Genius of Britain

The extraordinary history of British science, told by Britain's greatest living scientists: Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins and James Dyson We may only be a small island, but we are far from small-minded. Britain's great inventors and scientists have taken mankind to places and into worlds that we only dreamed possible. The steam engine, evolution, the atom and the worldwide web - British science has quite literally created the modern world. This essential book presents a compelling overview of those achievements, and the fascinating stories of the people who did it. These are stories of obsession - of people who pushed the boundaries, who injected themselves with syphilis, drank poison and blew themselves up - all in the name of discovery. In every one there is a cry of 'Eureka!', a moment of truth, when all becomes clear and the crazy, courageous and sometimes unethical experiments turn out to be worthwhile: from Hooke's telescope which allowed us to see deeper into the human body to the Beagle 2 that headed for Mars; from the genius of an engine run on water to the sublime beauty of gravity. Key chapters include: 1 Defying Gravity - the beginnings of British science. Newton and his colleagues break the mould of medieval thought, discovering how the planets move and how the human body works. 2 The Chemical Brothers - how science created the Industrial Revolution. From the invention of the steam engine which heralded the Industrial Revolution to the discovery of electricity. 3 The Human Zoo - how we came to understand the world. The explorers and naturalists who discovered new worlds, new plants, new animals and the theory of evolution. 4 Inner Space - the 20th century. The great discoveries of the building blocks of the universe - the atom, the structure of D NA. 5 The Outer Limits - the 21st century. Cyber space and the creation of virtual reality. Genius of Britain accompanies x5 primetime, 1-hour programmes on Channel 4 in January 2010, presented byStephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins and James Dyson.