Genius Of Britain

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 DNA.
5. The Outer Limits - the 21st century. Cyber space and the creation of virtual reality.

GENIUS OF BRITAIN accompanies a landmark Channel 4 series (x5 programmes of 1hour) broadcast in October 2009, and presented by Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins and James Dyson.