In Their Element

Scientists tell the stories of different elements, explaining why these well-known substances matter for chemistry and also for the development of modern civilisation.

Radio 4,16 episodes

Episodes

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Series 4
Silver
Chemist Andrea Sella celebrates how the element silver enhances our lives.
23 Dec 2019,14 mins
Series 4
Aluminium
Chemist Andrea Sella celebrates how the element aluminium enhances our lives.
24 Dec 2019,14 mins
Series 4
Gold
Chemist Andrea Sella celebrates how the element gold enhances our lives.
25 Dec 2019,14 mins
Series 4
Helium
Chemist Andrea Sella celebrates how the element helium enhances our lives.
26 Dec 2019,14 mins
Series 4
Strontium
Chemist Andrea Sella ends his festive series with fireworks and the element strontium.
27 Dec 2019,14 mins
Series 3
Sodium: The key to life
Sodium, the explosive alkali metal that is crucial for all life on Earth.
08 Aug 2018,28 mins
Series 3
Any Old Iron
Beyond war and peace, how iron has shaped human biology and culture.
01 Aug 2018,28 mins
Series 3
Fluorine: Chemistry's Tiger
Fluorine has a deadly reputation as one of the most reactive of all the elements.
25 Jul 2018,28 mins
Series 2
Awesome Iodine
Why iodine is essential for our health.
30 Jan 2018,28 mins
Series 2
Phosphorus, Smoke and Lighting
How a discovery in boiled urine led to the trade union movement and chemical weapons.
23 Jan 2018,28 mins
Series 2
Our Lives with Lead
Uta Frith assesses the impact of the use and abuse of lead on humanity.
16 Jan 2018,28 mins
Series 1
Silicon - The World's Building Block
The key component of rocks, sand and materials from glass and concrete to microelectronics
23 May 2017,28 mins
Series 1
Carbon - the backbone of life
Why is all known life built on carbon?
16 May 2017,28 mins
Series 1
And then there was Li
The element that links the formation of the universe with the functioning of our brains.
09 May 2017,28 mins
Series 1
Oxygen: The Breath of Life
Trevor Cox takes a deep breath and tells the story of oxygen on earth and in space.
02 May 2017,28 mins
Series 1
Mercury - Chemistry's Jekyll and Hyde
The most beautiful and shimmering of the elements, the weirdest, and yet the most reviled.
25 Apr 2017,28 mins