The Genius of Britain Episode 1 - Defying Gravity, The Beginnings of British Science

Today on Far Future Horizons we will be presenting the first episode of the acclaimed documentary series  “The Genius of Britain”.

Britain may indeed be only a small island, but it is an island of colossal intellects. Its great scientists, engineers and inventors have literally created the modern world: from the invention of the steam engine, computers and the world-wide web to the discovery of the theory of evolution and the atom.

In this five-part series some of Britain's leading scientific figures - Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, James Dyson, David Attenborough, Robert Winston, Paul Nurse, Jim Al-Khalili, Kathy Sykes and Olivia Judson - tell the stories of the people behind these innovations.

From Isaac Newton to Frank Whittle, James Watt to Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and Joseph Banks to Rosalind Franklin, these are the people who - through blood, sweat and tears - overcame all obstacles in the search for answers.

The first programme begins 350 years ago when a small group of friends, colleagues and rivals defied everything that was known about the world at that time.

Stephen Hawking and Jim Al-Khalili explain how Isaac Newton saw mathematics at the root of everything, from gravity to light.

James Dyson demonstrates Robert Boyle's air pump, which revealed the life-giving invisible world around us, whose laws could be understood through experiment and reason.

David Attenborough celebrates the many interests of Christopher Wren, who was best known as an architect, but was equally fascinated by surgery and astronomy.

Richard Dawkins explores Robert Hooke's revelatory microscopic world, and champions the virtues of a scientist whose name was almost wiped from the history books by men who despised him: most notably his arch-rival Newton.

And Kathy Sykes charts Edmond Halley's exploration of the stars, which helped Britain's sailors to rule the waves.

The Genius of Britain and its companion book are both available from Amazon. 

The Genius of Britain Episode 1 -Defying Gravity: The Beginnings of British Science

Copyright Disclaimer Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.