Leonardo da Vinci, John Brown & John Wilkes Booth, Wildlife Bridges, Consumptive Chic

Leonardo's Universe, 500 Years Later Guest: Bulent Atalay, author of “Leonardo’s Universe,” artist, and Professor Emeritus of Physics, University of Mary Washington This month marks the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death. The scientist, inventor, and artist is arguably one of the most important painters in Western art, as the massive crowds in front of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre will attest. Leonardo da Vinci invented robotics 500 years ago and, without his discoveries, modern manufacturing wouldn’t be the same. ?? John Brown and John Wilkes Booth, Two Sides of the Same Coin Guest: John Stauffer, Professor of American and African American Studiesat Harvard University After his failed attack on Harper’s Ferry, the abolitionist John Brown was hung in front of a small crowd composed entirely of soldiers and one out-of-place actor named John Wilkes Booth, the future assassin of Abraham Lincoln.  Highway Overpasses Paved With Grass, Rocks and Trees Save Lives Guest: Tony Clevenger, Senior Wildlife Research Scientist, Montana State University Our roads and highways are great connectors. But for animals, they’re potentially lethal barriers. What prevents animal movement? Dams on salmon rivers. Highwalls and fences. Any major man-made thoroughfare. Are there ways for us to be more accommodating of animals that need to migrate to survive?  Tuberculosis Makes You Beautiful Guest: Carolyn A. Day, Assistant Professor at Furman University, and author, “Consumptive Chic”  If people today were to make a list of attributes that they find most beautiful, things like health or vivacity might appear on the list. Disease, on the other hand, likely wouldn’t. If that list of attributes were written by someone in England in the early 1800’s, however, disease, and specifically, tuberculosis, would’ve been at the top.