1
00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:07,959
(STEPHEN HAWKING)
Let me take you back in time

2
00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:11,959
to a place without the wonders
of the modern world.

3
00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,799
500 years ago, the Earth was dark -
a place of mystery and superstition.

4
00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,999
But then science changed everything.

5
00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:40,839
HORNS BEEP

6
00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:44,359
This series will tell the stories

7
00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:48,359
of the British scientists
who changed the world.

8
00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:54,479
We have asked some of the great
scientists and inventors of today

9
00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:58,039
to tell us about their heroes.

10
00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:00,199
Now, let's start her up.

11
00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:03,559
It opened up
a whole new world of the very small.

12
00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:06,839
Heat was Thomson's big idea!

13
00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:09,359
For me, Hunter is a true hero.

14
00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:10,719
Exciting possibilities.

15
00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:14,719
He made science in Britain
really matter.

16
00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,999
Britain has a tremendous scientific
legacy

17
00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:23,359
that most people know little about.

18
00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:26,639
We want to set the record straight

19
00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:30,639
and put science back on the map.

20
00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:35,239
The world is full of wonders,
but they become more wonderful

21
00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:39,359
when science looks at them.

22
00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,959
Our story began
with a handful of young men

23
00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:58,279
who gazed up at the sky and
discovered the underlying laws

24
00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:02,279
of the universe.

25
00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:06,399
The generation which followed
was just as extraordinary.

26
00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:10,039
Recorded here together
in this group portrait,

27
00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:13,959
a crowded roomful of brilliant
minds.

28
00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,959
We want to tell you about
six of them.

29
00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:22,079
Each of us has our favourites,
from the son of a boat builder

30
00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:26,159
to the richest man in England.

31
00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:28,199
From a country doctor

32
00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:32,199
to a charismatic adventurer.

33
00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,679
At a time
when there was no electric light,

34
00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,039
disease killed countless thousands

35
00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:44,039
and most people knew little of
the world beyond Britain's borders.

36
00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:49,439
These six men
would use science to save lives,

37
00:02:49,880 --> 00:02:53,879
generate power and allow man
to fly for the first time.

38
00:02:55,920 --> 00:02:58,439
Between them,
they would transform the world

39
00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:02,439
and take science
from the abstract to the practical.

40
00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:15,679
My man is the great
Sir Joseph Banks.

41
00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:18,599
Gentleman, amateur naturalist,

42
00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:21,079
president of the Royal Society
for over 40 years

43
00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:25,079
and founder of a tradition
of scientific exploration

44
00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:29,199
that was ultimately to lead
to Charles Darwin.

45
00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,119
Here he is in the engraving
as an old man,

46
00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:36,719
right at the heart
of the scientific world.

47
00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:40,279
Lauded in his own time,
today he's little remembered.

48
00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:42,719
To me, he is an unsung hero -

49
00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:46,479
the founding father ofa tradition
of scientific expeditions,

50
00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:50,479
which would have a massive impact
on both Britain and the world.

51
00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,519
As a boy, Joseph Banks
was a keen collector

52
00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:08,879
of insects and bird's eggs,

53
00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:11,879
but the story goes that he found his
true vocation

54
00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:14,679
one afternoon when he was 15

55
00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:18,679
and he went for a swim
in the Thames near Eton.

56
00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:23,399
And as he got out, he was suddenly
overwhelmed by the beauty

57
00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:25,159
of the wildflowers on the bank.

58
00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:29,159
He determined there and then
he would become a botanist.

59
00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:36,559
And he was in the fortunate position
to have the money

60
00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:38,079
to pursue his dream.

61
00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:42,079
When Banks went up to Oxford,
he employed a tutor from Cambridge

62
00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:44,999
specially to teach him botany.

63
00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,399
This display of initiative
and confidence, no doubt helped

64
00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:51,599
by breeding and wealth,
was to characterise Banks' approach

65
00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:54,919
to learning and getting things done.

66
00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:56,879
After his father's death,

67
00:04:56,880 --> 00:05:00,879
the young Joseph Banks inherited
several estates and a vast fortune.

68
00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:06,039
And what he did with it
was quite extraordinary.

69
00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:08,999
Instead of setting off
on the usual grand tour of Europe,

70
00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:12,999
he arranged to join Captain Cook,
who was preparing to set off

71
00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:19,159
for the Pacific to find
the recently discovered island

72
00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:23,559
of Tahiti on the other side
of the world.

73
00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:30,519
Tahiti already had a thrilling
reputation as an island paradise,

74
00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:34,799
populated by noble savages
and beautiful, friendly women.

75
00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:40,039
But the scientific purpose
of the expedition was to observe

76
00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,719
the transit of the planet Venus
across the disc of the sun -

77
00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:47,719
a rare astronomical event.

78
00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:54,999
The measurement
would help calculate the distance

79
00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,279
between the Earth and the sun.

80
00:05:58,280 --> 00:06:01,239
And that would help
in calculating longitude,

81
00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:03,519
essential for accurate navigation,

82
00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:07,519
and, in turn, for the extension
of British sea power.

83
00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:11,639
For Banks, it was a wonderful
opportunity to discover

84
00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:15,639
just how varied animals and plants
were outside Europe.

85
00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:20,639
By the mid-18th century,
Britain's horizons had changed.

86
00:06:20,840 --> 00:06:24,839
She had colonies and trading posts
in America, Africa and India.

87
00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,759
This fuelled an intense desire
to explore, collect and classify

88
00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:32,879
the wonders of the world,

89
00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:36,639
from shells to beetles,
and flowers to fossils.

90
00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:39,159
So Banks' imminent voyage

91
00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:41,599
was causing great excitement
in the salons.

92
00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:45,599
He was already well connected
and well known.

93
00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:48,959
Now he was going
where few men had gone before,

94
00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:52,959
and who could tell
what he might find there?

95
00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:57,159
He insisted on taking with him
eight companions and two greyhounds.

96
00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:01,319
But Captain Cook's ship
The Endeavour

97
00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,159
was only 100 feet long
and it was already overcrowded.

98
00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:06,719
It had a crew of 85,

99
00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:09,919
astronomers together with their
equipment,

100
00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:13,479
stores for 18 months at sea,

101
00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,479
a goat and the ship's cat.

102
00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:21,759
Navy rules allowed each sailor
only 14 inches of hammock space.

103
00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:26,799
Captain Cook's great cabin
was only 12 feet square,

104
00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:30,959
but he would have to share it
with Banks and two of his entourage,

105
00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:32,559
their scientific equipment,

106
00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:34,999
as well as all the specimens
of fish,

107
00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:36,679
mammals, birds and plants

108
00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:38,959
that they would collect along
the way.

109
00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:42,959
Uncomfortable, yes,
but also extremely dangerous.

110
00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:48,879
As Dr Johnson put it,
a ship is like a jail,

111
00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:51,559
with the added risk of being
drowned.

112
00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:53,119
But apart from shipwreck,

113
00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:57,119
there was also the danger from
scurvy and other diseases,

114
00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:01,279
and fatal encounters with natives
in unknown savage lands.

115
00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,839
And indeed, of Banks' party
of eight,

116
00:08:06,840 --> 00:08:10,839
only three would return alive.

117
00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:15,799
The Endeavour set sail from Plymouth
on 25th August 1768,

118
00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:19,839
bound for the South Pacific
and immortality.

119
00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:23,719
It would be three years
before Banks saw England again.

120
00:08:23,720 --> 00:08:27,719
And he would come back
with a huge booty of new specimens.

121
00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:31,679
These would capture the attention
of the public and the King,

122
00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:35,199
and help Banks take science from
the interest of the privileged few

123
00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:39,199
to an activity at the heart
of the nation's pride and success.

124
00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:49,319
(HAWKING) But while Banks and Cook
were away on their voyage to
Tahiti...

125
00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:55,079
..back in Britain, a more humble man
was dreaming of something so radical

126
00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:59,599
that it would transform
the landscape of Britain

127
00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:03,599
and then the world.

128
00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:10,319
This elegant launch

129
00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:13,759
can go upstream or downstream,
irrespective of the wind.

130
00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:17,319
It's powered by a small steam
engine.

131
00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:20,999
HOOTING

132
00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,039
For the whole of human history,
man's only source of power

133
00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:25,679
was muscle, wind and water.

134
00:09:25,680 --> 00:09:29,679
That all changed with steam.

135
00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:38,359
The man who discovered
how to power the world

136
00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:41,519
was not a rich Etonian gentleman,
like Joseph Banks,

137
00:09:41,520 --> 00:09:43,839
but the son of a Scottish craftsman.

138
00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:47,639
His name was James Watt,
and his steam engine

139
00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:51,639
was to drive the
Industrial Revolution.

140
00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:58,279
And while Cook and Banks were
sailing to the other side of
the world,

141
00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:02,279
Watt was struggling with prototypes
in his Glasgow workshop.

142
00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:09,639
I spent five years
building 5,127 prototypes,

143
00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:13,639
so I know how he felt.

144
00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:17,639
James Watt was the son
of a shipbuilder on the Clyde

145
00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,439
and he would spend time in his
father's workshop, much like this,

146
00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:25,439
taking things apart and putting them
back together again.

147
00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:30,039
As an inventor, you always hope

148
00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:33,279
for the eureka moment. But the truth
is often far more prosaic,

149
00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:37,279
and so it was with Watt's discovery.

150
00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:43,039
The story goes that he was inspired

151
00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:47,039
by watching the lid
lifting on a boiling kettle.

152
00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:51,079
In fact, his interest
in the power of steam began

153
00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:53,639
when he was asked to mend
a broken model

154
00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:56,159
of an already existing steam engine.

155
00:10:56,160 --> 00:11:00,159
In 1764, a broken Newcomen engine
arrived in Watt's workshop.

156
00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:06,119
There were dozens in existence,
used for pumping water out of mines.

157
00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:11,239
But they were inefficient
and expensive to run.

158
00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:15,919
This waste of energy
began to obsess Watt.

159
00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:20,039
He couldn't believe there wasn't
a more efficient

160
00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:23,279
and much cheaper way of doing
things.

161
00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:26,839
Then it suddenly occurred to him
what was wrong.

162
00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:28,319
Steam was injected into the cylinder

163
00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:31,639
and then condensed with cooling
water to make a vacuum

164
00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:33,479
to pull down the piston.

165
00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:37,319
To get steam back into the system,
the whole thing had to be heated up

166
00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:38,959
all over again.

167
00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:41,519
The answer was to cool and condense

168
00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:43,959
the steam in a separate chamber

169
00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:47,439
outside the main cylinder,
instead of inside it.

170
00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:51,319
This would speed the cycle up
as well as saving energy.

171
00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:55,319
This was James Watt's great idea.

172
00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:58,399
That was a breakthrough,
because it meant

173
00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:01,199
that you wouldn't have
to heat and cool and heat and cool

174
00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:04,319
the cylinder and the piston
with every stroke.

175
00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:06,719
That would be a wonderful saving
of energy

176
00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:10,239
and allow the engine to be
three times more efficient

177
00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:12,079
than the Newcomen engine.

178
00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:16,079
Fired with enthusiasm, James Watt
rushed back into his workshop.

179
00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:19,719
Within a few days
he'd got the system working.

180
00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:23,079
But although it was
a moment of genius,

181
00:12:23,080 --> 00:12:27,079
it would be ten years before he had
a full-size working steam engine.

182
00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:38,239
The future had arrived.

183
00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:42,239
Watt's monsters throbbed
day and night.

184
00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:47,919
And there seemed no limit
to the power they gave to man.

185
00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:04,199
And here it is.
A James Watt steam engine.

186
00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:08,199
Over here we have the big
counterbalance weight of 16 tonnes.

187
00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:13,959
And the pump can lift three-quarters
of a tonne of water up to 200 feet.

188
00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:19,719
And here's the piston
going down into the huge cylinder.

189
00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:26,799
And underneath my feet, Watt's great
invention - a separate condenser,

190
00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:30,799
out of the way, exactly as it should
be.

191
00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:42,479
James Watt's invention
changed the world.

192
00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:45,599
He gave almost unlimited power
for mines,

193
00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:47,919
for factories, for transport,

194
00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:49,959
and even the power to make
electricity.

195
00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:53,959
He made the future and our present.

196
00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:01,799
This was the beginning
of the Industrial Revolution.

197
00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:04,439
Britain was
the first nation to industrialise.

198
00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:08,439
Watt himself made a fortune,
setting up factories,

199
00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:13,479
taking out patents, devising new
and ever more impressive machinery

200
00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,239
to harness the power of steam.

201
00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:20,359
Where Britain went,
the world followed

202
00:14:20,360 --> 00:14:24,359
and the modern economy was born.

203
00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:35,839
(HAWKING) But while Watt was toiling
away in his Glasgow workshop...

204
00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:40,359
a fellow Scot was scouring
the back streets of London,

205
00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:44,879
buying corpses.

206
00:14:50,700 --> 00:14:54,699
Modern surgery may seem miraculous.

207
00:14:56,660 --> 00:14:59,939
But in fact it's the result
of centuries of research

208
00:14:59,940 --> 00:15:03,939
into the human body and how it works.

209
00:15:06,060 --> 00:15:08,499
And the roots of modern surgery
can be found

210
00:15:08,500 --> 00:15:12,499
in the stinking streets and stews
of 18th-century London.

211
00:15:16,460 --> 00:15:20,459
Then, medicine was a horror show.

212
00:15:21,180 --> 00:15:25,179
But in the entrails of the dead,
one man was seeking the truth.

213
00:15:25,780 --> 00:15:29,779
His name was John Hunter.

214
00:15:32,260 --> 00:15:34,099
And here he is in a painting
by Joshua Reynolds

215
00:15:34,100 --> 00:15:35,859
in the Royal College Of Surgeons.

216
00:15:35,860 --> 00:15:37,819
There's the intense look on his
face.

217
00:15:37,820 --> 00:15:41,179
This obsessive workaholic,
surrounded by all the wonderful
objects

218
00:15:41,180 --> 00:15:45,179
in biology which so fascinated him.

219
00:15:46,220 --> 00:15:49,939
But Hunter's interest
in the wonders of nature

220
00:15:49,940 --> 00:15:53,939
was tied to his determination
to discover how the body
really worked.

221
00:15:55,700 --> 00:15:59,699
And so how to operate on it.

222
00:16:00,700 --> 00:16:03,219
An 18th-century surgeon
was more butcher than scientist.

223
00:16:03,220 --> 00:16:05,979
Cut and cauterise
were the basic techniques

224
00:16:05,980 --> 00:16:09,579
and speed was essential
because there were no anaesthetics.

225
00:16:09,580 --> 00:16:11,659
A good surgeon,

226
00:16:11,660 --> 00:16:15,539
with instruments like this,
could take off a leg
in 15 seconds flat.

227
00:16:15,540 --> 00:16:18,179
And if the patient
didn't die of shock,

228
00:16:18,180 --> 00:16:21,499
there was always
the severe risk of infection.

229
00:16:21,500 --> 00:16:25,099
The problem of course was ignorance.

230
00:16:25,100 --> 00:16:26,819
Nobody really knew
how the body worked,

231
00:16:26,820 --> 00:16:30,819
so what the surgeon did was to cut
and hope for the best.

232
00:16:36,220 --> 00:16:37,819
Like James Watt,

233
00:16:37,820 --> 00:16:41,819
John Hunter came from a relatively
humble background in lowland
Scotland.

234
00:16:42,380 --> 00:16:45,259
He came to London
to join his older brother,

235
00:16:45,260 --> 00:16:48,979
already a well-established surgeon.

236
00:16:48,980 --> 00:16:51,779
John's most important job
was finding bodies

237
00:16:51,780 --> 00:16:55,299
for dissection and demonstration.

238
00:16:55,300 --> 00:16:58,539
He mingled with the lowlife
around Covent Garden,

239
00:16:58,540 --> 00:17:01,219
paying good money for fresh corpses.

240
00:17:01,220 --> 00:17:05,219
Some came straight from the gallows,
others from the graves of paupers,

241
00:17:06,900 --> 00:17:09,019
courtesy of freelance body
snatchers,

242
00:17:09,020 --> 00:17:13,019
known as "resurrectionists".

243
00:17:13,020 --> 00:17:16,179
But out of this gruesome world,
he discovered

244
00:17:16,180 --> 00:17:20,179
he had an exceptional talent
for dissection.

245
00:17:20,460 --> 00:17:23,219
Hunter's determination
to drag surgery out of
the Middle Ages

246
00:17:23,220 --> 00:17:26,019
and put it on a scientific basis

247
00:17:26,020 --> 00:17:30,019
meant making accurate maps
of the body and how the parts
interact and function.

248
00:17:30,660 --> 00:17:32,299
And that meant anatomising

249
00:17:32,300 --> 00:17:36,299
both animals and humans,
normal and abnormal.

250
00:17:38,500 --> 00:17:42,019
Hunter did hundreds of dissections,
and little by little,

251
00:17:42,020 --> 00:17:45,739
he built up a detailed knowledge
of human anatomy.

252
00:17:45,740 --> 00:17:49,459
This was the basis
for his surgical technique.

253
00:17:49,460 --> 00:17:53,459
He soon built a reputation
as the surgeon least likely
to kill you.

254
00:17:53,660 --> 00:17:56,099
He knew what he was doing,

255
00:17:56,100 --> 00:17:58,619
and that's why
he was willing to take on the cases

256
00:17:58,620 --> 00:18:02,619
nobody else would touch.

257
00:18:03,580 --> 00:18:07,579
So, in October 1775,
when a ship's rigger
called John Burley

258
00:18:09,340 --> 00:18:11,939
with a facial tumour
twice the size of his head

259
00:18:11,940 --> 00:18:15,939
arrived at St George's Hospital,
he'd come to the right place.

260
00:18:16,540 --> 00:18:20,539
He had heard that John Hunter
was different from other surgeons.

261
00:18:23,060 --> 00:18:27,059
Without that meticulous technique -
and no anaesthetic, remember -

262
00:18:27,820 --> 00:18:30,739
the operation
would have been unthinkable.

263
00:18:30,740 --> 00:18:32,699
But John Hunter did it in 25 minutes
flat,

264
00:18:32,700 --> 00:18:36,699
and he says in his diary,
"The man did not cry out once."

265
00:18:38,340 --> 00:18:42,339
So this is John Burley's
monstrous tumour.

266
00:18:42,500 --> 00:18:43,699
Look at this.

267
00:18:43,700 --> 00:18:45,699
This is a parotid tumour
on the side of the face,

268
00:18:45,700 --> 00:18:47,779
and the facial nerve
could be anywhere.

269
00:18:47,780 --> 00:18:50,739
And the thing
that every surgeon dreads

270
00:18:50,740 --> 00:18:53,899
is cutting the facial nerve,
which would leave his face
paralysed.

271
00:18:53,900 --> 00:18:57,579
And here we see the result
of the surgery with the scar
afterwards.

272
00:18:57,580 --> 00:19:00,979
What Hunter has done is to make
his incision sufficiently beyond

273
00:19:00,980 --> 00:19:03,619
the back of the tumour
to avoid the facial nerve.

274
00:19:03,620 --> 00:19:06,059
That meant
an excellent knowledge of anatomy.

275
00:19:06,060 --> 00:19:10,059
So he leaves this scar
with no trace of facial paralysis,

276
00:19:11,580 --> 00:19:15,579
an eyelid that doesn't droop
and a straight mouth.
A remarkable result.

277
00:19:18,020 --> 00:19:21,219
John Hunter wrote three great
treatises,

278
00:19:21,220 --> 00:19:23,579
which became the standard works
on human teeth,

279
00:19:23,580 --> 00:19:27,579
gunshot wounds and venereal disease.

280
00:19:27,580 --> 00:19:31,459
He was appointed
Surgeon Extraordinary to the King

281
00:19:31,460 --> 00:19:35,139
and became the highest paid surgeon
in the land.

282
00:19:35,140 --> 00:19:39,139
But behind all his great
achievements
was a driving interest

283
00:19:39,420 --> 00:19:41,219
in the workings of the human body.

284
00:19:41,220 --> 00:19:45,179
He collected specimens of
everything.

285
00:19:45,180 --> 00:19:48,179
And the interested
and the well-connected

286
00:19:48,180 --> 00:19:52,179
all came to see his wonderful museum
of anatomical curiosities.

287
00:19:54,540 --> 00:19:57,659
Much of his collection was
destroyed.

288
00:19:57,660 --> 00:20:01,019
And this is the Hunterian Museum,
where the rest of the collection

289
00:20:01,020 --> 00:20:05,019
is preserved,
at the Royal College of Surgeons.

290
00:20:07,060 --> 00:20:08,979
The museum is a testament
to Hunter's passion

291
00:20:08,980 --> 00:20:12,979
for scientific experimentation
and to his obsessive desire
for collection.

292
00:20:14,580 --> 00:20:18,579
While his friend Banks
had set sail for Tahiti

293
00:20:18,660 --> 00:20:22,659
to find the most extraordinary
specimens he could,

294
00:20:22,660 --> 00:20:25,459
Hunter was scarcely less extreme.

295
00:20:25,460 --> 00:20:28,579
There's one last story about Hunter
that I can't resist telling.

296
00:20:28,580 --> 00:20:32,339
It's about his interest
in abnormalities and mutations

297
00:20:32,340 --> 00:20:36,339
and, intriguingly, it's hinted
at in the Reynolds painting here.

298
00:20:39,420 --> 00:20:41,099
These feet once belonged to a man

299
00:20:41,100 --> 00:20:43,899
called Charles Byrne,
who eked out a living

300
00:20:43,900 --> 00:20:47,899
at fairgrounds and freak shows,
calling himself the "Irish Giant".

301
00:20:49,700 --> 00:20:53,699
John Hunter badly wanted him
for his museum.

302
00:20:54,820 --> 00:20:57,659
The story goes that Byrne was
so frightened of being dissected

303
00:20:57,660 --> 00:21:01,659
after his death that he asked his
friends to bury him at sea
in a lead coffin,

304
00:21:02,780 --> 00:21:05,259
but his friends betrayed him
for money.

305
00:21:05,260 --> 00:21:08,179
Whether this is true or not,
we don't know.

306
00:21:08,180 --> 00:21:11,419
But certainly we know
that Hunter paid 130 for the body,

307
00:21:11,420 --> 00:21:15,099
a lot of money in today's terms -
about 15,000,

308
00:21:15,100 --> 00:21:17,819
and he took the corpse,
dismembered it, boiled it up

309
00:21:17,820 --> 00:21:21,819
in his great cauldron and then
reassembled the bones for display.

310
00:21:25,940 --> 00:21:29,939
And here he is -
Charles Byrne, the Irish Giant.

311
00:21:30,020 --> 00:21:33,339
Died at the age of 22.

312
00:21:33,340 --> 00:21:36,659
He had acromegaly -
a tumour of the pituitary gland.

313
00:21:36,660 --> 00:21:39,699
So much growth hormone
that he grew so large so young

314
00:21:39,700 --> 00:21:43,699
and died in consequence.

315
00:21:45,740 --> 00:21:47,339
But, for me,

316
00:21:47,340 --> 00:21:51,339
John Hunter is a true hero because
he informed so much of what we do.

317
00:21:52,340 --> 00:21:56,339
Even my own research has been
influenced directly by him.

318
00:21:58,580 --> 00:22:02,579
His real legacy is not his
marvellous
museum, but the scientific rigour

319
00:22:02,820 --> 00:22:06,499
he passed down
through generations of surgeons.

320
00:22:06,500 --> 00:22:10,499
Meticulous technique based on
detailed anatomical understanding.

321
00:22:11,420 --> 00:22:15,419
He helped take surgery
from butchery to science.

322
00:22:15,940 --> 00:22:18,979
A skilled profession
based on real knowledge.

323
00:22:18,980 --> 00:22:22,979
Hunter was the founding father
of modern surgery.

324
00:22:29,260 --> 00:22:33,059
Hunter more than earned
his place in our story.

325
00:22:33,060 --> 00:22:36,579
But he has another claim
to our attention

326
00:22:36,580 --> 00:22:38,939
as the teacher of the great
Edward Jenner.

327
00:22:38,940 --> 00:22:42,939
In 1796, Jenner would carry out

328
00:22:44,020 --> 00:22:47,459
one of the most important
scientific experiments of all time,

329
00:22:47,460 --> 00:22:51,459
the results of which would
ultimately save millions of lives.

330
00:23:00,180 --> 00:23:02,779
Edward Jenner
was a country doctor who lived

331
00:23:02,780 --> 00:23:04,859
in the Gloucestershire town
of Berkeley.

332
00:23:04,860 --> 00:23:07,019
I think he was probably
rather a good doctor,

333
00:23:07,020 --> 00:23:10,979
but more important,
he was a very good scientist -

334
00:23:10,980 --> 00:23:13,179
a good observer,
a good experimenter

335
00:23:13,180 --> 00:23:16,339
and the idea he came up with
could be said to have saved
more lives

336
00:23:16,340 --> 00:23:20,339
than any other in medical history.

337
00:23:20,900 --> 00:23:23,379
Jenner was interested in everything
-

338
00:23:23,380 --> 00:23:27,339
natural history, animal behaviour,
physics.

339
00:23:27,340 --> 00:23:30,499
But his interests in these areas
are footnotes

340
00:23:30,500 --> 00:23:34,499
to his most important experiment.

341
00:23:37,540 --> 00:23:41,059
Edward Jenner took on the number-one
killer in the 18th century -

342
00:23:41,060 --> 00:23:44,819
smallpox. It killed millions.

343
00:23:44,820 --> 00:23:48,819
And if it didn't kill you,
it could still hideously
disfigure you.

344
00:23:49,300 --> 00:23:53,299
It was something truly horrible.

345
00:23:58,940 --> 00:24:02,699
In 1800, the historian Macaulay
said,

346
00:24:02,700 --> 00:24:04,699
"Smallpox was always present.

347
00:24:04,700 --> 00:24:08,699
"Filling the churchyard with
corpses,
tormenting with constant fear

348
00:24:09,340 --> 00:24:11,379
"all whom it had not yet stricken,

349
00:24:11,380 --> 00:24:15,379
"leaving on those whose lives
it spared the hideous traces
of its power,

350
00:24:16,260 --> 00:24:18,219
"turning the babe into a changeling

351
00:24:18,220 --> 00:24:22,219
"at which the mother shuddered,
and making the eyes and cheeks

352
00:24:22,660 --> 00:24:26,659
"of the betrothed maiden
objects of horror for the lover."

353
00:24:31,220 --> 00:24:33,659
Before Jenner came along,
it was widely known

354
00:24:33,660 --> 00:24:37,459
that people who'd had smallpox
would never get smallpox again.

355
00:24:37,460 --> 00:24:41,379
From quite ancient times,
the practice of variolation -

356
00:24:41,380 --> 00:24:43,619
as it later became called - was
done.

357
00:24:43,620 --> 00:24:47,619
That meant infecting people
deliberately with smallpox

358
00:24:48,980 --> 00:24:52,979
in a way that was hoped -
and with some justification -

359
00:24:53,380 --> 00:24:55,219
would not give them
full-blown smallpox,

360
00:24:55,220 --> 00:24:58,059
but would give them
an attenuated form.

361
00:24:58,060 --> 00:25:01,819
But this was a very risky practice.

362
00:25:01,820 --> 00:25:03,499
Jenner thought a safer alternative

363
00:25:03,500 --> 00:25:07,499
might be found in the fields
and farms around his surgery.

364
00:25:09,900 --> 00:25:13,379
It was widely believed
that milkmaids had beautiful skin

365
00:25:13,380 --> 00:25:17,379
and the reason people believed that
was that they didn't get smallpox.

366
00:25:18,020 --> 00:25:21,779
Could it be that milkmaids
were protected from smallpox

367
00:25:21,780 --> 00:25:23,539
by catching cowpox?

368
00:25:23,540 --> 00:25:27,539
This was the theory
that Jenner wanted to investigate.

369
00:25:33,980 --> 00:25:37,979
Jenner remembered the maxim
of his mentor John Hunter.

370
00:25:38,460 --> 00:25:40,579
"Don't think. Try the experiment."

371
00:25:40,580 --> 00:25:44,579
And, in April 1796,
that's exactly what Jenner did.

372
00:25:47,780 --> 00:25:51,779
A girl called Sarah Nelmes caught
cowpox from a cow called Blossom

373
00:25:52,180 --> 00:25:56,179
that she was looking after.

374
00:25:56,260 --> 00:25:58,459
Jenner immediately swung into
action.

375
00:25:58,460 --> 00:26:01,339
He took puss from Sarah's pustules

376
00:26:01,340 --> 00:26:05,339
and deliberately
infected a boy called James Phipps,

377
00:26:05,340 --> 00:26:08,419
an eight-year-old boy
who was the son of his gardener,

378
00:26:08,420 --> 00:26:11,659
with cowpox that he got from Sarah.

379
00:26:11,660 --> 00:26:14,379
Then - this was the daring part
of the experiment

380
00:26:14,380 --> 00:26:17,619
which would never get past
an ethics committee nowadays -

381
00:26:17,620 --> 00:26:21,619
he deliberately infected James
with smallpox.

382
00:26:23,140 --> 00:26:26,459
James didn't get smallpox.

383
00:26:26,460 --> 00:26:29,179
This was the key result -

384
00:26:29,180 --> 00:26:33,179
Jenner had demonstrated
the possibility of vaccination.

385
00:26:35,500 --> 00:26:39,499
The story of Jenner and the milkmaid
and the gardener's son

386
00:26:40,060 --> 00:26:42,099
has become a kind of iconic story
in medical history.

387
00:26:42,100 --> 00:26:45,259
It's one of these stories
we like to hear, we like to tell.

388
00:26:45,260 --> 00:26:49,259
It kind of conveys the idea
in a single, vivid moment in
history.

389
00:26:57,100 --> 00:27:01,099
Jenner is rightly regarded
as the father of immunology,

390
00:27:01,220 --> 00:27:04,179
one of the most important
medical breakthroughs ever.

391
00:27:04,180 --> 00:27:08,179
Many deadly diseases are now
avoidable because of immunisation.

392
00:27:10,300 --> 00:27:12,979
And as for smallpox itself,

393
00:27:12,980 --> 00:27:15,899
this is one of the great triumphs
of medical science.

394
00:27:15,900 --> 00:27:19,899
In 1980, the World Health
Organisation officially declared it
extinct.

395
00:27:24,420 --> 00:27:27,379
It's sad that today some people
are fearful of vaccinations

396
00:27:27,380 --> 00:27:31,379
and stop their children
from having them.

397
00:27:32,100 --> 00:27:35,379
In Jenner's day, vaccination was
a silver bullet which stopped

398
00:27:35,380 --> 00:27:39,379
the horrors of a deadly disease
and probably saved more children's
lives

399
00:27:40,260 --> 00:27:44,259
than any other medical advance.

400
00:27:44,300 --> 00:27:48,299
He was, I think rightly,
hailed as a hero.

401
00:27:50,260 --> 00:27:54,259
Watt, Hunter and Jenner all used
their scientific imaginations
practically,

402
00:27:56,180 --> 00:27:59,659
transforming the lives of millions.

403
00:27:59,660 --> 00:28:01,499
But, for me,

404
00:28:01,500 --> 00:28:05,499
one of the greatest scientists
of the 18th century was a man

405
00:28:05,940 --> 00:28:09,939
who had no more thought for
the purpose of what he did
than a butterfly.

406
00:28:11,260 --> 00:28:15,219
Henry Cavendish
was the richest man in England

407
00:28:15,220 --> 00:28:19,219
and one of the most brilliant minds
since Newton.

408
00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:26,399
The 18th century was a time
of tremendous enthusiasm for science.

409
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:30,639
Inspiration was being found

410
00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:34,639
not in the cloisters of universities,
but out on the high seas...

411
00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:39,039
...in a Glasgow workshop,

412
00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:42,159
on the sordid back streets of London,

413
00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:46,159
and in the grandest houses
in the land.

414
00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:53,839
JIM AL-KHALILI: This is Chatsworth
House, ancestral home
to Henry Cavendish,

415
00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:58,599
one of the most brilliant,
if strange, men of the 18th century.

416
00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:03,639
Henry Cavendish was a silent
and solitary man, hugely eccentric

417
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:05,719
and pathologically shy.

418
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:08,119
I guess these days
we'd say he was a perfect example

419
00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:10,199
of Asperger's syndrome.

420
00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:14,199
He even communicated
with his servants by writing notes.

421
00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:19,239
In his long career
as a natural philosopher,

422
00:29:19,240 --> 00:29:21,639
Cavendish probed
the secrets of nature

423
00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:25,639
with brilliant insights
and meticulous experiments.

424
00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:32,879
But he wasn't interested
in fame or acknowledgement

425
00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:36,879
and often neglected
to tell anyone about his
discoveries,

426
00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:41,159
many of which remained unpublished
until after his death.

427
00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:45,399
But there was something he did tell
people about, his discovery in 1766

428
00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:49,919
of one of the most important
elements in the universe.

429
00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:52,879
Oh, you've already got
your gas in there.

430
00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:56,879
You're going to pour the acid in?
Let's have a look.

431
00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:00,719
Cavendish found that if he
dissolved zinc in sulphuric acid...

432
00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:02,559
Oh, there you go.

433
00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:06,559
...he could generate a colourless
gas and collect itover water.

434
00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:09,479
PUPIL: It should make
a loud and squeaky pop.

435
00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:10,839
I like pops in chemistry.

436
00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:14,839
He called the new gas
"inflammable air".

437
00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:18,839
(POPPING)

438
00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:22,839
Cavendish had discovered hydrogen,
the simplest of all the elements

439
00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:26,199
and the fuel that powers
the sun and the stars.

440
00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,439
In fact, three-quarters
of all the atoms in the universe

441
00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:30,799
are hydrogen atoms.

442
00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:34,679
(POPPING)

443
00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:38,679
Cavendish filled a pig's bladder
with his new gas and weighed it.

444
00:30:39,760 --> 00:30:43,759
He found that it was about
11 times lighter than ordinary air.

445
00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:49,119
Now, this suggested
exciting possibilities.

446
00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:00,639
Before long,
the first hydrogen-filled balloon

447
00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:02,279
rose into the sky.

448
00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:06,279
For the very first time,
people could see the world
from above.

449
00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:11,719
Soon they could cross
the English Channel, then the ocean.

450
00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:16,079
His discovery continued to have
an impact long after his death.

451
00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:21,919
One day, scientists would find out
how hydrogen powers the universe

452
00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:26,799
and learn how to make a bomb.

453
00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:36,119
A result Cavendish
can scarcely have dreamt of.

454
00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:42,519
But I can't tell you the story of
Cavendish without that of his friend

455
00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:45,399
Joseph Priestley.

456
00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:48,359
Priestley was his direct opposite.

457
00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:52,359
Radical, outgoing, eclectic
in his interests and his passions.

458
00:31:55,160 --> 00:31:58,719
And it would take Priestley
and Cavendish working together

459
00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:02,719
to crack the secret of one of
the world's most common substances.

460
00:32:08,320 --> 00:32:12,319
Priestley was a nonconformist
preacher who believed

461
00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:16,359
that a scientific understanding
of the world would bring man closer
to God.

462
00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:20,999
He made huge contributions
to electricity and optics,

463
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:23,639
but also to theology and philosophy.

464
00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:27,639
His ideas influenced utilitarianism
and later socialism.

465
00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:31,639
But it was his politics
that would get him into trouble.

466
00:32:31,640 --> 00:32:35,439
When his friends held a dinner party
in 1791

467
00:32:35,440 --> 00:32:39,439
to support the French Revolution,
patriotic rioters destroyed his
house

468
00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:44,439
and Priestley had to flee England
for America, never to return.

469
00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:53,359
Priestley's revolutionary politics
showed he wasn't afraid to question

470
00:32:54,400 --> 00:32:56,999
what others accepted as a given.

471
00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:00,999
This was the key
to his scientific genius.

472
00:33:02,600 --> 00:33:06,159
20 years before
he was forced to flee the country,

473
00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:10,159
Priestley was spending all his
spare time in a local brewery,

474
00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:14,519
investigating the nature of air.

475
00:33:16,960 --> 00:33:18,759
Priestley observed that the air

476
00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:22,759
that gathers at the top of the vat
had different properties
to normal air.

477
00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:27,439
For instance, if he lit a match
and held it over the beer...

478
00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:34,359
...it went out.

479
00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:37,279
It's almost spooky
because there's no breeze.

480
00:33:37,280 --> 00:33:41,279
Of course, what Priestley
was observing was carbon dioxide

481
00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:45,879
which forms when the yeast
in the beer turns sugar into
alcohol.

482
00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:50,199
He then studied whether
this air was poisonous,
and apparently

483
00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:53,119
he held various creatures in it.

484
00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:55,439
Butterflies and insects were fine,

485
00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:59,439
but a mouse had convulsions
and a frog lost consciousness.

486
00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:04,119
He later discovered
that this air dissolves in water

487
00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:05,799
and made it taste good.

488
00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:09,799
He'd discovered soda water.

489
00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:15,919
Soon drinking soda water became
a craze that spread across Europe

490
00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:18,879
and the recipe

491
00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:22,879
eventually fell into the hands
of a German called Johann Schweppe.

492
00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:27,279
Cheers!

493
00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:29,479
Priestley himself
never sought to make money

494
00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:33,479
from any of his discoveries,
but his brilliance was noticed.

495
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:36,999
Despite his revolutionary politics,

496
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:39,639
without the patronage of
the aristocracy,

497
00:34:39,640 --> 00:34:43,439
he might never had made
his greatest discovery.

498
00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:47,439
The Earl of Shelburne
heard about Priestley

499
00:34:47,480 --> 00:34:51,239
and hired him as a companion
and tutor for his children.

500
00:34:51,240 --> 00:34:53,399
His wife had just died.

501
00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:57,399
Lord Shelburne was fascinated
by science and he gave Priestley

502
00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:02,279
a small room in his country home
to use as a laboratory.

503
00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:05,479
So it was here, in Bowood House
in Wiltshire,

504
00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:09,479
over the next seven years,
that Priestley did his best work

505
00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:14,119
and made the discovery
for which he is most famous.

506
00:35:17,240 --> 00:35:21,239
Priestley's own experiments had
shown
that a mouse in a sealed bell jar

507
00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:25,919
would soon use up whatever it was
in the air that sustained life.

508
00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:31,279
But he discovered that
if you put a mint plant
into the jar,

509
00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:34,519
the mouse would revive.

510
00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:38,399
Somehow, the plant
was processing the stale air

511
00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:40,679
and replacing it with fresh air.

512
00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:42,319
And it didn't have to be mint.

513
00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:45,399
Spinach worked even better.

514
00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:49,399
On Monday, August 1st, 1774,

515
00:35:49,800 --> 00:35:53,359
in his lab at Bowood House,
Priestley discovered

516
00:35:53,360 --> 00:35:57,359
what it was that the mouse needed,
and what the plants provided.

517
00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:03,199
It was in this very room
that Priestley carried out
his famous experiments.

518
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:07,999
He heated some orange mercuric
oxide powder in a glass tube.

519
00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:15,159
A colourless gas was given off.

520
00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:19,159
He was amazed to find it would
re-ignite a glowing ember.

521
00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:26,399
A mouse, Priestley found,
could live twice as long

522
00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:30,399
breathing this new kind of air
as it could breathing ordinary air.

523
00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:35,839
He'd discovered oxygen,
the secret of life.

524
00:36:37,240 --> 00:36:39,279
Priestley collected
a large amount of it,

525
00:36:39,280 --> 00:36:43,279
so that he could try
breathing it for himself.

526
00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:50,039
And he liked it as much
as the mice did.

527
00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:54,039
He wrote,
"My breast felt peculiarly light

528
00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:56,679
"and easy for some time afterwards.

529
00:36:56,680 --> 00:36:58,959
"Who can tell but that in time,

530
00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:02,879
"this pure air may become
a fashionable item?

531
00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:05,719
"Hitherto, only two mice and myself

532
00:37:05,720 --> 00:37:09,199
"have had the privilege
of breathing it."

533
00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:13,199
Joseph Priestley is credited
with identifying ten
different gases,

534
00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:17,759
including nitric oxide and ammonia.

535
00:37:17,880 --> 00:37:21,879
But oxygen was,
of course, the big one.

536
00:37:22,840 --> 00:37:26,839
And it was this that drew him
and the reclusive Cavendish
together.

537
00:37:29,160 --> 00:37:31,319
Cavendish and Priestley
did something else

538
00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:35,319
with hydrogen and oxygen,
something very important.

539
00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:38,399
They found that a mixture
of the two gases,

540
00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:42,399
ignited by an electrical spark,
created water.

541
00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:46,919
So water wasn't
a fundamental element after all,

542
00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:50,319
something that had been believed
since the time of the ancient
Greeks.

543
00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:53,759
They'd shown that it's a compound.

544
00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:56,959
Two parts hydrogen
to one part oxygen.

545
00:37:56,960 --> 00:38:00,959
H2O.

546
00:38:08,040 --> 00:38:12,039
Together, Cavendish and Priestley
laid the foundations of chemistry.

547
00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:15,759
Theirs was a pure science,

548
00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:19,759
the impact less obvious
than the work of Watt or Jenner,

549
00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:23,759
and far less exciting to the public
than the return of Captain Cook

550
00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:29,679
and Joseph Banks from their long
voyage to the southern seas,

551
00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:34,839
bearing exotic specimens
from an unknown world.

552
00:38:41,300 --> 00:38:45,299
ATTENBOROUGH: In July 1771,
Captain Cook and Joseph Banks

553
00:38:45,900 --> 00:38:47,699
arrived back in London

554
00:38:47,700 --> 00:38:51,699
after spending three years at sea
and travelling over 25,000 miles

555
00:38:52,620 --> 00:38:55,659
round the world.

556
00:38:55,660 --> 00:38:59,299
Several times, their ship
had been given up as lost,

557
00:38:59,300 --> 00:39:01,059
and almost half the crew

558
00:39:01,060 --> 00:39:05,059
had died of malaria and
dysentery on the way home.

559
00:39:10,380 --> 00:39:12,779
Cook and Banks were national heroes.

560
00:39:12,780 --> 00:39:15,299
For surviving, yes,

561
00:39:15,300 --> 00:39:17,299
but also for the wonders
and the stories

562
00:39:17,300 --> 00:39:19,139
that they brought back with them.

563
00:39:19,140 --> 00:39:21,099
They had mapped New Zealand

564
00:39:21,100 --> 00:39:23,859
and they had claimed
eastern Australia for the Crown.

565
00:39:23,860 --> 00:39:27,859
They called it New South Wales.

566
00:39:28,220 --> 00:39:32,219
Banks was painted by Joshua Reynolds
as a romantic hero.

567
00:39:32,900 --> 00:39:34,979
Young, handsome, charming

568
00:39:34,980 --> 00:39:38,979
and full of traveller's tales,
he was the man of the moment.

569
00:39:39,260 --> 00:39:42,299
Stories of erotic
adventures in Tahiti

570
00:39:42,300 --> 00:39:46,299
only increased the admiration and
wonder he inspired in London society.

571
00:39:50,420 --> 00:39:54,419
Banks and his friends had brought
back with them a vast haul

572
00:39:54,420 --> 00:39:57,659
of mammals, birds,
reptiles, insects,

573
00:39:57,660 --> 00:40:00,979
sea creatures, ethnological specimens

574
00:40:00,980 --> 00:40:04,979
the like of which had never been seen
in Britain or Europe before.

575
00:40:05,140 --> 00:40:09,139
Many of those actual specimens
have now disappeared,

576
00:40:09,220 --> 00:40:11,939
but there are lots of drawings
and paintings to show us

577
00:40:11,940 --> 00:40:12,979
some of the wonders

578
00:40:12,980 --> 00:40:16,979
that Banks and his friends
encountered.

579
00:40:19,900 --> 00:40:23,859
Along with all the plants
and flowers, birds and fish,

580
00:40:23,860 --> 00:40:25,659
Banks brought back the skin

581
00:40:25,660 --> 00:40:29,659
of a strange creature they had shot
and eaten one morning in Australia.

582
00:40:30,460 --> 00:40:34,339
He commissioned George Stubbs,
the artist,

583
00:40:34,340 --> 00:40:36,779
to stuff the skin and paint it.

584
00:40:36,780 --> 00:40:40,779
Stubbs had to make up a few details,
but the result was splendid.

585
00:40:46,140 --> 00:40:48,819
The kangaroo
caught the public imagination,

586
00:40:48,820 --> 00:40:52,819
and soon Banks would thrill London
with another exotic creature.

587
00:40:53,700 --> 00:40:56,219
Banks had wanted to bring back

588
00:40:56,220 --> 00:40:59,979
a Tahitian with him,
thinking, in his own words,

589
00:40:59,980 --> 00:41:01,899
"to keep him as a curiosity,

590
00:41:01,900 --> 00:41:04,659
"as my neighbours
do lions and tigers".

591
00:41:04,660 --> 00:41:07,979
And when Cook came back
from his second voyage,

592
00:41:07,980 --> 00:41:10,619
he did indeed bring a Tahitian.

593
00:41:10,620 --> 00:41:14,019
A young man called Omai.

594
00:41:14,020 --> 00:41:18,019
Banks fitted out Omai
and took him to meet the King.

595
00:41:18,220 --> 00:41:22,219
Omai greeted George III
with the words "How do, King Tosh?"

596
00:41:23,220 --> 00:41:27,139
And the King was delighted.

597
00:41:27,140 --> 00:41:31,139
George III was fascinated by Banks
and his discoveries,

598
00:41:32,940 --> 00:41:35,899
and the two men became close friends,
or at any rate,

599
00:41:35,900 --> 00:41:37,699
as close as you can be to a king.

600
00:41:37,700 --> 00:41:41,699
In consequence,
the King put Banks in charge

601
00:41:41,740 --> 00:41:45,739
of one of his favourite projects,
the botanical gardens at Kew.

602
00:41:49,300 --> 00:41:52,139
The boy who had been inspired
to become a naturalist

603
00:41:52,140 --> 00:41:53,179
by the wild flowers

604
00:41:53,180 --> 00:41:57,179
on the banks of the Thames,
at only 30 years old

605
00:41:57,660 --> 00:42:01,619
was put in charge of a
vast garden by the river,

606
00:42:01,620 --> 00:42:05,619
to be filled with flowers and
plants from all over the world.

607
00:42:08,300 --> 00:42:11,459
Banks was to be the
unofficial director of Kew

608
00:42:11,460 --> 00:42:14,619
for the rest of his long
life, nearly 50 years.

609
00:42:14,620 --> 00:42:17,619
Under his influence,
Kew became a clearing house

610
00:42:17,620 --> 00:42:21,619
for plants like tea and rubber.

611
00:42:23,140 --> 00:42:27,139
New species were introduced around
the empire, tea and hemp to India,

612
00:42:27,740 --> 00:42:31,739
breadfruit to the West Indies.

613
00:42:34,260 --> 00:42:37,539
These botanical invasions
changed landscapes and lives,

614
00:42:37,540 --> 00:42:41,539
fuelling the expanding empire
and making Britain rich.

615
00:42:44,660 --> 00:42:48,659
More than this, Banks was also
President of the Royal Society.

616
00:42:49,700 --> 00:42:52,419
Under him, the society grew
from a small association

617
00:42:52,420 --> 00:42:56,419
of natural philosophers
to an increasingly influential group

618
00:42:57,580 --> 00:42:59,779
of practising scientists.

619
00:42:59,780 --> 00:43:01,659
But, for all his grandeur,

620
00:43:01,660 --> 00:43:04,659
Banks himself never
lost his fascination

621
00:43:04,660 --> 00:43:08,659
with the exotic and the wonderful,
regardless of any apparent utility.

622
00:43:13,820 --> 00:43:16,499
Here is a superb example.

623
00:43:16,500 --> 00:43:20,419
It's the oldest pot plant
in the world,

624
00:43:20,420 --> 00:43:24,419
Encephalartos altensteinii.

625
00:43:24,820 --> 00:43:28,819
It's only once borne a cone, in 1819,

626
00:43:28,940 --> 00:43:32,939
and Joseph Banks came here
to Kew specially to see it.

627
00:43:33,380 --> 00:43:36,179
It proved to be his last visit.

628
00:43:36,180 --> 00:43:40,179
He was crippled with gout
and he died a few months later.

629
00:43:44,620 --> 00:43:48,619
Joseph Banks put botany and zoology
firmly on the scientific map.

630
00:43:50,460 --> 00:43:54,459
He revealed how rich and
biologically diverse our planet is.

631
00:43:55,500 --> 00:43:59,499
He excited the imagination
of the King and of the public.

632
00:43:59,660 --> 00:44:03,659
He made science in Britain
really matter.

633
00:44:11,460 --> 00:44:15,459
HAWKING: By Banks's death in 1820,
science in Britain had come of age.

634
00:44:17,980 --> 00:44:21,979
The generation before them,
Newton, Hooke and Halley,

635
00:44:22,700 --> 00:44:26,699
had turned their attention to
the great puzzles of the universe.

636
00:44:28,460 --> 00:44:32,459
Banks and his contemporaries had
taken science out into the world.

637
00:44:37,620 --> 00:44:41,619
James Watt's engines
were transforming the landscape.

638
00:44:44,820 --> 00:44:48,819
The first great battle of the long
war against disease had been won.

639
00:44:50,780 --> 00:44:54,779
And Banks's work at Kew was helping
make Britain and her empire rich.

640
00:44:57,340 --> 00:45:01,339
This engraving was commissioned
for sale to the public in 1861,

641
00:45:02,780 --> 00:45:06,779
and it shows how much
scientists themselves had changed.

642
00:45:07,740 --> 00:45:11,339
This was not just
a few independent thinkers,

643
00:45:11,340 --> 00:45:14,819
but a whole roomful of men
publicly celebrated

644
00:45:14,820 --> 00:45:18,819
for fuelling the powerhouse
that was Victorian Britain.

645
00:45:21,220 --> 00:45:25,219
Like the generation before them,
it was curiosity which drove them.

646
00:45:28,460 --> 00:45:30,259
Between them, they had shown

647
00:45:30,260 --> 00:45:34,259
that science could explore the world
and transform the way we understand

648
00:45:35,260 --> 00:45:39,259
the very air we breathe
and the water we drink.

649
00:45:44,980 --> 00:45:47,659
ATTENBOROUGH:
The world is full of wonders,

650
00:45:47,660 --> 00:45:49,899
but they become more wonderful,

651
00:45:49,900 --> 00:45:53,299
not less wonderful,
when science looks at them.

652
00:45:53,300 --> 00:45:57,299
You may pick up a rock and find
what is clearly a seashell in it,

653
00:45:58,740 --> 00:46:02,019
and you may say
that is wonderful, indeed it is.

654
00:46:02,020 --> 00:46:04,219
But it becomes more wonderful

655
00:46:04,220 --> 00:46:08,059
when you know that it is
150 million years old

656
00:46:08,060 --> 00:46:11,779
and was laid down
at the bottom of the sea.

657
00:46:11,780 --> 00:46:15,539
And science
is full of those revelations.

658
00:46:15,540 --> 00:46:19,539
How wonderful it is that water
can rise from the ground here

659
00:46:20,820 --> 00:46:24,299
and come out at the top
of these trees behind me.

660
00:46:24,300 --> 00:46:26,259
Science explains that.

661
00:46:26,260 --> 00:46:30,259
It's more wonderful, not less.

662
00:46:38,820 --> 00:46:42,419
AL-KHALILI: Next time,
big ideas about energy,

663
00:46:42,420 --> 00:46:46,419
engineering and evolution.

664
00:46:47,260 --> 00:46:51,259
The Victorians
revolutionise communication,

665
00:46:52,220 --> 00:46:56,219
turn on the lights and start
building the world we live in today.

666
00:47:09,940 --> 00:47:13,939
Subtitles by
Red Bee Media Ltd