In Our Time: The Challenger Expedition 1872-1876

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the voyage of HMS Challenger, which set out from Portsmouth in 1872 with a mission to explore the ocean depths around the world and search for new life. The team onboard found thousands of new species, proved there was life on the deepest seabeds and plumbed the Mariana Trench five miles below the surface. Thanks to telegraphy and mailboats, its vast discoveries were shared around the world even while Challenger was at sea, and they are still being studied today, offering insights into the ever-changing oceans that cover so much of the globe and into the health of the planet