Modern science was born amidst the Thirty Years War, a terrible conflict that began when an invasion of Bohemia ended the rule of its King and Queen after just one winter. The Winter Queen was Elizabeth Stuart, granddaughter of Mary Queen of Scots. The war affected the lives of many people – among them Kepler, Galileo and the poet John Donne, born 450 years ago. Howie Firth tells the story, interwoven with music from the period by the Mayfield Singers with bass flautist Ewan Robertson, and Paisley Abbey organist George McPhee. There is Humfrey and Handel, Monteverdi and Vincenzo Galilei, along with Buxtehude, Judith Weir and a setting of Three Donne Lyrics by Edward McGuire.