Human IntelligenceSeries 1Episodes Episode guide

Back up to: Human Intelligence

1. Travellers: Aristotle

   The very first scientist, who thought every part of the world could be a place of learning
2. Travellers: Ida Pfeiffer

   A 19th-century solo female traveller who opened up the idea of travel for everyone.
3. Travellers: Sir Patrick Manson

   'Mosquito Manson' found a travelling parasite and unravelled a medical mystery.
4. Travellers: Jean Rhys

   A novelist whose sequel to Jane Eyre turned storytelling on its head
5. Travellers: The Buddha

   A young prince who journeyed towards enlightenment
6. Manhattan Project: Albert Einstein

   How a world famous pacifist jump-started the Manhattan Project and revolutionised science.
7. Manhattan Project: Lise Meitner

   The woman who discovered nuclear fission but would have nothing to do with the bomb.
8. Manhattan Project: John von Neumann

   The game theory pioneer who made the information age possible.
9. Manhattan Project: Niels Bohr

   A scientific genius who saw poetry in the subatomic world
10. Manhattan Project: J Robert Oppenheimer

    The father of the atom bomb who longed to be an all-American hero.
11. Collectors: Charles Darwin

    A life-long collector of curiosities, Darwin saw massive significance in tiny changes.
12. Collectors: Samuel Johnson

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

    A prolific historian from ancient Greece – female, freelance and working from home.
14. Collectors: Denis Diderot

    The Enlightenment encyclopaedist; the ultimate interdisciplinary thinker.
15. Collectors: Sei Shōnagon

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

    The irascible Greek thinker who lived in a barrel and argued for a simpler happier life.
17. Teachers: Peter Ramus

    A radical teacher who believed passionately in knowledge and education for all.
18. Teachers: Mary Somerville

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

    The celebrated medieval philosopher who reconciled faith and reason.
20. Teachers: Michael Faraday

    An obsessive, meticulous intellect that gave us ideas behind world-changing technology.
21. Disruptors: George Washington

    Naomi Alderman explores the mind of the first US president, George Washington.
22. Disruptors: Socrates

    Naomi Alderman explores the mind of Socrates, the original disruptor.
23. Disruptors: Malcolm X

    Naomi Alderman explores the mind of Malcolm X and his role in black nationalism in the US.
24. Disruptors: Martin Luther

    Naomi Alderton explores the mind of Martin Luther, who inspired the Protestant Reformation
25. Disruptors: Mary Wollstonecraft

    Naomi Alderman explores the mind of the brilliant feminist pioneer, Mary Wollstonecraft.
26. What Is Human Intelligence?

    Naomi Alderman looks at brilliant minds from the past.