Adam John Hart-Davis (born 4 July 1943) is an English scientist, author, photographer, historian and broadcaster. He presented the BBC television series '' Local Heroes'' and ''

What the Romans Did for Us ''What the Romans Did for Us'', is a 2000 BBC documentary series "looking at the innovations and inventions brought to Britain by the Romans". The title of the programme is derived from the cult film ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'', referencing ...

'', the latter spawning several spin-off series involving the

Victorians In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian ...

, the

Tudors The House of Tudor was a royal house of largely Welsh and English origin that held the English throne from 1485 to 1603. They descended from the Tudors of Penmynydd and Catherine of France. Tudor monarchs ruled the Kingdom of England and it ...

, the

Stuarts The House of Stuart, originally spelt Stewart, was a royal house of Scotland, England, Ireland and later Great Britain. The family name comes from the office of High Steward of Scotland, which had been held by the family progenitor Walter fi ...

and the Ancients. He was also a co-presenter of ''

Tomorrow's World ''Tomorrow's World'' is a former British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorro ...

'', and presented ''

Science Shack {{Use dmy dates, date=October 2022 ''Science Shack'' was a BBC television series screened in 2001 and 2002. It was presented by Adam Hart-Davis and produced by Leeds UK-based Screenhouse Productions. The series set out to answer science questions ...

''. Hart-Davis was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

in 2007.

Personal life

Hart-Davis was born and brought up in

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...

, the youngest child of the publisher Sir Rupert Hart-Davis (1907–1999) and his second wife, Catherine Comfort Borden-Turner. He was educated at St Andrew's Preparatory School, near

Pangbourne Pangbourne is a large village and civil parish on the River Thames in Berkshire, England. Pangbourne has its own shops, schools, a railway station on the Great Western main line and a village hall. Outside its grouped developed area is an in ...

, and then at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

, before studying

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...

. He then took a PhD degree in

organometallic chemistry Organometallic chemistry is the study of organometallic compounds, chemical compounds containing at least one chemical bond between a carbon atom of an organic molecule and a metal, including alkali, alkaline earth, and transition metals, and so ...

at the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

and spent three years as a post-doctoral scholar at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

in Canada. Subsequently, he worked at the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, editing science texts and

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

manuals. In 2004 he was awarded an honorary degree (Doctor of Letters) from the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

. He was married to Adrienne Alpin (m. 1965–1995), with whom he had two sons, Damon and Jason Hart-Davis. His second wife is

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

Dr. Susan Blackmore, whom he married on 19 June 2010. His siblings are the journalist

Duff Hart-Davis Peter Duff Hart-Davis (born 3 June 1936), generally known as Duff Hart-Davis is a British biographer, naturalist and journalist, who writes for ''The Independent'' newspaper. He is married to Phyllida Barstow and has one son and one daughter, th ...

and Bridget, the dowager Lady Silsoe. He is an uncle of the journalist

Alice Hart-Davis Alice Hart-Davis (born 1963) is a British people, British journalist, author and founder of thetweakmentsguide.com. Early life Born in Builth Wells, the daughter of the biographer and journalist Duff Hart-Davis, and a granddaughter of publisher ...

Career in broadcasting

Hart-Davis's work in broadcasting began in 1977 when he joined

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

(YTV) as a researcher, working on material for

Magnus Pyke Magnus Alfred Pyke (29 December 1908 – 19 October 1992) was an English nutritional scientist, governmental scientific adviser, writer and presenter. He worked for the UK Ministry of Food, the post-war Allied Commission for Austria, and diff ...

, David Bellamy,

Miriam Stoppard Miriam, Lady Hogg ( Stern; formerly Stoppard; born 12 May 1937), known professionally by her former married name Miriam Stoppard, is an English medical doctor, journalist, author and television presenter. Early life and medical career Miria ...

as well as ''

Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World ''Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World'' is a thirteen-part British television series looking at unexplained phenomena from around the world. It was produced by Yorkshire Television for the ITV network and first broadcast on 6 September 1980. ...

''. In 1985 he was promoted to production work, producing the Fred Harris-fronted TV show ''Me & My Micro'' and the

Johnny Ball Johnny Ball (born Graham Thalben Ball; 23 May 1938) is an English television personality, a populariser of mathematics and the father of BBC Radio 2 DJ Zoe Ball. Early life Ball was born in Bristol and attended Kingswood Primary School on th ...

-fronted ''Fun & Games'', amongst other things. He also devised and produced the school science show ''Scientific Eye''. In the early 1990s Hart-Davis moved in front of the camera to present two series for YTV: ''On The Edge'' and '' Local Heroes''. The latter programme featured him cycling around the North of England in his trademark fluorescent pink and yellow cycling clothes, seeking out places associated with the great innovators of science and technology. The bicycles were his own, as he is a keen cyclist, owning an early Burrows Windcheetah as well as a mountain bike fitted with an early front monoblade. This series was transferred to

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

, where its scope became national, a different region being the subject of each episode. ''Big Questions'

, a five-part Channel 4 science series for young people that he presented received a BAFTA nomination in 2002. A new television series for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

called The Cosmos – A Beginner's Guide'' was broadcast on 7 August 2007 by BBC Two, and explored the latest ideas and experiments in

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount (lexicographer), Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', and in 1731 taken up in ...

. It was accompanied by a book of the same name. He also appeared in TV advertisements for

HM Revenue & Customs HM Revenue and Customs (His Majesty's Revenue and Customs, or HMRC) is a non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the His Majesty's Government, UK Government responsible fo ...

with the catchphrase "tax doesn't have to be taxing". Following a statement from Hart-Davis, in which he mentioned the level of complexities within the UK tax system, his contract with

ended.

Ambassador for science communication

Hart-Davis has a passion for raising awareness of simple benefits that science may bring to the quality of living, particularly in the developing world. One such innovation is the design of smoke-hoods from galvanised iron or mud to prevent the deadly effects of smoke inhalation from cooking fires inside houses in the developing world. He is the Patron of the FatallyFlawed campaign against the use of plug-in socket covers. He is also Patron of

Erasmus Darwin House Erasmus Darwin House in Lichfield, Staffordshire is the former home of the English poet and physician Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of naturalist Charles Darwin. The house is a Grade I listed building, and is now a writer's house museum commemorat ...

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...

, the eighteenth-century home of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

's grandfather, now a museum open to the public.

Filmography

*'' Local Heroes'' (1996–99) *''

'' (2000) *''Big Questions'' (2001) *''Live from Dinosaur Island'' (2001) *''

What the Victorians Did for Us ''What the Victorians Did for Us'' is a 2001 BBC documentary series that examines the impact of the Victorian era on modern society. It concentrates primarily on the scientific and social advances of the era, which bore the Industrial Revolution ...

'' (2001) *''

What the Tudors Did for Us ''What the Tudors Did for Us'' is a 2002 BBC documentary series that examines the impact of the Tudor period on modern society. Episodes Episode one: ''Seeing the World'' Hart-Davis travels around Britain to introduce the idea and invention ...

'' (2002) *'' What the Stuarts Did for Us'' (2002) *''

'' (2002) *''

Meet the Ancestors ''Meet the Ancestors'' (later ''Ancestors'') is a BBC Television documentary series first broadcast in 1998. It documented the archaeological excavation and scientific reconstruction of human remains. The series was introduced by archaeologist ...

'': ''

Our Top Ten Treasures ''Our Top Ten Treasures'' was a 2003 special episode of the BBC Television series ''Meet the Ancestors'' which profiled the ten most important treasures unearthed in Britain, as voted for by a panel of experts from the British Museum. Productio ...

'' (2003) *''Stardate: Close Encounters'' (2004) *''

What the Ancients Did for Us ''What the Ancients Did for Us'' is a 2005 BBC documentary series presented by Adam Hart-Davis that examines the impact of ancient civilizations on modern society. Production The series was produced in conjunction with the Open University and ...

'' (2005) *''How London Was Built'' (2005) *''

Just Another Day Just Another Day may refer to: Music * ''Just Another Day'' (album), an album by Wire Daisies * " Just Another Day...", a song by Queen Latifah * "Just Another Day", a song by The Game from the album '' Compton'' * "Just Another Day", a song by ...

'' (2007) *''How London Was Built'' (2008) *''Beeching's Tracks'' (2008) *''How Britain Was Built'' (2009)

Published works

He has written many books, including a history of the toilet, entitled ''Thunder, Flush and Thomas Crapper'', and ''Taking The Piss'' (''A Potted History of Pee'').
Published works include:

Author

* ''Scientific Eye '', HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (November 1985), () * ''Mathematical Eye'', Collins Educational (September 1989), () * ''Scientific Eye: Exploring the Marvels of Science'', Sterling Pub Co Inc (Mar 1990), () * ''Amazing Math Puzzles'', Sterling Publishing; Reprint edition (May 1997), () * ''Thunder, Flush and Thomas Crapper: An Encycloopedia'', Michael O'Mara Books; New Ed edition (10 October 1997), () * ''Chain Reactions: Pioneers of British Science and Technology'', National Portrait Gallery Publications (24 November 2000), () * ''What the Victorians Did for Us'', Headline Book Publishing (5 August 2002), () * ''The World's Stupidest Inventions'', Michael O'Mara Books (18 August 2003), () * ''What the Tudors and Stuarts Did for Us'', Boxtree Ltd (5 September 2003), () * ''What the Past Did for Us'', Publisher: BBC Books (14 October 2004), () * ''Why Does A Ball Bounce?: And 100 Other Questions From the Worlds of Science'', Ebury Press (1 September 2005), () * ''Just Another Day'', Orion (21 September 2006), () * ''History: The Definitive Visual Guide – from the Dawn of Civilisation to the Present Day'', Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd (4 October 2007), () * ''Eurekaaargh!! A spectacular collection of inventions that nearly worked''. Past Times edition published 1999. *''The Book of Time'', 2010. *''Very Heath Robinson'', Sheldrake Press (2017), ()

Collaborations

* ''Where There's Life'', (with

Hilary Lawson Hilary Lawson is an English philosopher and founder of the Institute of Art and Ideas. His theory of "closure" puts forward a non-realist metaphysics arguing that people close the openness of the world with thought and language. Lawson has also ...

), Michael Joseph Ltd (10 May 1982), () * ''Test Your Psychic Powers'', (with

Susan Blackmore Susan Jane Blackmore (born 29 July 1951) is a British writer, lecturer, sceptic, broadcaster, and a Visiting Professor at the University of Plymouth. Her fields of research include memetics, parapsychology, consciousness, and she is best known fo ...

Sterling Publishing Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. is a publisher of a broad range of subject areas, with multiple imprints and more than 5,000 titles in print. Founded in 1949 by David A. Boehm, Sterling also publishes books for a number of brands, including AAR ...

; Reprint edition (May 1997), () * ''"Local Heroes" Book of British Ingenuity'', (with Paul Bader),

Sutton Publishing The History Press is a British publishing company specialising in the publication of titles devoted to local and specialist history. It claims to be the United Kingdom's largest independent publisher in this field, publishing approximately 300 ...

Ltd; (25 September 1997), ( ) * ''More "Local Heroes"'', (with Paul Bader), Sutton Publishing Ltd (20 August 1998), () * ''100 Local Heroes'', (with Paul Bader), Sutton Publishing Ltd; Rev Ed edition (22 July 1999), () * ''What the Romans Did for Us'', (with Philip Wilkinson),

Boxtree Ltd Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

; New Ed edition (20 July 2001), ( ) * ''The Book of Victorian Heroes'', (with Paul Bader), Sutton Publishing Ltd (23 August 2001), () * ''Classic Mathemagic'', (with Raymond Blum and Bob Longe), MetroBooks (NY) (August 2002), () * ''Catchphrase, Slogan and Cliché'', (with Judy Parkinson),

Michael O'Mara Books Michael O'Mara Books is a small, family-run, privately owned publishing house in the United Kingdom. Established in London in 1985, by an American expatriate, Michael O'Mara, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and his British wife, Lesley, ...

(1 October 2003), () * ''

Henry Winstanley Henry Winstanley (31 March 1644 – 27 November 1703) was an English painter, engineer and merchant, who constructed the first Eddystone lighthouse after losing two of his ships on the Eddystone rocks. He died while working on the project duri ...

and the Eddystone Lighthouse'', (with Emily Troscianko), Sutton Publishing Ltd; New Ed edition (23 October 2003), () * ''Taking the Piss: A Potted History of Pee'', (with Emily Troscianko), The Chalford Press (10 October 2006), () * ''The Cosmos: A Beginner's Guide'', (with Paul Bader), BBC Books (21 June 2007), () * ''Science : the definitive visual guide'', Dorling Kindersley Limited ()