Audio

Why is Leonardo Da Vinci’s scientific legacy so often overlooked? – Martin Clayton


Save to Listen Later

Podcast: Science Focus Podcast
Episode: Why is Leonardo Da Vinci’s scientific legacy so often overlooked? – Martin Clayton
Episode pub date: 2019-05-01

It’s been 500 years since the death of Leonardo Da Vinci, and he’s remembered mainly for his great works of art, like The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But he was also a scientist, working across disciplines like anatomy, engineering, and architecture.

Sadly, his scientific research was never published and his engineering ambitions went largely unrealised. However, through his sketches and drawings we can see his anatomical discoveries, his plans for machines, and his investigations into the world around him. We can see what was occupying his mind, allowing us to piece together clues about the mysteries he aspired to solve.

So to mark the anniversary of his death, 200 of those drawings will go on display at the Queen’s Gallery next to Buckingham palace in the exhibition Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing. In this episode, we talked to Martin Clayton, Head of Prints and Drawings for Royal Collection Trust at Windsor Castle, about Da Vinci’s lasting scientific legacy. We ask him about the work he was doing, how he influenced the scientific disciplines he experimented with, and what we should remember him for.

He speaks to BBC Science Focus editorial assistant Helen Glenny in this week’s episode of the Science Focus Podcast.

If you like what you hear, then please rate, review, and share with anybody you think might enjoy our podcast.

You can also subscribe and leave us a review on your favourite podcast apps. Also, if there is anybody you’d like us to speak to, or a topic you want us to cover, then let us know on Twitter at @sciencefocus.

Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:

Follow Science Focus on TwitterFacebookInstagram and Flipboard

Image: Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019.

For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Immediate media, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

Powered by: ListenNotes
Audio

Can science explain everything? – Michael Blastland


Save to Listen Later

Podcast: Science Focus Podcast
Episode: Can science explain everything? – Michael Blastland
Episode pub date: 2019-05-15

We know a lot. In scientific studies, we can count data, observe trends, infer links and calculate risks. But we also spend a lot of time ignoring noise – the unexplained variations in our results that we can’t account for. Take smoking for example. We all know that smoking kills, but it doesn’t kill everyone, and we can’t predict which lifelong smokers will be struck down by lung cancer, and which won’t.

In his new book The Hidden Half (£14.99, Atlantic Books), Michael Blastland discusses how, even in the most tightly controllable situations, we often still see variations in outcomes. He argues that our unwillingness to admit uncertainty can affect science, economics, politics and business, sometimes with disastrous consequences.

But it’s not all bad news. New research that shows that admitting the extent to which we’re not sure could make us seem more trustworthy. And he explains that even though we don’t know everything, experts and the scientific method are still the most important places for us to turn to for guidance.

He talks to Helen Glenny, editorial assistant at BBC Science Focus Magazine, in this week’s episode of the Science Focus Podcast.

If you like what you hear, then please rate, review, and share with anybody you think might enjoy our podcast.

You can also subscribe and leave us a review on your favourite podcast apps. Also, if there is anybody you’d like us to speak to, or a topic you want us to cover, then let us know on Twitter at @sciencefocus.

Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:

Follow Science Focus on TwitterFacebookInstagram and Flipboard

The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Immediate media, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.

Powered by: ListenNotes