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Science progresses by breaking the rules of the past. New observations need new theories to explain them. Einstein\u2019s Theory of Relativity made sense of observations that Newton\u2019s Laws of Motion could not. But how can we distinguish between the brilliant ideas that change our view of the world and those that are plain wrong? And does that make science too cautious to try out new ideas?

Joining Free Thinking presenter Rana Mitter are:

Professor Carlos Frenk, founding Director of the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University and winner of the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2014

Jim al-Khalili, Professor of Physics at the University of Surrey and presenter of BBC Radio 4\u2019s The Life Scientific and TV documentaries. His books include Paradox: The Nine Greatest Enigmas in Science, Black Holes, Wormholes and Time Machines and Quantum: A Guide For The Perplexed

Dr Katy Price from Queen Mary, University of London, author of Loving Faster Than Light: Romance and Readers in Einstein\u2019s Universe

Dr Tom Shakespeare from the University of East Anglia, who co-founded the Caf\xe9 Scientifique network, which now has hundreds of affiliates in UK and worldwide.

Recorded in front of an audience at the Free Thinking Festival at Sage Gateshead

Producer: Torquil MacLeod