Carlo Rovelli, the globally celebrated physicist and bestselling storyteller of science, talks to Niki Seth-Smith about the history - and sheer wonder - of quantum theory. How did a feverish young man named Werner Heisenberg, working alone on the North Sea island of Helgoland in 1925, develop a radical insight that would shake the world of physics? What’s its legacy for how we think about the nature of reality and perception itself? And how does the ‘relational’ interpretation of quantum mechanics transform the way that we might see not only the physical world, but our relationships and politics, too?

A fascinating conversation about collaboration and mentorship, our attachment to truth and certainty, and the humbling power of science.

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Hosts: Niki Seth-Smith and Samira Shackle
Exec producer: Alice Bloch
Sound engineer: David Crackles
Artwork: Christopher Wahl (photograph), Ed Dingli (artwork)
Music: Danosongs

Further reading:
'Helgoland' (2021), Carlo Rovelli

'There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important Than Kindness' (2020), Carlo Rovelli

'The Order of Time', (2018), Carlo Rovelli

'Reality Is Not What It Seems: The Journey to Quantum Gravity' (2016) Carlo Rovelli

'Seven Brief Lessons on Physics' (2015), Carlo Rovelli

'‘‘The beauty in physics is the kind of beauty that people have embodied in art’’
A Q&A with Frank Wilczek (2015) by Daniel Trilling, New Humanist magazine.