A radical theory of evolution comes from a remarkable man who died a century ago. Mutual aid, said Peter Kropotkin, not competition, was the key to survival. His ideas took shape in years of studying animal behaviour in Siberia’s -40ºC winters, observing creatures huddling together for warmth, feeding each other, and guarding their groups from danger.

His own life had many dangers. A Russian prince from a wealthy family, he was later imprisoned by the Czar, but a jail break led to escape to England, and a series of books – on evolution, anarchism, ethics and more. A common thread – Kropotkin’s law of mutual aid – ran through them all.

Prof. Lee Alan Dugatkin of the University of Louisville, Kentucky, evolutionary biologist and historian of science, tells Kropotkin’s story as both one of the world’s leading scientists and one of the most famous anarchists of his day.

You can watch this free event from here, through the YouTube link below, or if you’d like to join questions and discussion, you can also go to the Science Festival’s YouTube channel