Seeing the Light
In the week of the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul, Mark Tully considers eureka moments with expert witnesses Archimedes, Isaac Newton, Sir Paul McCartney and Dr Gary Klein.
In the week of the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul, Mark Tully asks what causes sudden flashes of inspiration and what the American psychologist Dr Gary Klein has called "light bulb moments".
January 25th traditionally marks the day Saul saw a blinding light leading to his conversion to Christianity when "the scales fell from his eyes". Isaac Newton is supposed to have discovered gravity when struck on the head by an apple. Archimedes cries "Eureka" in his bath. The history books are littered with anecdotes of great discoveries made in the blink of an eye, problems solved in a single moment or radical changes of mind that are seemingly divinely inspired. Has the divine anything to do with the process or is it the subconscious at work - and do we all have the capacity to experience "eureka moments"?
Expert witnesses include Archimedes, George Frederick Handel, Sir Paul McCartney, mathematician Henri Poincar茅 and green campaigner Annie Leonard.
The readers are Claire Vousden and Vincent Ebrahim.
Presenter: Mark Tully
Producer: Frank Stirling
A Unique production for 91热爆 Radio 4.
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Music Played
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Z. Randall Stroope, Vokalensemble NovoCanto & Brigitte Fassbaender
The Conversion of Saul
- Spektral.
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Gy枚rgy Ligeti & Philharmonisches Bl盲serquintett Berlin
Lux aeterna for chorus
- EMI.
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The Beatles
Yesterday
- Parlophone.
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John Williams
Harry's Wondrous World
- Silva Screen.
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George Frideric Handel & London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus
Handel's Messiah
Readings
Title: Mathematical Creation
Author: Henri Poincare
Published by Cambridge University Press
听
Title: The Colour Purple听
Author: Alice Walker听
Published by Pocket
听
Title: The Institutes of The Christian Religion听
Author: John Calvin
Published by Westminster/John Knox Press
听
Title: Annie Leonard interview in听Epiphany: True Stories of Sudden Insight to Inspire, Encourage and Transform
Author: Annie Leonard听
Published by Penguin
听
Title: The Horses of Meaning听
Author: Eil茅an N铆 Chuillean谩in
Found in:听The Girl who Married the Reindeer
Published by Gallery Books
Broadcasts
- Sun 22 Jan 2017 06:0591热爆 Radio 4
- Sun 22 Jan 2017 23:3091热爆 Radio 4
- Sun 21 Jan 2024 06:0591热爆 Radio 4