Scientist And The Romantic, The (BBC Radio 3 Documentary)

Sep 22, 2024 3:23 PM

Author:Richard Mabey,Richard Mabey

Nature writer Richard Mabey reflects on his lifelong relationship with science and the natural world in this collection of episodes originally broadcast on Radio 4 in September 2009 and repeated as part of The Essay series on Radio 3 in April 2010.

In Episode 1, 'The Greenhouse and the Field', Richard talks about his very first laboratory - his father's greenhouse, a magician's chamber, where as a nine-year-old he would conduct his own experiments with chemicals bought with his pocket money.

In Episode 2, 'The Lens and the Lichen', he explores how a lens can enhance and at times distort our view of nature. He discusses how the late 18th-century Claude glass influenced the Picturesque movement in art and the excitement of looking at lichens through a microscope.

In the third episode, 'The Stinkhorn and the Perfumier', he ponders why we are all so good at remembering scents, despite their having little relevance for our survival.

In Episode 4, 'The Songbird and the Sol-Fa', he presents his own thoughts on why birds sing and recounts how writers through the ages have had wildly different interpretations on the meaning of birdsong.

Episode 5, 'The Map and the Word', concludes with him considering how maps are not just a tool for getting from A to B; for him, they are a kind of 'cryptogram'.

Reviews

Peter Gethers' trio of books about the globe-trotting Norton are witty and warm. We not only learn of Norton's sweet personality but also about the author's feelings about what really matters when it comes to love and cats

—— Vicki Myron, author of DEWEY

Gethers captures the joy and sadness of loving and losing a pet. Bottom line: Tuesdays with Norton

—— People

Nine lives wasn't enough for Norton. He needed ten! I'll miss my literary friend

—— Rita Mae Brown

Laugh-out-loud and tear-jerking recollections: Gethers makes Norton an immortal, delivering an affecting narrative that belongs on the bookshelf of all cat fanciers

—— Kirkus Reviews

Georgina Ferry's biography captures not only the scientific advances made by Perutz but also his curious personal qualities

—— Economist

Ferry's story... proceeds with pace and clarity, explaining the science vividly and buoyed throughout by an infectious enthusiasm

—— Times Literary Supplement

[A] marvellous biography of one of the least known of the twentieth century's great scientists...Ferry has mined gold into the lives of two of the founders of structural biology; I can't wait to see who she tackles next

—— Nature

Max Perutz, one of science's great ambassadors... has been given a meaty biography by former New Scientist writer Georgina Ferry

—— Jewish Quarterly

Georgina Ferry has produced a first rate account of his life... there is no difficult physics and the story will appeal to anyone who wants to know how science works and how exciting scientific research can be

—— Royal College of Pathologists magazine

As unexpected as it is brilliant... A moving, powerful meditation on the natural world that envelops us, even in the heart of our cities

—— Helen Dunmore , Guardian Summer Reading

Haunting and passionate.... in graceful, poetic prose, compels us to look again and marvel at the 'storm of life over our heads

—— Huon Mallalieu , Country Life, Christmas round up

The year's most unusual travel book

—— Tom Chesshyre , The Times

[An] eye-opening and hugely enjoyable book

—— Daily Telegraph

Written in a delectable prose that scatters flashes of poetry over a sardonic undertow of social comment, Edgelands is a lyrical triumph. On Britain’s grotty margins, the duo trace “desire paths” to find beauty and mystery in the rough darkness on the edge of town

—— Boyd Tonkin , Independent

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