1 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:07,239 STEPHEN HAWKING: Let me take you back in time 2 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:11,239 to a place without the wonders of the modern world. 3 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:15,959 Five hundred years ago, the Earth was dark, 4 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:19,959 a place of mystery and superstition. 5 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:33,359 But then science changed everything. 6 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,999 TRAFFIC SCREECHES 7 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:45,559 This series will tell the stories of the British scientists who changed the world. 8 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:53,799 We have asked some of the great scientists and inventors of today 9 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:57,599 to tell us about their heroes. 10 00:00:57,600 --> 00:00:59,759 Now let's start her up. 11 00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:02,839 It opened up a whole new world of the very small. 12 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:06,399 Heat was Thomson's big idea. 13 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:08,919 For me, Hunter is a true hero. 14 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:10,279 Exciting possibilities. 15 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:14,279 He made science in Britain really matter. 16 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,999 Britain has a tremendous scientific legacy that most people know little about. 17 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:26,919 We want to set the record straight and put science back on the map. 18 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:34,799 The world is full of wonders, but they become more wonderful 19 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,919 when science looks at them. 20 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:56,959 In the winter of 1664, 21 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:00,959 a strange star appeared in the night skies above Britain. 22 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,639 At a time when witches were still burned at the stake 23 00:02:09,640 --> 00:02:13,239 and people believed centaurs roamed the forest, 24 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:17,239 this comet seemed, to most, a harbinger of doom. 25 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:28,119 But five young men looked up at it and dared to ask questions. 26 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:35,159 This is the story of how these extraordinary men, 27 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,119 friends and rivals, 28 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:41,119 would each play a pivotal part in understanding the comet. 29 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:45,319 Between them, they would begin to unlock the secrets of the universe 30 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:50,119 and summon science into being. 31 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:09,399 DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: For me, the story begins with just one of these young men. 32 00:03:09,480 --> 00:03:12,159 In 1664, 33 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:16,159 he looked up from his studies in Oxford and saw the comet... 34 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:22,879 ...and it took his breath away. 35 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:32,999 He was a brilliant mathematician and inventor, 36 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,999 and his name was Christopher Wren. 37 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:40,399 Today we know him as an architect 38 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,039 for the magnificent buildings he put up in London - 39 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:44,999 St Paul's Cathedral, Hampton Court - 40 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,999 and for this, the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford. 41 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:55,439 Wren's early life was one of privilege and ease. 42 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:58,639 He was a playmate of the young Prince Charles, 43 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:02,639 who, after much bloodshed and a civil war, would go on to become King. 44 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:08,719 The Civil War had turned Wren's life upside down... 45 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:12,879 ...and it left Wren with a desperate yearning 46 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:16,879 for certainty, stability and truth. 47 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:22,999 And it was his thirst for discovery that was about to provide him with just that. 48 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:28,719 Wren was invited to join a little-known society. 49 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:32,719 It was known informally as the "Invisible College". 50 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:35,479 With only 12 members, 51 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,479 this passionate group of experimental philosophers had a burning desire 52 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:44,239 to understand the natural world through reason, logic and experiment. 53 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:50,079 They met every week, conducting ever more ambitious experiments. 54 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:55,639 Oxford was still reeling in the aftermath of the Civil War 55 00:04:56,080 --> 00:05:00,079 and this presented scientists with a gruesome opportunity. 56 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:08,519 Human corpses were in ready supply, so Wren and his friends 57 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:12,639 were able to investigate human anatomy first-hand, 58 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:16,639 and Wren himself was a superb draughtsman and produced drawings like this, 59 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,799 one of the first detailed drawings of the human brain. 60 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:27,519 But Wren wanted to know more. 61 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:31,519 He wanted to understand not just form, but function. 62 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:34,679 A commonly held belief 63 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:38,679 was that the spleen was as vital to life as the brain. 64 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:43,399 Wren wondered if this could possibly be true. 65 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:47,039 (DOG BARKS) 66 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:50,999 On one occasion, Wren took a spaniel like this 67 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,999 and tied the poor thing down on a table on its back. 68 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:59,599 And then Wren, in his own words, took a knife, 69 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:03,719 thrust it into the abdomen, pierced the muscles and ripped about. 70 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:07,879 He then put in two fingers, pulled out the spleen 71 00:06:07,880 --> 00:06:11,879 and cut it away, tied up the blood vessels and the wound and let the dog go. 72 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:14,999 Barbaric? 73 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:16,719 Certainly. 74 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:18,359 Pointless? Not at all. 75 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:22,359 By demonstrating that the dog could live perfectly well without its spleen, 76 00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:26,119 he established the notion 77 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:30,119 that superstitions could be dealt with by practical experiment 78 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:35,439 and that way, you would discover the truth about the world around us. 79 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:47,319 Like most scientists of his time, Christopher Wren was a polymath. 80 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:50,639 He was interested in everything, from the movements of the moon 81 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:52,799 to the behaviour of bees. 82 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:55,439 He had an insatiable curiosity. 83 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:58,759 In this portrait of him in the Sheldonian, 84 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:02,759 you can see him surrounded by some of the subjects of his interest - 85 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:04,959 a globe, 86 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:07,119 the moon, 87 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:11,119 a telescope. 88 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:15,279 Long before he turned to architecture, Wren was tantalised by the heavens 89 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:20,119 and what he called the "celestial mysteries". 90 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:23,599 But he had a problem. 91 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,999 Telescopes of the time had huge limitations. 92 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,159 If he wanted to explore this uncharted world, 93 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:34,159 he would have to go back to basics. 94 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:38,239 So what did he do? 95 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:42,239 He dissected the eye of a horse to see how a lens worked in nature, 96 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:48,399 and it's this combination of anatomist and astronomer and technician 97 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:53,439 that lies at the very heart of Wren's brilliance. 98 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:57,519 Using what he had learnt from the horse's eye 99 00:07:57,520 --> 00:07:59,679 and other experiments and observations, 100 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:03,679 Wren was able to calibrate his telescope so finely 101 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:08,039 that he succeeded in gaining a clear view of the moon's surface. 102 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:15,159 An astounding new world began to appear before his eyes. 103 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:24,519 STEPHEN HAWKING: In 1660, the Invisible College 104 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:27,839 set up headquarters in the City of London. 105 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:31,839 With the backing of Wren's old playmate, the new King Charles, 106 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:34,599 they transformed themselves 107 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:38,599 into the Royal Society. 108 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:43,719 Their motto was "Nullius in verba" - "Take nobody's word for it." 109 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:49,919 This small band of brilliant young men had begun the revolution. 110 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,919 RICHARD DAWKINS: But it wasn't just the rich and privileged 111 00:08:57,920 --> 00:08:59,359 that made up this group. 112 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:02,199 Working within the newly formed Royal Society 113 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:05,839 was a young man from a very different world, 114 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,799 and his name was Robert Hooke. 115 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:12,119 There's no surviving portrait of Hooke, 116 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:16,119 but a contemporary described him as "very pale and lean 117 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:18,199 with a meagre aspect, 118 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:22,199 "eyes grey and full with a sharp ingenious look, 119 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:24,759 "his chin sharp, his forehead large, 120 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:28,759 "his hair long and lank, hanging neglected over his face." 121 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:34,719 He was not just poor, he was also probably a hunchback. 122 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:39,199 But in 1653, he had managed to get a choral scholarship to Oxford. 123 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:45,999 He was a bit paranoid, as we would say today. 124 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,999 He had a chip on his shoulder but he was fiercely loyal to his friends. 125 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:52,879 He was prickly, he was jealous, 126 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:56,879 he wrote his secrets down in code, but he was a brilliant scientist. 127 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:01,519 At the age of 27, 128 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:05,199 Hooke was given the apparently lowly job 129 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:08,279 of "Curator of Experiments" for the Royal Society. 130 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,799 For this he received a small wage and eventually a place to live 131 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:15,439 in the Society's Gresham Street headquarters in London. 132 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:19,439 His skill as an instrument maker meant that he could help devise and construct 133 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:23,719 the increasingly more sophisticated weekly experiments. 134 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:27,039 But Hooke had obsessions of his own. 135 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:31,039 He wanted to see into a world no-one had ever seen before. 136 00:10:35,560 --> 00:10:39,559 The world of the 17th century was limited by the naked eye. 137 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:44,319 People knew nothing of the finely divided veins of a leaf, 138 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:48,319 the tiny creatures that teemed in the streams or on the bark of trees 139 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:52,759 or on our own bodies or in our beds. 140 00:10:52,760 --> 00:10:56,759 But all that was about to change. 141 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:03,999 On the tip of my finger is a tiny flea. 142 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:07,399 You almost can't see it with the naked eye at all, 143 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:10,159 and that's the way it was in the 17th century. 144 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:14,159 All people knew about fleas was that they caused itchy red spots 145 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:16,279 and sleepless nights, 146 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:20,279 until Hooke put one under his microscope. 147 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:25,919 This is an extremely precious object. 148 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:29,919 It's one of the very early compound microscopes dating from the 1670s. 149 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:35,119 It was designed, but not made, by Robert Hooke himself. 150 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:37,519 There would have been a wick there 151 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:40,759 lit with oil coming from this reservoir here, 152 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:44,759 and this great big bowl of water acted as a large lens, 153 00:11:45,640 --> 00:11:49,279 focusing the light through this smaller lens here 154 00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:51,039 on the stage where we put a flea. 155 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:54,319 Instead of the oil lamp, we have a modern torch here 156 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:58,319 which I'm just going to switch on. 157 00:12:02,400 --> 00:12:06,399 What he saw must have taken his breath away. 158 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:12,279 A revelation from an unknown world. 159 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:16,159 I can imagine it must have been a wonderful experience 160 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:20,159 for Hooke and people like him to look down a compound microscope for the first time, 161 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:25,839 and it opened up a whole new world of the very small. 162 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:31,639 Whenever he found something new, Hooke would put it under his microscope, 163 00:12:32,080 --> 00:12:36,079 and slowly and painstakingly, he began to draw what he saw. 164 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:42,719 For the first time, 165 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:46,719 we could begin to understand the innermost workings of nature. 166 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:54,079 And in 1665, he published his masterpiece, Micrographia, 167 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:00,999 with its astounding images and Hooke's speculations about the laws 168 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:05,119 that might govern the universe. 169 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:08,759 It's a most magnificent book, it was an instant sensation. 170 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:12,279 Samuel Pepys stayed up all night reading it, not surprisingly, 171 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:16,279 because it's full of incredible images that nobody had ever dreamt of. 172 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:20,999 This flea, which is an exquisite drawing by Hooke, 173 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:24,199 shows amazing detail. 174 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:28,199 You see all the hairs on the legs, little hooks at the ends of the feet 175 00:13:28,560 --> 00:13:31,239 which are used to cling on to the host. 176 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:35,239 And here we have the most beautiful picture of a fly's head. 177 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:39,919 The way these surfaces of the eye are arranged in beautiful geometric rows - 178 00:13:41,280 --> 00:13:44,959 probably nobody had any idea that there was such precision, 179 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:48,959 such geometric accuracy at the level of the very small, 180 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:54,159 and Hooke was one of the first to see this and to draw it. 181 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:59,799 It was the birth of microbiology 182 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:03,799 and everything we know about the workings of all living things. 183 00:14:08,560 --> 00:14:11,879 STEPHEN HAWKING: Wren and Hooke had an obsession in common. 184 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:15,879 Like Wren, Hooke had traced the comet's progress across the skies. 185 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:25,679 These are the sketches Hooke drew in his notebook, 186 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:29,679 struggling to make sense of the comet and its brief trajectory. 187 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:33,199 What was it? 188 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:35,159 Where did it come from? 189 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:38,279 And what made it move across the sky? 190 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:41,359 But Hooke and Wren were not alone. 191 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,679 Three more men were also watching from the dark. 192 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:47,919 Each was asking the same questions 193 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:50,479 and each would have to play their part 194 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:54,479 before the mysteries of the universe could be unlocked. 195 00:15:00,620 --> 00:15:04,619 The 17th century was an extraordinary time in history. 196 00:15:05,420 --> 00:15:08,979 The workings of the natural world were being questioned 197 00:15:08,980 --> 00:15:12,979 and the very foundations of scientific knowledge were being laid down. 198 00:15:14,940 --> 00:15:18,939 It was a small band of brilliant British young men 199 00:15:18,980 --> 00:15:22,979 that were at the forefront of this revolution. 200 00:15:23,620 --> 00:15:27,619 The Royal Society continued to grow, and so did its ambition. 201 00:15:29,060 --> 00:15:33,059 But London was about to come under attack. 202 00:15:34,060 --> 00:15:38,059 In 1665, the plague ripped its way across the city. 203 00:15:40,620 --> 00:15:44,619 Anyone who could afford it fled to the countryside, 204 00:15:44,620 --> 00:15:47,739 and among them was another key member 205 00:15:47,740 --> 00:15:51,739 of this small band of scientific brothers. 206 00:15:53,660 --> 00:15:57,219 (JAMES DYSON) If I was able to meet one person from the 17th century, 207 00:15:57,220 --> 00:16:00,219 I'd want it to be Robert Boyle. 208 00:16:00,220 --> 00:16:03,299 He came from one of the wealthiest families in the country, 209 00:16:03,300 --> 00:16:07,259 but he had little time for pomp and grandeur. 210 00:16:07,260 --> 00:16:10,179 Instead, as a teenager, he wandered the country lanes 211 00:16:10,180 --> 00:16:12,899 making observations about the world around him, 212 00:16:12,900 --> 00:16:16,899 driven by an insatiable curiosity. 213 00:16:17,220 --> 00:16:20,619 This is an example of his more esoteric writing. 214 00:16:20,620 --> 00:16:22,739 "Occasional Reflections. 215 00:16:22,740 --> 00:16:26,739 "Upon his manner of giving Meat to his Dogg. 216 00:16:27,500 --> 00:16:31,499 "Upon the Sight of a fair Milk-maid singing to her Cow. 217 00:16:32,260 --> 00:16:36,259 "Upon my Spaniel's carefulness not to lose me in a Strange place. 218 00:16:37,940 --> 00:16:40,299 "Upon the Eating of Oysters." 219 00:16:40,300 --> 00:16:44,299 This interest in observing and recording everything he saw 220 00:16:45,060 --> 00:16:49,059 began to evolve into a rigorous scientific exploration of the natural world. 221 00:16:51,220 --> 00:16:54,379 Rather than discovering something through argument, 222 00:16:54,380 --> 00:16:57,419 Boyle was more interested in observing nature 223 00:16:57,420 --> 00:17:01,419 and drawing his conclusions from what actually happened. 224 00:17:01,660 --> 00:17:05,659 He devised experiments, not always sure what he was looking for, 225 00:17:05,740 --> 00:17:08,819 sometimes not even what he was looking at, 226 00:17:08,820 --> 00:17:12,819 and one subject particularly intrigued him - air. 227 00:17:14,380 --> 00:17:17,699 He wanted to find out what air actually was. 228 00:17:17,700 --> 00:17:21,699 What is this strange substance that's impossible to feel, invisible, 229 00:17:22,700 --> 00:17:26,699 odourless and yet surrounds us every day of our lives? 230 00:17:27,540 --> 00:17:31,539 He enlisted the help of the skilled instrument maker, Robert Hooke, 231 00:17:32,060 --> 00:17:35,379 and together, they built an extraordinary new device. 232 00:17:35,380 --> 00:17:39,219 The air pump, and this is how it works. 233 00:17:39,220 --> 00:17:41,499 You move this handle here 234 00:17:41,500 --> 00:17:44,979 which drives the pistons up and down, 235 00:17:44,980 --> 00:17:48,139 which sucks air out of the glass bell jar here, 236 00:17:48,140 --> 00:17:52,139 called the glass receiver. 237 00:17:52,500 --> 00:17:54,099 Boyle's idea was to study air 238 00:17:54,100 --> 00:17:56,579 by seeing what happened when he took it away. 239 00:17:56,580 --> 00:18:00,539 This was the first vacuum in Britain. 240 00:18:00,540 --> 00:18:04,539 I've updated it slightly so that I can see the extraordinary effects 241 00:18:05,420 --> 00:18:09,419 that Boyle would have observed for the first time. 242 00:18:28,780 --> 00:18:32,779 Candles went out. 243 00:18:34,860 --> 00:18:38,859 Water that was only warm started to boil. 244 00:18:45,540 --> 00:18:49,539 And a pig's bladder, filled with air, swelled and then burst. 245 00:18:57,180 --> 00:19:01,179 Boyle was fascinated by these dramatic results. 246 00:19:02,740 --> 00:19:06,739 What he discovered is that air is not just lifeless and inert, 247 00:19:07,140 --> 00:19:08,699 it has properties of its own. 248 00:19:08,700 --> 00:19:12,699 As you pull up, it pulls back. It has elasticity. 249 00:19:14,260 --> 00:19:17,459 And as you push down, it resists. 250 00:19:17,460 --> 00:19:21,459 It has weight, it has pressure and it has volume. 251 00:19:21,500 --> 00:19:25,499 In 1661, Boyle unveiled his air pump at the Royal Society. 252 00:19:28,260 --> 00:19:30,339 Hooke was there, of course. 253 00:19:30,340 --> 00:19:34,179 He was the only one who could reliably get the apparatus to work. 254 00:19:34,180 --> 00:19:37,659 Together, they performed a shocking experiment, 255 00:19:37,660 --> 00:19:41,659 captured in Joseph Wright's famous painting 100 years later. 256 00:19:43,060 --> 00:19:47,059 They placed a small bird in the chamber... 257 00:19:49,140 --> 00:19:51,939 ..and slowly, theybegan to pump out the air. 258 00:19:51,940 --> 00:19:54,419 "The bird," Boyle recounted, 259 00:19:54,420 --> 00:19:56,499 "began to pant very vehemently 260 00:19:56,500 --> 00:20:00,499 "till growing so sick that he staggered and gasped as being ready to die." 261 00:20:02,020 --> 00:20:06,019 For the onlookers, the bird's death must have been an extraordinary revelation. 262 00:20:07,020 --> 00:20:11,019 They had discovered that air was essential to life. 263 00:20:11,700 --> 00:20:15,699 Boyle's air pump was a huge turning point. 264 00:20:15,780 --> 00:20:19,779 It demonstrated that there was an invisible world all around us 265 00:20:20,500 --> 00:20:24,299 whose laws we could understand through experiment and reason. 266 00:20:24,300 --> 00:20:28,299 The question was, how far could this same way of thinking apply? 267 00:20:30,180 --> 00:20:33,299 Were the movements of the planets and stars 268 00:20:33,300 --> 00:20:37,299 also subject to hidden laws? 269 00:20:37,540 --> 00:20:39,659 As Wren, Hooke and Boyle 270 00:20:39,660 --> 00:20:41,939 continued to push forward, 271 00:20:41,940 --> 00:20:45,699 little did they know, across the marshes in Cambridge, 272 00:20:45,700 --> 00:20:49,699 another man was asking the same questions. 273 00:20:52,060 --> 00:20:56,059 This man, working alone, had also seen the comet cross the sky. 274 00:20:57,980 --> 00:21:01,979 This man was Isaac Newton. 275 00:21:02,660 --> 00:21:06,659 (JIM AL-KHALILI) Isaac Newton has always been a hero of mine, 276 00:21:07,060 --> 00:21:09,859 and probably every physicist you'll ever meet. 277 00:21:09,860 --> 00:21:13,339 He wasn't an easy character - aloof and temperamental. 278 00:21:13,340 --> 00:21:17,339 He arrived in Cambridge in 1661 after a difficult childhood. 279 00:21:20,220 --> 00:21:23,419 His father had died before he was born 280 00:21:23,420 --> 00:21:26,299 and his mother had abandoned him at the age of three. 281 00:21:26,300 --> 00:21:30,299 But the young Newton showed his genius at an early age. 282 00:21:32,380 --> 00:21:36,059 At Cambridge, Newton had to work for his keep, 283 00:21:36,060 --> 00:21:40,059 emptying bedpans, cleaning up after the wealthy students, 284 00:21:40,300 --> 00:21:42,459 and of course, this wouldn't have helped 285 00:21:42,460 --> 00:21:44,259 his already sour temperament. 286 00:21:44,260 --> 00:21:47,699 At night, he'd spend hours sitting on his bed 287 00:21:47,700 --> 00:21:50,179 just thinking about mathematical equations, 288 00:21:50,180 --> 00:21:54,179 to the extent that it literally made him ill from the lack of sleep. 289 00:21:56,820 --> 00:22:00,819 Newton spent much of his time absorbed by alchemy... 290 00:22:02,980 --> 00:22:05,219 ..boiling and mixing metals 291 00:22:05,220 --> 00:22:09,219 in a practice that was as close to sorcery as to science. 292 00:22:22,540 --> 00:22:26,139 This room was Newton's actual laboratory. 293 00:22:26,140 --> 00:22:29,499 I like to think I can still see the scorch marks on the ceiling 294 00:22:29,500 --> 00:22:33,499 where he'd have carried out some of his experiments. 295 00:22:35,500 --> 00:22:39,499 Or maybe in this fireplace he'd have burnt mercury and sulphur 296 00:22:40,420 --> 00:22:42,419 in that elusive alchemical quest 297 00:22:42,420 --> 00:22:46,419 to try and turn base metals into gold. 298 00:22:47,060 --> 00:22:51,059 But he'd begun to ask much bigger questions, 299 00:22:51,580 --> 00:22:55,579 way beyond the scope of his university studies. 300 00:23:00,820 --> 00:23:04,139 Newton was mesmerised by light. 301 00:23:04,140 --> 00:23:07,419 He'd stare for ages directly at the sun, 302 00:23:07,420 --> 00:23:11,419 or he'd use a mirror to reflect the sun's light directly into his eye 303 00:23:11,780 --> 00:23:15,779 and hold it there for as long as he could bear it. 304 00:23:17,140 --> 00:23:21,139 He wondered what light might be made of 305 00:23:21,300 --> 00:23:23,499 and wanted to know how vision worked 306 00:23:23,500 --> 00:23:27,499 and he was prepared to try anything to find out. 307 00:23:28,980 --> 00:23:32,019 One night in his darkened laboratory, 308 00:23:32,020 --> 00:23:34,659 he decided to experiment on his own eye. 309 00:23:34,660 --> 00:23:38,659 He took a sharp bodkin and inserted itbetween his eye and eye socket. 310 00:23:39,740 --> 00:23:43,539 Then he began to twist it. 311 00:23:43,540 --> 00:23:46,499 As his eyeball deformed, 312 00:23:46,500 --> 00:23:50,499 gradually he started to observe some unexpected effects. 313 00:23:51,940 --> 00:23:55,939 The coloured circles that formed in his field of vision 314 00:23:56,180 --> 00:23:58,259 set Newton's mind racing, 315 00:23:58,260 --> 00:24:02,259 so he devised one of the most brilliant scientific experiments of all time. 316 00:24:06,980 --> 00:24:10,779 He shone a light onto a prism 317 00:24:10,780 --> 00:24:13,939 and through the prism, onto a screen, 318 00:24:13,940 --> 00:24:17,939 where it split up into the colours of the spectrum. 319 00:24:18,020 --> 00:24:22,019 Now, this in itself wasn't new, but the received wisdom at the time 320 00:24:22,380 --> 00:24:25,259 was that the prism made the spectrum, 321 00:24:25,260 --> 00:24:28,859 but Newton thought differently. 322 00:24:28,860 --> 00:24:30,899 Taking another prism, 323 00:24:30,900 --> 00:24:34,259 he tried to split the rays of coloured light again, 324 00:24:34,260 --> 00:24:37,219 but this time, nothing happened. 325 00:24:37,220 --> 00:24:41,019 Newton had uncovered a fundamental truth about light. 326 00:24:41,020 --> 00:24:44,179 He'd discovered that white light isn't pure 327 00:24:44,180 --> 00:24:46,819 but is made up of all the colours of the spectrum. 328 00:24:46,820 --> 00:24:50,499 But this was just the beginning. 329 00:24:50,500 --> 00:24:54,499 Newton had tackled the problem of colour through experiment and reason. 330 00:24:55,620 --> 00:24:59,619 But as he sketched out the different angles of the refracted colours, 331 00:25:00,380 --> 00:25:03,779 he began to wonder if mathematics alone 332 00:25:03,780 --> 00:25:07,659 might help him to solve even greater problems. 333 00:25:07,660 --> 00:25:10,379 The natural world, he began to realise, 334 00:25:10,380 --> 00:25:14,379 might unfold from simple rules and patterns. 335 00:25:15,260 --> 00:25:19,259 Perhaps mathematics was at the centre of every question he asked. 336 00:25:20,660 --> 00:25:24,659 And now, Newton was about to ask the biggest question of all. 337 00:25:26,740 --> 00:25:30,019 Newton had started to think about the invisible attraction 338 00:25:30,020 --> 00:25:32,259 that draws all objects to the ground, 339 00:25:32,260 --> 00:25:34,459 and as he gazed up at the stars, 340 00:25:34,460 --> 00:25:37,339 he began to speculate that this same attraction 341 00:25:37,340 --> 00:25:41,339 might control everything in the universe. 342 00:25:42,300 --> 00:25:46,299 When Newton watched the comet cross the sky in 1664, 343 00:25:46,780 --> 00:25:49,219 he too was mesmerised. 344 00:25:49,220 --> 00:25:52,939 He stayed up night after night making notes. 345 00:25:52,940 --> 00:25:54,379 He began to wonder, 346 00:25:54,380 --> 00:25:58,379 if mathematics could help explain all natural phenomena, 347 00:25:59,300 --> 00:26:03,299 could it help explain the comet in the sky? 348 00:26:05,700 --> 00:26:09,699 The comet had captured the imaginations and the curiosity 349 00:26:10,460 --> 00:26:12,219 of the greatest minds in Britain. 350 00:26:12,220 --> 00:26:16,219 But would it be Hooke and Wren at the Royal Society, 351 00:26:16,300 --> 00:26:18,859 or Newton working alone in Cambridge, 352 00:26:18,860 --> 00:26:22,099 who could explain the mysteries of the comet, 353 00:26:22,100 --> 00:26:26,099 and with it, the laws that governed the universe? 354 00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:33,599 By the summer of 1666, the new science was getting into its stride. 355 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:42,439 In London, the Royal Society was now producing a monthly scientific journal. 356 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:49,439 Hooke's microscope had opened up an incredible new world. 357 00:26:53,200 --> 00:26:57,199 Boyle's air pump had shown that without air, we cannot live. 358 00:26:58,360 --> 00:27:01,079 But there was something much bigger 359 00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:04,599 that still fascinated and baffled the young minds. 360 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:08,599 Wren, Hooke and Boyle were all asking the same questions. 361 00:27:11,120 --> 00:27:15,119 Were the heavens governed by mathematical laws? 362 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:19,439 And could they discover them? 363 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:22,439 Little did they know 364 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:26,439 something much closer to home was about to take their attention. 365 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:37,559 The Great Fire of London burned for four days and three nights 366 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:41,679 before it finally burnt itself out one block away from the Royal Society, 367 00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:46,159 where Robert Hooke could have seen the flames. 368 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:50,159 In Oxford, Christopher Wren saw the sky glowing red in the east 369 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:54,199 and recognised a God-given opportunity. 370 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:58,199 He was inspecting the ruins while the embers were still hot. 371 00:28:02,120 --> 00:28:06,119 More than 12,000 homes were burnt to the ground. 372 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:09,999 Three-quarters of the city was destroyed. 373 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:12,879 For London, it was a tragedy. 374 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:16,879 For the scientists, it was a golden opportunity. 375 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:19,919 Wren saw his chance, and within days, 376 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:22,679 he presented personally to the King 377 00:28:22,680 --> 00:28:26,119 his plans for a new city. 378 00:28:26,120 --> 00:28:29,319 His great vision was never fully accomplished, 379 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:32,759 but nevertheless, with Hooke as his right-hand man, 380 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:34,199 he created and designed 381 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:37,439 some of the most ambitious and innovative buildings 382 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:39,479 that London had ever seen - 383 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:43,479 buildings fit for a new scientific age. 384 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:51,879 St Paul's, with its astonishing unsupported dome, 385 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:54,399 raised nearly 300 feet from the ground, 386 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:58,399 was totally unlike anything ever seen before in England... 387 00:29:00,440 --> 00:29:04,439 ..a triumph of converting pure geometry into mechanics. 388 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:10,039 The Royal Observatory in Greenwich, 389 00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:14,039 designed with the sole aim of pursuing astronomy. 390 00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:18,479 And for Robert Hooke, the rebuilding of London 391 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:22,159 provided his biggest scientific opportunity so far. 392 00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:25,199 And here are his plans. 393 00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:27,919 It's a 200-foot parallax telescope 394 00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:30,719 designed to detect the tiny differences 395 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:34,399 between what you see in different parts of the earth's orbit 396 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:36,319 around the sun, 397 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:39,119 and amazingly, it's still here, 398 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:43,119 right in the heart of the City of London. 399 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:48,759 At 61 metres, The Monument, 400 00:29:48,760 --> 00:29:52,759 as it came to be known, is the tallest stone column in the world. 401 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:57,319 Hooke hoped that its size 402 00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:01,319 would enable him to get new measurements of the stars. 403 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:04,839 Well, here I am at the base of the tower, 404 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:08,319 which means the eyepiece end of Hooke's telescope. 405 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:10,839 The eyepiece was actually down in the basement, 406 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:14,079 where Hooke lived for a while, while the tower was being built. 407 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:16,999 That's where he would have laid underneath the eyepiece, 408 00:30:17,000 --> 00:30:20,599 which would have been a little lens, in which he would have looked up like that. 409 00:30:20,600 --> 00:30:23,879 Right at the far end of the tower would have been the objective lens, 410 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:26,519 something like this, right at the top, 411 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:28,119 and the two lenses together, 412 00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:31,159 the eyepiece down below and the objective lens at the top, 413 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:35,159 constituted this gigantic telescope. 414 00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:39,119 The idea was that a telescope of this size 415 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:43,119 would allow Hooke to see more clearly than anyone had seen before. 416 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:47,519 Trouble is, a telescope this long 417 00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:50,159 has got to be very, very steady indeed 418 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:52,159 in order to do its job, 419 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:55,839 and a tower this long is not going to be sufficiently steady, 420 00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:59,279 so it didn't work. 421 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:00,879 For all his efforts, 422 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:03,639 the giant monument had taken Hooke no closer 423 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:07,639 to solving the puzzles of the heavens. 424 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:17,479 As the decade drew to a close, 425 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:21,119 the search to understand the nature of this mysterious force 426 00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:25,119 holding the universe together dominated the scientific landscape. 427 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:33,399 At the Royal Society in London, they studied star charts, 428 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:37,599 revised mathematical calculations and made wild speculations, 429 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:42,679 but the answers eluded them. 430 00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:48,519 (JIM AL-KHALILI) Isaac Newton was becoming an increasingly eccentric figure, 431 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:52,879 wandering the college with his hair uncombed and his shoelaces untied. 432 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:57,519 He gave lectures, but few students showed up 433 00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:01,519 and he would often find himself speaking to an empty room. 434 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:11,479 In his ivory tower in Cambridge, 435 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:14,799 Isaac Newton wasn't immune to news from the capital. 436 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:18,639 He'd read Hooke's Micrographia, scribbling notes in the margin. 437 00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:20,879 He'd heard how Boyle's air pump 438 00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:23,719 had caused a stir at the Royal Society. 439 00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:27,119 He realised that if his genius was to be recognised, 440 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:31,119 then London was the place to be. 441 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:36,319 He was confident that they would be bowled over by his theory of light 442 00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:39,519 and his new mathematics. 443 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:43,399 So, for the first time, he introduced himself to the Royal Society 444 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:46,719 by writing a letter with his characteristic arrogance, 445 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:48,279 in which he said he had made, 446 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:50,759 "The oddest, if not the most considerable, 447 00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:54,759 "detection that had hitherto been made in the operations of nature". 448 00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:59,519 When Hooke read Newton's letter, he was furious. 449 00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:03,719 He was convinced that Newton had stolen his ideas from the Micrographia. 450 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:09,079 Newton acknowledged that he had been influenced by Hooke's ideas, 451 00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:13,799 but he insisted that he'd turned them into a proper scientific theory 452 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:17,599 by giving them a mathematical proof. 453 00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:20,839 He declared that mathematics would reveal a world 454 00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:23,839 beyond the power of the microscope and the telescope 455 00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:27,799 and he jibed at Hooke, belittling his contribution. 456 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:30,279 "If I've seen further," he wrote, 457 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:33,759 "it's by standing on the shoulders of giants" - 458 00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:36,039 ostensibly a nod to the ancients, 459 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:40,039 but also possibly a reference to Hooke's small stature 460 00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:44,239 and crooked shoulders. 461 00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:49,559 Hooke took offence and broke off communication. 462 00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:52,199 It was a disaster. 463 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:56,039 Hooke had spurned the one man with the mathematical talent 464 00:33:56,040 --> 00:34:00,039 to help him understand the laws of the universe. 465 00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:06,719 Isaac Newton withdrew his papers from publication 466 00:34:06,880 --> 00:34:10,879 and severed all ties with the Royal Society, 467 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:15,039 withdrawing to the seclusion of his Cambridge cloister. 468 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:18,439 And there he might have stayed, 469 00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:22,439 his revolutionary ideas lost forever, 470 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:26,439 had it not been for another young scientist... 471 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:29,839 ..and the last of the players in our drama - 472 00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:33,839 the charismatic Edmund Halley. 473 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:42,999 (KATHY SYKES) Halley was as gregarious as Newton was solitary. 474 00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:46,239 He was as handsome as Hooke was ugly. 475 00:34:46,240 --> 00:34:50,239 He smoked, drank brandy and swore like a sea captain. 476 00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:52,679 He had a passion for adventure, 477 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:55,479 and courted women with silks and satins, 478 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:59,479 and clashed with pirates hunting treasure on the high seas. 479 00:35:04,040 --> 00:35:08,039 He was the son of a rich soap merchant, but from an early age, 480 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:12,319 he realised that his destiny lay not with soap, 481 00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:14,959 but in the world of science and discovery. 482 00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:18,959 He was fascinated by the new ideas that were opening up. 483 00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:24,879 Most of all, he was gripped by astronomy 484 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:28,879 and the advances promised by Christopher Wren's new Royal Observatory 485 00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:33,879 and he desperately wanted to be part of the action. 486 00:35:34,720 --> 00:35:38,719 In 1676, when Halley was only 20 years old, 487 00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:42,279 he abandoned his studies at Oxford University 488 00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:43,959 and bet his scientific name 489 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:47,959 on an adventure to the South Atlantic island of St Helena. 490 00:35:52,200 --> 00:35:55,039 It was an incredibly ambitious mission. 491 00:35:55,040 --> 00:35:59,039 He proposed to map the stars in the southern hemisphere. 492 00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:03,959 If Halley was successful 493 00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:07,959 then the Navy could navigate better in the treacherous southern seas. 494 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:12,999 But it was also a chance for him to take back important new data 495 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:16,919 to the scientists of Britain. 496 00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:20,919 St Helena was Halley's bid to join the big boys. 497 00:36:22,240 --> 00:36:26,239 Over the course of the year, using his sextant and telescope, 498 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:30,599 Halley was able to chart the position of 341 stars accurately. 499 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:34,959 He did all the observations and the calculations himself. 500 00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:38,959 It was a heroic job. 501 00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:56,399 When Halley returned to London in 1678, he was made a national hero. 502 00:36:58,240 --> 00:37:02,239 The Navy were thrilled with their new map of the southern skies. 503 00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:06,319 The Royal Society made him a fellow at the age of only about 22 504 00:37:07,640 --> 00:37:11,639 and the King insisted that Oxford University give him his degree. 505 00:37:18,520 --> 00:37:20,759 The young Halley quickly took his place 506 00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:24,759 among the scientific heavyweights of the day. 507 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:33,359 Halley threw himself into the race 508 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:37,359 to explain the movements of the universe. 509 00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:45,719 This is the Octagon Room. 510 00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:48,199 It's right at the heart of the observatory, 511 00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:49,439 and it's in this room 512 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:53,439 that Halley and his colleagues did their observations. 513 00:37:57,560 --> 00:38:01,559 Their official purposewas to perfect star charts for the Navy. 514 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:05,759 But it was the bigger questions about the universe that dominated their studies. 515 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:11,599 Keen to share ideas about the cosmos, 516 00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:14,679 Halley and Wren would regularly meet with Robert Hooke 517 00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:18,679 in London's fashionable coffee houses. 518 00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:29,839 Now, imagine that this is the sun and this is a planet. 519 00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:32,199 They asked themselves, 520 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:35,319 why do planets move in orbits around the sun, 521 00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:39,039 rather than just shooting off into space? 522 00:38:39,040 --> 00:38:42,079 They speculated, just as Newton had done, 523 00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:46,079 that there was an invisible force, that the sun attracts the planet, 524 00:38:46,240 --> 00:38:48,679 so that instead of moving in a straight line, 525 00:38:48,680 --> 00:38:52,479 it's pulled around into an orbital path. 526 00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:56,479 But an invisible force was a bizarre, almost mystical idea. 527 00:38:57,360 --> 00:39:01,359 To have any kind of credibility, it needed a mathematical grounding. 528 00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:05,359 But however hard they tried, they couldn't come up with a mathematical proof. 529 00:39:05,480 --> 00:39:09,479 But then something happened that threw them all into total confusion. 530 00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:16,279 Another comet had burst onto the night sky 531 00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:20,079 and it behaved even more mysteriously than the last, 532 00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:22,319 swinging in and out of view, 533 00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:26,319 and at one point seeming so bright, it could be seen in daylight. 534 00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:32,599 It threw the scientists into further confusion. 535 00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:36,599 The young Halley knew that there was only one person 536 00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:40,239 with the mathematical brilliance to solve the puzzle, 537 00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:44,239 but he was going to need some persuading. 538 00:39:47,580 --> 00:39:51,579 Almost 20 years had passed since a comet crossed the night sky. 539 00:39:54,460 --> 00:39:56,019 It had been a catalyst 540 00:39:56,020 --> 00:40:00,019 for an extraordinary new scientific movement. 541 00:40:04,060 --> 00:40:07,299 But now, the appearance of another comet 542 00:40:07,300 --> 00:40:09,979 had raised more questions still. 543 00:40:09,980 --> 00:40:13,979 The pioneering scientists needed help. 544 00:40:16,140 --> 00:40:18,379 In the summer of 1684, 545 00:40:18,380 --> 00:40:21,619 Edmund Halley came here to Cambridge with a mission. 546 00:40:21,620 --> 00:40:23,059 He wanted to track down 547 00:40:23,060 --> 00:40:26,179 the weird and socially dysfunctional Isaac Newton. 548 00:40:26,180 --> 00:40:30,179 He knew that Newton was the only person on the planet with the genius 549 00:40:31,060 --> 00:40:35,059 to explain the behaviour of the planets and stars mathematically. 550 00:40:35,300 --> 00:40:36,939 But it was a bold move. 551 00:40:36,940 --> 00:40:40,939 Newton's reputation for being sour and unfriendly was widespread. 552 00:40:46,380 --> 00:40:48,419 Halley caught Newton off guard 553 00:40:48,420 --> 00:40:51,379 by turning up unannounced here at Trinity. 554 00:40:51,380 --> 00:40:54,859 He put to him their theory of the invisible force 555 00:40:54,860 --> 00:40:58,859 and the problem in explaining the elliptical motion of the planets. 556 00:41:04,180 --> 00:41:08,179 (JIM AL-KHALILI) Newton was still smarting from his spat with Robert Hooke 557 00:41:08,860 --> 00:41:12,859 ten years earlier, so he initially rebuffed Halley. 558 00:41:13,260 --> 00:41:15,739 He claimed casually 559 00:41:15,740 --> 00:41:19,419 that he'd worked out all the mathematics of the ellipse years earlier 560 00:41:19,420 --> 00:41:21,099 but hadn't bothered to publish, 561 00:41:21,100 --> 00:41:24,539 so it took all of Halley's powers of persuasion 562 00:41:24,540 --> 00:41:28,099 to convince him to redo the calculations and tell the world. 563 00:41:28,100 --> 00:41:32,099 Halley flattered, cajoled and chastised Newton in turns. 564 00:41:33,460 --> 00:41:36,499 He even hinted that the celebrated Robert Hooke 565 00:41:36,500 --> 00:41:38,659 might be close to solving the riddle. 566 00:41:38,660 --> 00:41:42,659 Finally, Newton was spurred into action. 567 00:41:49,620 --> 00:41:53,619 Newton threw himself into a frenzy of activity. 568 00:41:53,860 --> 00:41:57,859 He devoured astronomical data collated by the Royal Society 569 00:41:58,260 --> 00:42:00,019 from around the world - 570 00:42:00,020 --> 00:42:02,219 tidal information from Asia, 571 00:42:02,220 --> 00:42:04,459 details of eclipses and equinoxes 572 00:42:04,460 --> 00:42:08,459 that medieval Arabic astronomers had made, 573 00:42:08,740 --> 00:42:11,819 Halley's star map from his South Atlantic trip 574 00:42:11,820 --> 00:42:15,819 and data from Sir Christopher Wren's Royal Observatory. 575 00:42:29,860 --> 00:42:33,859 Finally, three years later, Newton's great work was finished. 576 00:42:36,060 --> 00:42:38,819 This is what I would consider 577 00:42:38,820 --> 00:42:41,459 the greatest book ever written in history. 578 00:42:41,460 --> 00:42:45,459 It's a first edition copy of Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica. 579 00:42:45,980 --> 00:42:49,979 What's even more exciting is that I have here 580 00:42:50,060 --> 00:42:54,059 the original prepublication manuscripts of the Principia 581 00:42:54,260 --> 00:42:58,059 written in Isaac Newton's own handwriting. 582 00:42:58,060 --> 00:43:01,819 The Principia spelled out for the first time 583 00:43:01,820 --> 00:43:05,819 the mathematical principles that govern the universe 584 00:43:06,180 --> 00:43:10,179 and the law of gravity that holds all matter in place. 585 00:43:15,500 --> 00:43:19,499 For Newton, gravity was a force that acts on any objects with mass, 586 00:43:21,740 --> 00:43:25,179 be it the moon, the Earth, even an apple. 587 00:43:25,180 --> 00:43:29,179 It's the same gravitational force that keeps us stuck to the ground, 588 00:43:29,460 --> 00:43:32,699 makes apples fall, keeps the moon in orbit around the Earth 589 00:43:32,700 --> 00:43:36,619 and the Earth around the sun. 590 00:43:36,620 --> 00:43:38,819 And Newton's new laws 591 00:43:38,820 --> 00:43:42,819 enabled Halley to finally crack the puzzle of the second comet. 592 00:43:44,460 --> 00:43:47,539 It did follow the same laws as the planets 593 00:43:47,540 --> 00:43:51,299 but its elliptical orbit was so long and thin 594 00:43:51,300 --> 00:43:55,299 that it appeared to travel in straight lines across the sky, 595 00:43:55,340 --> 00:43:59,339 disappearing and reappearing at intervals of months at a time. 596 00:44:00,380 --> 00:44:04,219 Newton had unearthed a deep and fundamental truth about the world - 597 00:44:04,220 --> 00:44:08,219 that there are laws that govern the way things move, 598 00:44:08,420 --> 00:44:12,099 that gravity connects and pulls all objects together 599 00:44:12,100 --> 00:44:16,099 and that mathematics is the key to all science. 600 00:44:16,500 --> 00:44:20,499 It was the first provable grand unified theory of the entire universe. 601 00:44:23,300 --> 00:44:27,299 (MAN) Ten, nine... Ignition sequence start. 602 00:44:31,780 --> 00:44:33,379 60 seconds... 603 00:44:33,380 --> 00:44:35,379 Lights on. 604 00:44:35,380 --> 00:44:37,699 Newton's laws of motion, 605 00:44:37,700 --> 00:44:40,459 his theory of gravity and his mathematics 606 00:44:40,460 --> 00:44:44,459 were the pinnacle of human thought for the next two centuries. 607 00:44:45,140 --> 00:44:47,379 (NEIL ARMSTRONG) The Eagle has landed. 608 00:44:47,380 --> 00:44:49,899 That's one small step for man... 609 00:44:49,900 --> 00:44:53,619 They enabled us to put a man on the moon and me into space. 610 00:44:53,620 --> 00:44:56,979 ..one giant leap for mankind. 611 00:44:56,980 --> 00:45:00,179 They allow us to reach out into the universe 612 00:45:00,180 --> 00:45:03,899 to explain its intricate mechanism. 613 00:45:03,900 --> 00:45:07,739 But although he was the greatest genius of them all, 614 00:45:07,740 --> 00:45:11,739 Newton was indeed only standing on the shoulders of giants, 615 00:45:12,780 --> 00:45:16,779 and among those giants were Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle, 616 00:45:17,260 --> 00:45:20,659 Edmund Halley and Christopher Wren. 617 00:45:20,660 --> 00:45:24,659 Together in the 17th century, they summoned science into being. 618 00:45:32,700 --> 00:45:36,299 (JAMES DYSON) Robert Boyle went on to publish prolifically 619 00:45:36,300 --> 00:45:37,779 on natural philosophy. 620 00:45:37,780 --> 00:45:41,299 After his death, he endowed a series of lectures 621 00:45:41,300 --> 00:45:45,299 on the relationship between science and God. 622 00:45:45,620 --> 00:45:49,579 (DAVID ATTENBOROUGH) Christopher Wren lived until he was 90, 623 00:45:49,580 --> 00:45:53,579 leaving an extraordinary legacy of buildings behind him. 624 00:45:53,620 --> 00:45:57,619 But there is also a monument to his astronomical obsession - 625 00:45:58,020 --> 00:46:02,019 a crater on the planet Mercury is named Wren in his honour. 626 00:46:04,220 --> 00:46:08,219 (JIM AL-KHALILI) Isaac Newton erased all acknowledgement of Robert Hooke 627 00:46:08,500 --> 00:46:10,539 from his Principia. 628 00:46:10,540 --> 00:46:14,539 He received a knighthood, became the President of the Royal Society 629 00:46:14,620 --> 00:46:16,699 and Warden of the Royal Mint, 630 00:46:16,700 --> 00:46:20,699 where he was renowned for his cruelty towards forgers. 631 00:46:23,220 --> 00:46:26,819 (RICHARD DAWKINS) Robert Hooke lived and worked in the Royal Society 632 00:46:26,820 --> 00:46:28,259 until the end of his days. 633 00:46:28,260 --> 00:46:31,179 There are no surviving portraits of him. 634 00:46:31,180 --> 00:46:35,179 It is said that they were all destroyed by Newton. 635 00:46:35,660 --> 00:46:37,939 (KATHY SYKES) And the young Edmund Halley? 636 00:46:37,940 --> 00:46:39,739 He became Astronomer Royal 637 00:46:39,740 --> 00:46:42,859 and the comet whose course he'd so laboriously plotted 638 00:46:42,860 --> 00:46:44,619 was named after him. 639 00:46:44,620 --> 00:46:48,619 It will next cross our skies in 2061. 640 00:46:56,100 --> 00:46:58,059 (DAVID ATTENBOROUGH) Next time, 641 00:46:58,060 --> 00:47:02,059 science moves from the abstract to the practical... 642 00:47:03,300 --> 00:47:06,299 ..from a handful to a roomful. 643 00:47:06,300 --> 00:47:10,299 Scientists begin saving lives... 644 00:47:11,380 --> 00:47:14,019 ..generating power... 645 00:47:14,020 --> 00:47:17,379 and enable man to fly. 646 00:47:17,380 --> 00:47:21,379 Together, they would start to transform the world.