Synopsis
Adam Hart-Davis continues his search for unsung heroes of science when he cycles around the south of England. On a stop-off in Surrey, he uses a tin of tuna to explain the physics behind Neville Barnes-Wallis's invention of the bouncing bomb. Other subjects include Charles Darwin, whose theory of evolution is explored in a series of programmes beginning on Friday, and Thomas Young, who discovered how the eyes focus.
- Programme: Local Heroes
- Series: 3
- Episode: 05: South
- Channel: BBC Two
- Broadcast year: 1998
Licence: ERA Licence required
Free to watch for UK schools, colleges and universities with an ERA Licence
UK only
Staff and students of licensed education establishments only
Cannot be adapted
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More clips from Local Heroes
S03E01: Cornwall | Local Heroes
S03E01: Cornwall | Local Heroes
Adam visits south-west England, where his subjects include William Murdock, who devised the world's first mechanical vehicle and also came up...
S03E02: London | Local Heroes
S03E02: London | Local Heroes
This week he visits London, where he builds his own submarine to illustrate the achievements of Cornelus Drebbel, who rowed underwater from Wes...
S03E03: Egypt | Local Heroes
S03E03: Egypt | Local Heroes
Adam Hart-Davis travels to Egypt in search of the earliest heroes of science. Using a drinks can and a stove, he recreates Hero of Alexandria's ...
S03E04: Italy | Local Heroes
S03E04: Italy | Local Heroes
Adam Hart-Davis visits southern Italy, home to the greatest scientists of the ancient world. In Syracuse, he recreates Archimedes' famous ''eure...
S03E06: Ireland | Local Heroes
S03E06: Ireland | Local Heroes
Adam Hart-Davis cycles around Ireland to rediscover some scientific milestones. He looks at how John Tyndall found the sky was blue, how Charl...
S03E07: Potteries | Local Heroes
S03E07: Potteries | Local Heroes
Adam Hart-Davis searches for unsung heroes of science on a trip to the Potteries, Staffordshire. Using a few pipes, a ribbon and an air pump...
S03E08: Merseyside | Local Heroes
S03E08: Merseyside | Local Heroes
Adam relives his childhood love of Meccano, invented by Frank Hornby, before moving on to celebrate the work of other scientists and innova...
S03E09: Home Counties | Local Heroes
S03E09: Home Counties | Local Heroes
Hart-Davis begins by exploding balloons of hydrogen and oxygen in London, just as Henry Cavendish did in the late 18th century to prove ...
S03E10: Edinburgh | Local Heroes
S03E10: Edinburgh | Local Heroes
This week Hart-Davis makes the journey to Elgin, re-creating the moment when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, and to the site w...
S03E11: The Netherlands | Local Heroes
S03E11: The Netherlands | Local Heroes
In Delft, Hart-Davis profiles the draper who was the first person to see bacteria through a microscope and the book-keeper whose gravi...
S03E13: Gloucestershire | Local Heroes
S03E13: Gloucestershire | Local Heroes
Adam Hart-Davis recalls the work of Edwin Beard Budding, who invented the lawnmower, and focuses on William Henry Fox Talbot, the fath...
S03E14: Local Heroines | Local Heroes
S03E14: Local Heroines | Local Heroes
Adam visits London, where all his heroines are women.
S03E15: East Midlands | Local Heroes
S03E15: East Midlands | Local Heroes
Adam Hart-Davis cycles to Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire to find out about this week's heroes. They include Frank Whittle, who inven...
S03E16: Glasgow | Local Heroes
S03E16: Glasgow | Local Heroes
Adam Hart-Davis concludes the series by visiting western Scotland. There he learns about John Logie Baird, inventor of the television, Lord Ke...
More resources about Darwin and natural selection
Charles Darwin And The Tree Of Life
Charles Darwin And The Tree Of Life
David Attenborough is a passionate Darwinian, and sees evolution as the cornerstone of all the programmes and series he has ever made. He...
02: Born Equal? | Andrew Marr on Darwin's Dangerous Idea
02: Born Equal? | Andrew Marr on Darwin's Dangerous Idea
Andrew Marr explores Darwin's impact on politics and society, including how the theory of natural selection has been...
01: Body and Soul | Andrew Marr on Darwin's Dangerous Idea
01: Body and Soul | Andrew Marr on Darwin's Dangerous Idea
Andrew Marr explores how Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection has taken on a life of its own far beyo...
Darwin | Bitesize Secondary
Darwin | Bitesize Secondary
A selection of clips taken from BBC programmes about Darwin and evolutionary biology. The programme includes material on adaptation and natural s...
06: The Human Race | Bellamy Rides Again
06: The Human Race | Bellamy Rides Again
Having examined the earth's life-support systems, David Bellamy turns his attention to the human beings who depend upon them. Every ...
Evidence for evolution | Charles Darwin And The Tree Of Life
Evidence for evolution | Charles Darwin And The Tree Of Life
David Attenborough explores how the process of evolution produces such astonishing variety.
Natural Selection and Darwin's finches | Charles Darwin And The Tree Of Life
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David Attenborough outlines Darwin's discovery of the theories of evolution and natural selection.
The Tree of Life | Charles Darwin And The Tree Of Life
The Tree of Life | Charles Darwin And The Tree Of Life
David Attenborough takes us on a journey through time from the first cells through to the complex animals that inhabit...
03: Life and Death | Andrew Marr on Darwin's Dangerous Idea
03: Life and Death | Andrew Marr on Darwin's Dangerous Idea
Andrew Marr discovers how Darwin's ideas are helping mankind to save life on earth from extinction. He explains D...
Gregor Mendel, Francis Crick and James Watson | Charles Darwin And The Tree Of Life
Gregor Mendel, Francis Crick and James Watson | Charles Darwin And The Tree Of Life
David Attenborough explores how the discovery of DNA provided further evidence for Darwi...
How fossils and living animals provide links between animal groups | Charles Darwin And The Tree Of Life
How fossils and living animals provide links between animal groups | Charles Darwin And The Tree Of Life
Passionate Darwinian David Attenborough looks at the evidence for ev...
The development of artificial selection in farming | Science of the Harvest
The development of artificial selection in farming | Science of the Harvest
Stefan Gates reveals the ways in which plant breeders can speed up natural selection.
More from Adam Hart-Davis
S02E06: South East | Local Heroes
S02E06: South East | Local Heroes
Adam Hart-Davis's search for Britain's greatest scientific pioneers is in South-East England, where he looks at the work of Hertha Ayrton, ...
The Clock That Changed the World | A History of the World
The Clock That Changed the World | A History of the World
Adam Hart-Davis tells the story of the amazing 280-year-old wooden clock, made in Lincolnshire, that changed timeke...
03: The Aztecs, Maya and Incas | What the Ancients Did for Us
03: The Aztecs, Maya and Incas | What the Ancients Did for Us
Roving reporter Hermione Cockburn describes Aztec, Mayan and Incan inventions, including chocolate, suspension ...
20: Anglesey | Hart-Davis on History
20: Anglesey | Hart-Davis on History
Adam Hart-Davis and Jayne Constantinis visit Anglesey, featuring a look at the Menai Straits, Welsh music, Beaumaris Castle, Amlwch Port...
02: The Applyance of Science | What the Stuarts Did for Us
02: The Applyance of Science | What the Stuarts Did for Us
Hart-Davis travels around Britain to introduce the idea and inventions of the Stuart Period in science and enginee...
01: Seeying the Worlde | What The Tudors Did For Us
01: Seeying the Worlde | What The Tudors Did For Us
The development of scientific instruments gave the Tudors new worlds to explore, both on land and on sea. And did the Eng...
04: Crime and Punishment | What the Victorians Did For Us
04: Crime and Punishment | What the Victorians Did For Us
Adam Hart-Davis investigates the Victorian innovations that left a lasting impression on British society. In this p...
06: Ahead of Their Time | What the Romans Did for Us
06: Ahead of Their Time | What the Romans Did for Us
In the last of the series, Hart-Davis looks at how the Romans kept the citizens of the empire entertained, taps his fing...
15: West Norfolk | The History Hour
15: West Norfolk | The History Hour
Adam Hart-Davis concludes his tour of Britain with a visit to west Norfolk to look at the region's farming history.