehicle of our language in the fifth Reith lecture from his series entitled 'Mechanics of the Mind'. He investigates how we evolved to speak and questions whether human brains are mentally better equipped to interpret the syntax of language.

In this lecture entitled 'A Burning Fire', Professor Blakemore moves between scientific experiments with chimpanzees using sign language to the legendary tales of children growing up without a language. Through these examples he tries to explain why humans have advanced their communications into the complicated language we have today.

Published on Wednesday, 8th December 1976.

Available Podcasts from The Reith Lectures: Archive 1976-2012

Subscribe to The Reith Lectures: Archive 1976-2012

We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the The Reith Lectures: Archive 1976-2012 webpage.