About this episode
The episode discusses scientific discovery, misunderstandings, and the evolving nature of moral responsibility with insights from various guests.
How have we made discoveries about the world around us and how has our understanding changed when we got it wrong? Adam Rutherford hosts Radio 4's discussion programme which starts the week, asking about the the nature of scientific discovery, understanding and changing our mind. Andrea Wulf's latest book is The Traveller: The Revolutionary Life of George Forster and his Search for Humanity. She has reassessed the botanist and ethnologist who accompanied Captain Cook's second voyage, taking him from Antarctica to the tropical islands of the South Pacific. During this time, Forster studied diverse people, culture and nature and returned a confirmed opponent of empire, racism and slavery: he was celebrated in his lifetime, but has since been largely forgotten by history. The geneticist Kathryn Paige Harden argues that the latest research complicates our ideas about blame, punishment and moral responsibility. In her new book Original Sin: The Genetics of Wrongdoing, the Problem of Blame and the Future of Forgiveness, she looks at the area where human behaviour meets inherited biology. She thinks we must look again at questions of wrong doing and free will, reassessing old ideas of…
People in this episode
Host: Adam Rutherford
Guests: Andrea Wulf, Kathryn Paige Harden, Saira Hameed
Topics covered
- scientific discovery
- understanding
- moral responsibility
- human behavior
- hormones
- empire
- racism
Keywords
- scientific discovery
- moral responsibility
- hormones
- empire
- racism
- human behavior
- genetics
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: The Traveller: The Revolutionary Life of George Forster and his Search for Humanity, Original Sin: The Genetics of Wrongdoing, the Problem of Blame and the Future of Forgiveness, Signals: The Inside Story of Our Hormones
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