0:00:05 > 0:00:09Britain has produced far more than its fair share of trailblazers
0:00:09 > 0:00:10and innovators.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17Men and women who explained heredity by decoding DNA.
0:00:20 > 0:00:24Who provided the physics for every space programme ever conceived.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30And transformed communication for ever with the World Wide Web.
0:00:37 > 0:00:42I want to explore Britain's pivotal role in creating modern science.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49Reveal the characters that have made science what it is today.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52I'll be looking at the love-hate relationship
0:00:52 > 0:00:55that exists between British science and the British public.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01Where some of Britain's greatest discoveries came from.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07And asking whether we benefit more from science where we know
0:01:07 > 0:01:11what we're looking for, or whether the best ideas come...
0:01:12 > 0:01:14..out of the blue.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31The great British scientists who have transformed
0:01:31 > 0:01:34our thinking about the universe and our place within it, owe much
0:01:34 > 0:01:39of their success to one incredible idea - the scientific method.
0:01:41 > 0:01:46It's the bedrock of modern science, a way of making scientific ideas
0:01:46 > 0:01:51testable by comparing them with experimental results.
0:01:51 > 0:01:56One of its earliest practitioners was Sir Isaac Newton.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05This is Newton's death mask.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07It's a plaster cast of his face
0:02:07 > 0:02:10that would have been taken moments after he died.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14You think of Newton as almost an abstract set of theories.
0:02:14 > 0:02:17We think of his Universal Law Of Gravitation.
0:02:17 > 0:02:22But when you look at this you see a different Newton.
0:02:22 > 0:02:24You see Newton the man.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41Newton was obsessive, malicious and prone to outbursts of rage.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44But there was something
0:02:44 > 0:02:47quite extraordinary about the way that he worked.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53In an age when people still believed in magic,
0:02:53 > 0:02:57Newton devised a revolutionary theoretical framework
0:02:57 > 0:03:01with which to accurately investigate the nature of the world.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Newton was born in 1642 into an England
0:03:05 > 0:03:09that was a country in transition, where science,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12where rational thought, where reason were beginning to flower.
0:03:12 > 0:03:14At the time,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18one of the great questions was about the nature of light.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21It was known that if you take a prism and shine sunlight through it,
0:03:21 > 0:03:28then it splits the sunlight into all the colours of the rainbow.
0:03:28 > 0:03:29The question was why?
0:03:35 > 0:03:39The common explanation for the appearance of the colours
0:03:39 > 0:03:41was that they were impurities added
0:03:41 > 0:03:43by the prism to the pure white light.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52Newton thought that the colours were already present in the white
0:03:52 > 0:03:58sunlight, but what set Newton apart was the fact that he devised
0:03:58 > 0:04:01and performed an experiment to test his hypothesis.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07He shone a white source of white light through a prism
0:04:07 > 0:04:10and, as expected, obtained a rainbow.
0:04:11 > 0:04:12But then he added a twist.
0:04:15 > 0:04:21And here's the genius. He introduced a slit into that rainbow beam,
0:04:21 > 0:04:25and that allowed him to isolate a particular colour of light
0:04:25 > 0:04:28and shine that into a second prism.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33Then, he looked for the deflection of the coloured light onto his wall.
0:04:35 > 0:04:36You can see that over there.
0:04:38 > 0:04:44Now, look what happens when I move the red light across the slit
0:04:44 > 0:04:46to the green light.
0:04:46 > 0:04:51On the wall what you see is green light into the prism
0:04:51 > 0:04:53equals green light out.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58Now, that implies that the colours themselves are pure,
0:04:58 > 0:05:02the prism is not adding or subtracting anything.
0:05:02 > 0:05:07That means that Newton's hypothesis was shown to be correct.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11The colours themselves are the basic building blocks of light
0:05:11 > 0:05:16and white light is made up of all those individual colours.
0:05:16 > 0:05:17That's genius.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34Newton was one of the first to interrogate nature
0:05:34 > 0:05:39using the principles of what we now call the scientific method.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41In other words, he observed the world,
0:05:41 > 0:05:43came up with theories to explain
0:05:43 > 0:05:48what he saw, then tested them with experiments to see if he was right.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56The power of this approach is that it aims
0:05:56 > 0:05:58to remove preconceived ideas
0:05:58 > 0:06:00and in doing so deliver a more
0:06:00 > 0:06:02accurate description of the natural world.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11And that's how Newton made incredible discoveries.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14Most of which he recorded in this priceless book.
0:06:15 > 0:06:16The Principia.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22It's in here that the first time that
0:06:22 > 0:06:25the Universal Law Of Gravitation is outlined.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27It's also his laws of motion
0:06:27 > 0:06:30that say how objects move around in the universe.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33It's pretty much everything you do in the first year
0:06:33 > 0:06:36of an undergraduate degree in physics, actually.
0:06:43 > 0:06:48On the face of it, it seems baffling that the scientific method
0:06:48 > 0:06:50took so long to emerge.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55After all, Newton lived just a few hundred years ago.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Part of the problem is that our world
0:07:00 > 0:07:03is a complicated and baffling place...
0:07:05 > 0:07:07..but it's much easier to understand...
0:07:09 > 0:07:10..if you simplify it.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15It is possible to deduce the nature of light
0:07:15 > 0:07:18by investigating a rainbow,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22but by creating a controllable, repeatable experiment,
0:07:22 > 0:07:27Newton was able to support his hypothesis and then transfer
0:07:27 > 0:07:30that understanding to the much more complex world
0:07:30 > 0:07:31outside the laboratory.
0:07:42 > 0:07:47But powerful though the method is, a crucial factor in its success
0:07:47 > 0:07:50seems to be extraordinary individuals,
0:07:50 > 0:07:54people who appear to bring something extra to the process.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01This is the only picture of Henry Cavendish,
0:08:01 > 0:08:03and the reason is that he was very uncomfortable
0:08:03 > 0:08:04about sitting for portraits.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06In fact he never did it.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10So this was done mainly by an artist who glimpsed him over dinner
0:08:10 > 0:08:12and then sketched it out from memory,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16and it shows all the essential eccentric features of the man.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19He's wearing a hat which has been described as something
0:08:19 > 0:08:20from the previous century.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24And he always wore the same coat,
0:08:24 > 0:08:27and he liked it so much that every year when it wore out
0:08:27 > 0:08:29he had a new one exactly the same tailored.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40Cavendish's eccentricity was combined with a far more
0:08:40 > 0:08:43important trait for a scientist -
0:08:43 > 0:08:46an insatiable sense of curiosity.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50His main aim in life was to weigh, number and measure
0:08:50 > 0:08:53as many objects as he possibly could,
0:08:53 > 0:08:57and fortunately, like many scientists at the time,
0:08:57 > 0:09:00he was fabulously wealthy so he was able to
0:09:00 > 0:09:04indulge his curiosity with hundreds of extraordinary experiments.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10Like this one, which he first reported in 1766.
0:09:14 > 0:09:18It involves taking a metal...
0:09:19 > 0:09:21We'll take zinc...
0:09:22 > 0:09:24And then I'm going to pour
0:09:24 > 0:09:27concentrated hydrochloric acid onto the zinc.
0:09:35 > 0:09:40Now I'm going to bubble the gas that's produced into this soap
0:09:40 > 0:09:45solution, so these bubbles are now going to be filled with this gas,
0:09:45 > 0:09:48and very quickly and carefully I'm going to light the gas.
0:09:48 > 0:09:49EXPLOSION
0:09:51 > 0:09:55Now, Cavendish called that not, um...
0:09:55 > 0:09:58not inappropriately, I suppose, inflammable air.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01It's the gas that we now know as hydrogen.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08But Cavendish didn't stop there,
0:10:08 > 0:10:12he doggedly continued his quest to quantify hydrogen
0:10:12 > 0:10:16until he could describe every aspect of its existence.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19First he wanted to see how it would react with other things,
0:10:19 > 0:10:21like air.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26So, I'm going to repeat Cavendish's experiment again
0:10:26 > 0:10:28but this time with a vessel.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32What I'm going to do is fill it with hydrogen...
0:10:36 > 0:10:40So that's full of inflammable air, and I'm going to light the spark.
0:10:42 > 0:10:43EXPLOSION
0:10:47 > 0:10:51Now, what you saw there was a chemical reaction,
0:10:51 > 0:10:53the reaction of hydrogen with air,
0:10:53 > 0:10:57and if you look closely on the sides of the flask
0:10:57 > 0:11:01you'll see that it's... well, it's wet.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05That is water, and it's appeared as a result of the chemical reaction.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10In many respects, Cavendish embodies what science
0:11:10 > 0:11:14and what being a scientist is all about.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18His curiosity about the world drove him to design experiments
0:11:18 > 0:11:23in an effort to gain new insights into the way the world works.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28Now, Cavendish didn't really have any idea
0:11:28 > 0:11:30what happened in these chemical reactions.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34Indeed, his whole theoretical framework was nonsense
0:11:34 > 0:11:37to modern eyes. It was based on alchemy.
0:11:37 > 0:11:38EXPLOSION
0:11:38 > 0:11:40But because he was a great experimental scientist,
0:11:40 > 0:11:43his measurements were correct.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47So he managed to measure that water is made of
0:11:47 > 0:11:51two parts of hydrogen to one part of oxygen - H2O.
0:11:51 > 0:11:56Even though he didn't believe that water was made of anything at all.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00So that ability to get your theoretical picture,
0:12:00 > 0:12:04your ideas about the way that nature worked, completely wrong
0:12:04 > 0:12:08and yet make honest and precise measurements that stand the test
0:12:08 > 0:12:13of time and are correct, is the mark of a great experimental scientist.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21Cavendish has rightly gone down in history as one
0:12:21 > 0:12:23of this country's greatest scientists.
0:12:25 > 0:12:26But perhaps he should be remembered
0:12:26 > 0:12:31more for his association with another aspect of science,
0:12:31 > 0:12:35because he was instrumental in establishing this place,
0:12:35 > 0:12:37at 21 Albemarle Street, London.
0:12:38 > 0:12:39The Royal Institution.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49Where the vision was that the public could hear of the great
0:12:49 > 0:12:51discoveries of science.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58The Royal Institution became a platform for a new breed,
0:12:58 > 0:13:00the science personality.
0:13:02 > 0:13:03From Humphry Davy,
0:13:03 > 0:13:08the showman who famously danced with joy at his scientific discoveries...
0:13:09 > 0:13:11..to Michael Faraday,
0:13:11 > 0:13:15who began the tradition of giving the now famous Christmas Lectures.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19And the theatre is still used by scientists to engage
0:13:19 > 0:13:21with the public to this day.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23If now I remove the filter...
0:13:23 > 0:13:24EXPLOSION
0:13:24 > 0:13:26..something happens.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Britain was amongst the first countries to understand that
0:13:29 > 0:13:33the pursuit of science is a vital part of nationhood.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38I'd like you to grab some of that hydrogen in the soap bubbles.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42'And that public engagement ensures science's bloodline.'
0:13:42 > 0:13:44- Ow!- You all right?
0:13:44 > 0:13:45APPLAUSE
0:13:59 > 0:14:02In the early 19th century,
0:14:02 > 0:14:06as science rapidly transformed the way we understood the world,
0:14:06 > 0:14:09the public became increasingly desperate
0:14:09 > 0:14:12to hear of the latest advances.
0:14:12 > 0:14:17London's Royal Institution was a beacon of scientific learning.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20Lectures given by the top scientists of the day
0:14:20 > 0:14:24were sold out quickly and, in 1802,
0:14:24 > 0:14:28the hottest ticket in town offered the chance to see a real star,
0:14:28 > 0:14:32the Royal Institution's new professor of chemistry,
0:14:32 > 0:14:33Humphry Davy.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41As well as being a brilliant chemist,
0:14:41 > 0:14:46Davy was also a passionate communicator of science.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51Davy was a genuine star.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55The Royal Institution theatre was packed with the great
0:14:55 > 0:14:57and the good of the day.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02They had come to witness Davy's spectacular demonstrations.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06It had all the excitement of a magic show.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10But what Davy was doing was better than magic.
0:15:13 > 0:15:14It was chemistry.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22Davy was said to be something of a pyromaniac.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27He even burnt diamonds,
0:15:27 > 0:15:29to demonstrate that these most precious gems
0:15:29 > 0:15:34are made of carbon, the same stuff as coal.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41To Davy's audience this was captivating.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46Here, in front of their eyes,
0:15:46 > 0:15:49he was demonstrating one of the latest scientific theories.
0:15:52 > 0:15:57That everything is made up of a limited number of elements.
0:16:00 > 0:16:04Davy was famous for doing spectacular experiments,
0:16:04 > 0:16:07in particular for blowing things up.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11And this is one of the experiments. It's involving iodine,
0:16:11 > 0:16:16which is in fact one of the elements Davy is famous for discovering.
0:16:16 > 0:16:22So, Davy mixed iodine... with this liquid...
0:16:23 > 0:16:25..and what happens is
0:16:25 > 0:16:28a powerful contact explosive is made,
0:16:28 > 0:16:33and in one of his experiments he temporarily blinded himself
0:16:34 > 0:16:36by doing just what I'm doing now.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46Now what Davy wanted to do was to educate his audience.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50He wanted to show them that chemistry was exciting
0:16:50 > 0:16:51and counter intuitive,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54this idea that you can make compounds
0:16:54 > 0:16:56out of other substances
0:16:56 > 0:16:59that have extremely surprising and, in this case,
0:16:59 > 0:17:01spectacular properties.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11Nitrogen triiodide is a wonderful compound for demonstrating
0:17:11 > 0:17:12those ideas.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16It's basically a nitrogen atom with three iodines stuck to it.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Now, nitrogen atoms want to interact,
0:17:19 > 0:17:23they want to bond together into the very stable nitrogen molecule,
0:17:23 > 0:17:27but the iodines keep them just far enough apart
0:17:27 > 0:17:29that they can't interact.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32All you have to do to change that and make them
0:17:32 > 0:17:37interact very quickly indeed, is to give them a little tickle.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43And it really is a very little tickle.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52EXPLOSION
0:17:52 > 0:17:53Wa-ha!
0:17:53 > 0:17:55Look at that!
0:17:55 > 0:17:58And that purple vapour there is iodine,
0:17:58 > 0:18:01so that was a very rapid chemical reaction.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05Nitrogen is produced and iodine is released.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09Yeah, I can see why Davy liked that.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21Davy was demonstrating
0:18:21 > 0:18:24that acquiring and applying scientific knowledge...
0:18:25 > 0:18:27..gives us power over nature.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33And his writings reveal how he believed
0:18:33 > 0:18:37the future of humankind lay in exploiting that power.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42"Science has bestowed upon him powers
0:18:42 > 0:18:45"which may be almost called creative,
0:18:45 > 0:18:46"which have enabled him to modify
0:18:46 > 0:18:49"and change the beings surrounding him,
0:18:49 > 0:18:53"and by his experiments to interrogate nature with power,
0:18:53 > 0:18:58"not simply as a scholar, passive and seeking only to understand
0:18:58 > 0:18:59"her operations,
0:18:59 > 0:19:04"but rather as a master, active with his own instruments."
0:19:09 > 0:19:12Here Davy is talking about being a creator.
0:19:13 > 0:19:14In the Biblical sense.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20Of controlling nature.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Davy is claiming for science the territory previously occupied
0:19:28 > 0:19:30exclusively by religion.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37The seeds of public disquiet regarding scientists
0:19:37 > 0:19:39playing God were sown.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41And may have provided the inspiration for
0:19:41 > 0:19:45Mary Shelley's seminal novel, Frankenstein.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49The idea of scientists creating monsters...
0:19:51 > 0:19:53..was born.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05These potato plants growing in a field in Norfolk
0:20:05 > 0:20:08are considered by some people to be dangerous...
0:20:09 > 0:20:12..because they've been genetically modified.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16They are even referred to as Frankenfoods.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27They were created here at the Sainsbury laboratory,
0:20:27 > 0:20:32just outside Norwich, by plant geneticist Jonathan Jones.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35But he doesn't see these plants as monsters.
0:20:37 > 0:20:41You can put in genes that you could not put in by breeding, and so there
0:20:41 > 0:20:45are certain genes that do something really useful, such as make
0:20:45 > 0:20:48it much easier to control disease, much easier to control pests,
0:20:48 > 0:20:50and much easier to control weeds.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57It's remarkable that we have the ability to precisely manipulate
0:20:57 > 0:21:01and alter the genetic make-up of other living organisms,
0:21:04 > 0:21:07But it also means GM is at the heart of a long-standing debate
0:21:07 > 0:21:11about the possible dangers of scientific progress.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15A debate that started at the beginning of the genetic revolution
0:21:15 > 0:21:17with the discovery of DNA.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23It's here in Cambridge that Francis Crick and James Watson
0:21:23 > 0:21:25discovered the structure of DNA.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29The molecule that passes biological information
0:21:29 > 0:21:33from generation to generation.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38Crick and Watson's approach to finding that structure was to
0:21:38 > 0:21:40build physical models of the molecule.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44But it was proving unsuccessful.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46They desperately needed more and better data.
0:21:49 > 0:21:54And it came from a branch of physics called X-ray crystallography.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56This is a very famous photograph.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58It's called Photograph 51.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00It was actually taken by another scientist,
0:22:00 > 0:22:01Rosalind Franklin,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04and it's what's called an X-ray diffraction photograph.
0:22:04 > 0:22:09So Franklin shone X-rays through a sample of DNA molecules
0:22:09 > 0:22:13and the way that they scatter or diffract off the molecules,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16the pattern they leave on the photographic plate,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19allowed you to deduce the structure of those molecules.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23The key piece of evidence is the X.
0:22:23 > 0:22:27That allowed Franklin to suggest that the molecule must be helical,
0:22:27 > 0:22:31and in fact, must have that famous double helix.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35So, this photograph, along with Franklin's suggestions,
0:22:35 > 0:22:38her interpretation of the pattern,
0:22:38 > 0:22:43allowed Watson and Crick to go away and build their model of DNA.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51When they published the structure of DNA in 1953,
0:22:51 > 0:22:55Crick said, "We have discovered the secret of life."
0:22:57 > 0:22:58Crick was right.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02The discovery of the structure of DNA was one of the great moments
0:23:02 > 0:23:04in modern scientific history.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11By the early 1970s, the genetic code had been translated, making it
0:23:11 > 0:23:15possible to identify individual genes and study their function.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21We now had access to the workings of life itself.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26But the genetic revolution was accompanied by a widespread
0:23:26 > 0:23:30feeling that science had gone too far,
0:23:30 > 0:23:32and to this day,
0:23:32 > 0:23:36scientists haven't always been able to control the debate.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38And nowhere is that clearer
0:23:38 > 0:23:43than in the controversy over GM crops in this country.
0:23:49 > 0:23:54To many scientists, GM crops hold the key to more efficient,
0:23:54 > 0:23:57more environmentally-friendly agriculture,
0:23:57 > 0:24:01but they've been unable to persuade a sceptical public
0:24:01 > 0:24:02of the safety of the technique.
0:24:07 > 0:24:11Instead, public opinion has been led by a vigorous anti-GM campaign
0:24:11 > 0:24:13that started in the 1990s
0:24:13 > 0:24:18and which has left many people dead-set against GM crops.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24There are fears that the crops may contaminate the environment,
0:24:24 > 0:24:26or that they may be unsafe to eat,
0:24:26 > 0:24:30and underlying it all is a feeling that there's something
0:24:30 > 0:24:34fundamentally wrong about meddling with life at such a basic level.
0:24:39 > 0:24:44Yeah, what do you think of this...this label, Frankenfood?
0:24:44 > 0:24:48The suggestion is that because we can now put genes from an animal,
0:24:48 > 0:24:52let say a cow or a jellyfish or whatever it is,
0:24:52 > 0:24:54into a plant, there's something
0:24:54 > 0:24:59unnatural and therefore potentially dangerous about that procedure.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02Well, the word "unnatural" is a real weasel word.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06I mean, it's unnatural to treat your kids with antibiotics, isn't it?
0:25:06 > 0:25:09You ought to let them die. I know which I'd prefer.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12Agriculture is fundamentally unnatural,
0:25:12 > 0:25:15whether it's organic agriculture or hi tech agriculture,
0:25:15 > 0:25:18conventional agriculture. We are eliminating all the trees
0:25:18 > 0:25:21and wildlife that used to be there and planting the plants that we
0:25:21 > 0:25:25want to have there to provide the stuff that we eat.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28So, the thing we have to ask ourselves is, what's the least
0:25:28 > 0:25:31bad way of protecting our crops from disease
0:25:31 > 0:25:36and pests, for reducing the losses caused by weeds?
0:25:41 > 0:25:45As a scientist working on GM crops, you'd expect Jonathan
0:25:45 > 0:25:47to be a powerful advocate for the technology,
0:25:47 > 0:25:49but his view is also backed up
0:25:49 > 0:25:55by a vast body of research that shows it to be safe and effective.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00So if GM crops are to have a future in this country
0:26:00 > 0:26:03the scientists need to find a better way to persuade the public
0:26:03 > 0:26:04to share their confidence.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15Scientists are often baffled by negative public reaction
0:26:15 > 0:26:18to a new scientific discovery.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22They sometimes fail to appreciate that the public
0:26:22 > 0:26:24genuinely fear that science is dangerous.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28The way to combat that fear
0:26:28 > 0:26:31is through effective public engagement.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40And perhaps surprisingly, one of the best examples of that
0:26:40 > 0:26:42comes from over 200 years ago
0:26:42 > 0:26:47and a scientist who at the time was perceived to be a dangerous villain.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59In the lobby of the Royal College of Surgeons stands a statue
0:26:59 > 0:27:04of John Hunter, a Scotsman and one of the fathers of modern medicine.
0:27:05 > 0:27:10In the 1780s he started performing surgical operations
0:27:10 > 0:27:12that were decades ahead of their time.
0:27:16 > 0:27:22This is the original documentation of the case of John Burley.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25It's a really excellent example of Hunter's skill as a surgeon.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29It's a picture of a tumour, so that's...
0:27:29 > 0:27:33what happens when you leave a tumour for too long.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38It says here it was an "increase to the size of a common head...
0:27:40 > 0:27:42"..attended with no other inconvenience
0:27:42 > 0:27:44"than its size and weight."
0:27:44 > 0:27:49And then, the second drawing here is after the operation,
0:27:49 > 0:27:52and it's completely cured, essentially.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59But for all his medical brilliance, Hunter was treated
0:27:59 > 0:28:02with suspicion and even horror,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05because to develop his remarkable surgical skills
0:28:05 > 0:28:08he had practised on human corpses.
0:28:14 > 0:28:17In the 18th century anatomists were
0:28:17 > 0:28:21legally entitled to corpses fresh from the gallows,
0:28:21 > 0:28:24but even so, demand comfortably exceeded supply,
0:28:24 > 0:28:27and so they had to look to
0:28:27 > 0:28:29another source of bodies for experimentation.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37And the easiest place to get hold of fresh corpses
0:28:37 > 0:28:39was to dig them up from a graveyard.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48Anatomists were prepared to pay large amounts of money for corpses,
0:28:48 > 0:28:52and that meant that there were hundreds of grave-robbers
0:28:52 > 0:28:53operating in gangs in London
0:28:53 > 0:28:57who could dig up to ten bodies per night,
0:28:57 > 0:29:00and the best customer of all was John Hunter.
0:29:03 > 0:29:05On one occasion he was even arrested
0:29:05 > 0:29:08for giving a hand to a gang of grave-robbers.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12And these exploits made Hunter
0:29:12 > 0:29:15incredibly unpopular with the man on the street.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19Hunter revolutionised surgical techniques for the benefit
0:29:19 > 0:29:22of everybody, but I suppose, not unsurprisingly,
0:29:22 > 0:29:25his work was controversial in public.
0:29:25 > 0:29:29So, even though he was working in the 18th century, I suppose
0:29:29 > 0:29:32you could say, in the modern vernacular, he had a PR problem.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41Hunter was so afraid of the adverse public reaction
0:29:41 > 0:29:45to his work that he was actually in fear of his life.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49But he reasoned that fear was born of ignorance,
0:29:49 > 0:29:52and therefore education was the answer.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56And, so, he opened this museum to display his work to the public.
0:29:59 > 0:30:01His collection is still on display today
0:30:01 > 0:30:04in the Royal College of Surgeons.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08In these exhibits, people could see how Hunter was using corpses
0:30:08 > 0:30:11to learn about anatomy and physiology.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15You could even see his pioneering attempts at opening
0:30:15 > 0:30:17new fields of medicine.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23These chicken heads were the recipients of some
0:30:23 > 0:30:25of the first transplant operations.
0:30:29 > 0:30:33Although some of these exhibits are gruesome, they show how
0:30:33 > 0:30:37Hunter was using his knowledge to move medicine out of the Dark Ages.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48This exhibit marks the beginning of the end
0:30:48 > 0:30:50of the age of barbaric surgery.
0:30:50 > 0:30:55What you see here is an aneurysm in the popliteal artery,
0:30:55 > 0:30:57that's the artery that goes behind the knee.
0:30:57 > 0:31:02It's essentially a sack of blood as the artery swells up.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05If this goes untreated, then what would happen
0:31:05 > 0:31:09is that sack will eventually burst and the patient will bleed to death.
0:31:09 > 0:31:14Now, the treatment at the time for that was amputation.
0:31:14 > 0:31:19What Hunter noticed, through his work on animal physiology
0:31:19 > 0:31:22and, indeed, on the dissection of human specimens,
0:31:22 > 0:31:25was that there are very many other arteries in the leg
0:31:25 > 0:31:29and he reasoned that if he tied off the affected artery,
0:31:29 > 0:31:34ligated it, then the blood supply to the aneurysm would be cut off,
0:31:34 > 0:31:37and he hoped that the other arteries
0:31:37 > 0:31:40would expand to allow blood to flow down the leg.
0:31:45 > 0:31:46As well as revolutionising medicine,
0:31:46 > 0:31:50John Hunter's approach was a model for public engagement.
0:31:52 > 0:31:56By inviting people into his museum, he was able to address
0:31:56 > 0:31:59and confront the moral objections to his work.
0:32:10 > 0:32:12Medicine is one of the most crowd-pleasing
0:32:12 > 0:32:16branches of science because of the benefits it brings.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18It improves all our lives.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23But what about the rest of science?
0:32:23 > 0:32:26What should be the driver of scientific research?
0:32:35 > 0:32:36Throughout history,
0:32:36 > 0:32:40Britain's scientists have often been motivated by one thing.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44Indeed, some argue it's perhaps THE greatest driver
0:32:44 > 0:32:46of scientific discovery.
0:32:46 > 0:32:51The simple aspiration to understand how nature works.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56In its purist form, it is just that -
0:32:56 > 0:33:00the desire to understand, without any regard at all for how
0:33:00 > 0:33:03useful the discoveries may be, or how profitable.
0:33:03 > 0:33:05And this approach to science
0:33:05 > 0:33:08is called "curiosity-driven research",
0:33:08 > 0:33:10or sometimes "blue skies" research.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19And one of the best examples of the practitioner
0:33:19 > 0:33:22of this pure form of discovery is John Tyndall.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31He was born in 1820.
0:33:31 > 0:33:36As well as being a scholar, Tyndall was also something of a romantic.
0:33:38 > 0:33:41He was transfixed by the Alpine sunsets
0:33:41 > 0:33:43and their magnificent range of colours.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47So he set out to understand their origin and, in turn,
0:33:47 > 0:33:52inspired generations of scientists to pursue fundamental research.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58This is the experiment he hoped would provide answers.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02It's basically a tank full of water.
0:34:02 > 0:34:07Into that water, I'm just going to put a few drops of milk.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13Now, that basically just introduces some particles into the liquid.
0:34:17 > 0:34:24Now, what Tyndall then did was shine a white light into the tank.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29And you immediately see that the tank lights up
0:34:29 > 0:34:32with different colours. Tyndall loved this.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36In his typically poetically fashion he described it as "sky in a box".
0:34:36 > 0:34:42You see, at this side of the tank, the solution is blue.
0:34:42 > 0:34:47As you move through the tank, it becomes more and more yellow.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49Actually, to us, this end,
0:34:49 > 0:34:51it's even beginning to become orange.
0:34:51 > 0:34:55So, this is the Alpine sky in a box.
0:34:55 > 0:34:59And Tyndall had an explanation for why this happens.
0:35:02 > 0:35:06He knew that white light is made of all the colours of the rainbow.
0:35:06 > 0:35:11And he proposed that blue light has a higher probability
0:35:11 > 0:35:13of bouncing around and scattering
0:35:13 > 0:35:15off the particles of milk in the water.
0:35:15 > 0:35:20Now we know this is because blue light has a shorter wavelength
0:35:20 > 0:35:23than the other colours of visible light.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27So, that means that the blue light would be the first
0:35:27 > 0:35:30to scatter and get dispersed throughout the liquid.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34And, so, the first piece of the tank will look blue.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39And this is why the sky's blue.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42Because blue light from the sun has a higher
0:35:42 > 0:35:45probability of scattering in the atmosphere.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52But the tank also explains the sunset colours.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57As the light penetrates deeper into the milky water,
0:35:57 > 0:36:00eventually all of the shorter wavelengths of blue light
0:36:00 > 0:36:03are scattered away leaving just the longer wavelengths
0:36:03 > 0:36:05of orange and red.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08So the water looks progressively more orange,
0:36:08 > 0:36:11and, if the tank were long enough, red.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15So, too, the sky.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18As the sun gets lower, its light has to travel through more atmosphere,
0:36:18 > 0:36:22so the shorter blue wavelengths scatter away completely,
0:36:22 > 0:36:25leaving just the orange and red light,
0:36:25 > 0:36:28making the sky appear red at sunset.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33Today, we know that light scatters primarily off the air molecules
0:36:33 > 0:36:36themselves, rather than dust particles,
0:36:36 > 0:36:41so Tyndall's explanation was right in principle, but wrong in detail.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44But it didn't matter.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46In fact, it was the misinterpretation of his results
0:36:46 > 0:36:50that led Tyndall to make his most important discovery of all.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54Being a curious scientist, Tyndall decided to proceed
0:36:54 > 0:36:59and carry out more experiments. So he took a box of air...
0:37:00 > 0:37:02..filled with dust.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09And he let the dust settle for days and days and days.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13He called this sample, with all the dust settled out,
0:37:13 > 0:37:14"optically pure air".
0:37:14 > 0:37:18And then he started putting things in the box to see what happened.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21So he put some meat in it. And he put some fish in it.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25And he even put samples of his own urine in it.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28And what he noticed was something very interesting.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31The meat didn't decay. The fish didn't decay.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33And his urine didn't cloud.
0:37:33 > 0:37:38He said that it remained as clear as a fresh sherry.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43He hadn't just created dust-free or optically pure air.
0:37:43 > 0:37:46Without realising it, Tyndall had sterilised it.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49He let all of the bacteria settle out
0:37:49 > 0:37:54and stick to the bottom of the box. The air inside was now germ-free.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00It may not have been his original intention, but Tyndall had provided
0:38:00 > 0:38:04decisive evidence for a controversial theory of the time.
0:38:04 > 0:38:10And that is that decay and disease are caused by microbes in the air.
0:38:14 > 0:38:20John Tyndall was a man who followed his curiosity for its own sake,
0:38:20 > 0:38:21not for where it might lead.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26He didn't set out to discover the origins of airborne disease
0:38:26 > 0:38:29when he began exploring the colours of the sky,
0:38:29 > 0:38:31but that's exactly what he did.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36It's appropriate, then, that curiosity-led investigation
0:38:36 > 0:38:40like this is often called "blue skies research".
0:38:48 > 0:38:52Another way to generate new knowledge is applied science.
0:38:52 > 0:38:54A more practical approach to research,
0:38:54 > 0:38:57and an area where Britain has always excelled.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04The British pharmaceutical industry
0:39:04 > 0:39:08is at the forefront of drug discovery and manufacture.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15They have pioneered antibiotic medicine,
0:39:15 > 0:39:18enabled mass vaccination,
0:39:18 > 0:39:21and made previously fatal conditions treatable.
0:39:30 > 0:39:35It's part of an industry worth an estimated £200 billion a year.
0:39:35 > 0:39:39And it's not a business that hangs around waiting for happy accidents.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45Drug discovery uses a targeted approach to scientific research.
0:39:46 > 0:39:51What I'm amazed about is the level of work, compared to a university.
0:39:51 > 0:39:53There's so many people.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57GlaxoSmithKline is behind many of the pharmaceuticals
0:39:57 > 0:40:01that are commonplace in today's market place, from painkillers,
0:40:01 > 0:40:03to asthma inhalers.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07One of GSK's biggest research and development hubs is here
0:40:07 > 0:40:12on home soil, 20 miles north of London, in Stevenage.
0:40:12 > 0:40:16This lab in general, this is the early discovery...
0:40:17 > 0:40:21'Dr Tom Webb joined GSK three years ago
0:40:21 > 0:40:24'and has been working to develop new drugs ever since.'
0:40:28 > 0:40:29How do you do it?
0:40:29 > 0:40:32If somebody comes along from management to GSK
0:40:32 > 0:40:35and says, "Right, we need a drug to treat...
0:40:35 > 0:40:37"..arthritis, a new one."
0:40:37 > 0:40:42- What do you do? Do you say, "OK." - Run around screaming!
0:40:42 > 0:40:43"Here's a test tube."
0:40:45 > 0:40:47It's an incredibly complex process.
0:40:47 > 0:40:49Drugs discovery takes ten to 15 years.
0:40:49 > 0:40:54It starts off with a target in mind for treating that disease.
0:40:54 > 0:40:56And then we start off with huge libraries.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58These might be libraries of small molecules,
0:40:58 > 0:41:01so containing tens of thousands of different chemical compounds.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04And we're starting with all of these potential medicines,
0:41:04 > 0:41:09and really whittling them down to one candidate, one medicine.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11So, that sounds a very...
0:41:11 > 0:41:13very targeted approach, really.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17You have a specific example, a specific challenge in mind.
0:41:17 > 0:41:21It's a beautiful example, isn't it, of almost an industrial-scale search
0:41:21 > 0:41:25for useful antibodies, or useful drugs.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28Yeah, and we're getting better and better at doing it,
0:41:28 > 0:41:29as we gain more experience.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34The screenings done at pharmaceutical companies such as GSK
0:41:34 > 0:41:37allow researchers to test millions of different compounds,
0:41:37 > 0:41:39antibodies or genes to see
0:41:39 > 0:41:43if they'll work as part of a new drug or treatment.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48The scale of the work means the chance of success over
0:41:48 > 0:41:51conventional research methods is dramatically increased.
0:41:52 > 0:41:54If we were just playing around in the lab,
0:41:54 > 0:41:57I think the likelihood of us stumbling across a discovery
0:41:57 > 0:42:00that enables us to make a medicine is probably unlikely.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03So we have to commit to making medicines for patients,
0:42:03 > 0:42:06and that doesn't happen by complete serendipity.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15The pharmaceutical industry in Britain
0:42:15 > 0:42:17is a triumph for home-grown science,
0:42:17 > 0:42:21providing cures for previously untreatable diseases,
0:42:21 > 0:42:25and changing the lives of millions of patients around the world.
0:42:26 > 0:42:28This is an impressive place.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31It's science on an industrial scale, and you see these vast
0:42:31 > 0:42:34research labs, and that's what you need
0:42:34 > 0:42:36because you have to do hundreds of thousands,
0:42:36 > 0:42:39or even millions of individual experiments
0:42:39 > 0:42:42to bring a new drug to market.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44It also costs billions of pounds.
0:42:44 > 0:42:46So this is targeted science.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50There are particular problems that need solutions.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52There's a particular disease that needs treating.
0:42:52 > 0:42:54And I suppose for medical science as a whole,
0:42:54 > 0:42:57you can state its goal in one simple sentence -
0:42:57 > 0:42:59it's to make people better.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06It's undeniable that targeted research delivers.
0:43:06 > 0:43:11But, and it's a big but, there is a catch, and it's this.
0:43:11 > 0:43:13In any commercial environment,
0:43:13 > 0:43:16specific targeting brings with it a possibility
0:43:16 > 0:43:20that during the process of discovery, any kind of result that
0:43:20 > 0:43:25doesn't positively enhance the chance of success may be ignored.
0:43:29 > 0:43:32Now, on the face of it, that seems fair enough,
0:43:32 > 0:43:36but in fact, it's extremely worrying indeed.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39See, if you look through the history of science,
0:43:39 > 0:43:43through any scientific journal, then you'll find that the negative
0:43:43 > 0:43:47results are recorded, as well as the positive ones.
0:43:47 > 0:43:51And that's important because all knowledge is valuable.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56But in a commercial setting, where you're asking a question -
0:43:56 > 0:44:00can we find a drug to cure this particular disease, to do this
0:44:00 > 0:44:05particular job - then the temptation is to ignore the negative results.
0:44:05 > 0:44:08This is almost anti-knowledge.
0:44:08 > 0:44:13It goes against the ethos of science and more importantly, it
0:44:13 > 0:44:18closes the doors to some magnificent serendipitous discoveries.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40This is a self-portrait of a 14-year-old boy.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44He took it in 1852, which is
0:44:44 > 0:44:49only just over ten years after the invention of photography.
0:44:49 > 0:44:52So, given the quality of this photograph,
0:44:52 > 0:44:56then that makes him a very precocious individual indeed.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00His name is William Perkin.
0:45:03 > 0:45:09When he started his career, Perkin was living in exciting times.
0:45:09 > 0:45:13This was the age of Empire, a world where, in time,
0:45:13 > 0:45:17the sun really would never set on British Imperial assets.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20But as the Empire expanded,
0:45:20 > 0:45:23so too did the risk to Britain's colonialists,
0:45:23 > 0:45:27as they were exposed to deadly tropical diseases, such as malaria.
0:45:27 > 0:45:30Fortunately, there was relief available from malaria,
0:45:30 > 0:45:34in the form of a drug called quinine.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37But it could only be extracted from the bark of the cinchona tree,
0:45:37 > 0:45:41which grows on the remote eastern slopes of the Andes,
0:45:41 > 0:45:45making it expensive and difficult to get hold of.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49What was needed was a more reliable and cheaper source.
0:45:59 > 0:46:02So the young William Perkin was set to work, to find
0:46:02 > 0:46:05a way to make synthetic quinine in the lab.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14This is a mock-up of what Perkin did.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18I'm not using the real chemicals because they're dangerous,
0:46:18 > 0:46:21but the idea is simple and the logic is impeccable.
0:46:21 > 0:46:25This is quinine, the white powder that Perkin wanted to make.
0:46:25 > 0:46:29He knew that this was made of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen
0:46:29 > 0:46:34and hydrogen and he also knew the proportions, so he reasoned like
0:46:34 > 0:46:39this - why don't I take something simpler, an amine, actually an amine
0:46:39 > 0:46:43called aniline, which is a ring of carbons with a nitrogen
0:46:43 > 0:46:47and a couple of hydrogens stuck on the end.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50So it's everything you need, apart from the oxygen.
0:46:50 > 0:46:54He then took this, potassium dichromate,
0:46:54 > 0:46:57which is a strong oxidising agent.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00And today we know that this rips electrons off things,
0:47:00 > 0:47:04but Perkin thought that it added oxygen.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07And so, you see what he wanted to do?
0:47:07 > 0:47:10He wanted to take a simple compound, with carbons, nitrogens
0:47:10 > 0:47:12and hydrogens, mix them
0:47:12 > 0:47:17together with something that struck oxygens on, and produce quinine.
0:47:20 > 0:47:25So, he just dissolved his potassium dichromate in solution,
0:47:25 > 0:47:29dissolved some amines in dilute sulphuric acid,
0:47:29 > 0:47:34turned the tap, mixed them together,
0:47:34 > 0:47:37heated them up and waited.
0:47:45 > 0:47:50At the end of the experiment, what he got was a muddy black mess.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53In other words, apparently, the experiment had failed.
0:47:55 > 0:47:58Had Perkin been working in a modern commercial environment,
0:47:58 > 0:48:00he might well have stopped here.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04But what happened next is a prime example of why the enquiring mind
0:48:04 > 0:48:09must be given the freedom to explore and knowledge should never be lost.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14What he noticed is that the residue
0:48:14 > 0:48:19seemed to colour whatever it touched purple.
0:48:19 > 0:48:22So being a good experimental chemist, he started trying to
0:48:22 > 0:48:26purify it, to investigate it, to understand its properties.
0:48:26 > 0:48:32So he mixed it with petroleum and then he mixed it with ethanol.
0:48:36 > 0:48:40And if I just dab a bit of cloth into this...
0:48:44 > 0:48:47..then it dyes it bright purple.
0:48:47 > 0:48:52So Perkin had discovered a dye, which he called mauveine.
0:48:56 > 0:49:01Perkin's dye was far superior to anything created by nature
0:49:01 > 0:49:05and one that could be mass produced at a fraction of the cost.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08It quickly gained popularity after Queen Victoria appeared at her
0:49:08 > 0:49:12daughter's wedding in a silk gown dyed with mauveine.
0:49:13 > 0:49:15Thanks to Perkin,
0:49:15 > 0:49:19the 1890s are now affectionately known as the mauve decade.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27Perkin helped usher in the dawn of organic chemistry,
0:49:27 > 0:49:32a new age of products, from plastics to perfumes and medicines.
0:49:34 > 0:49:37The interesting thing about William Perkin is that
0:49:37 > 0:49:41if he'd set out with the aim of discovering a new purple dye,
0:49:41 > 0:49:44then he probably would have failed,
0:49:44 > 0:49:47and if he hadn't been a curious scientist,
0:49:47 > 0:49:51wanting to understand why his experiment didn't seem to work,
0:49:51 > 0:49:55Then again, he would've probably failed to discover that dye.
0:49:57 > 0:50:02Perkins's story is a warning of the potential perils of limiting science
0:50:02 > 0:50:07to targeted research, that is research with an end result in mind.
0:50:07 > 0:50:11Had he been working in a commercial environment, it's likely that,
0:50:11 > 0:50:14because the purple dye wasn't quining, his further
0:50:14 > 0:50:18investigations would've been thought to be an expensive waste of time.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23So though targeted research seems like an efficient way to do
0:50:23 > 0:50:27science, it brings with it the very real chance that we
0:50:27 > 0:50:30miss out on some unexpected discovery.
0:50:35 > 0:50:40By providing the minds and the methods, Britain has arguably
0:50:40 > 0:50:45had a greater influence than any other nation on how science is done.
0:50:47 > 0:50:48Here at CERN,
0:50:48 > 0:50:52the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, can be
0:50:52 > 0:50:56found perhaps the best example of Britain's scientific legacy.
0:51:05 > 0:51:09Below the ground here, around 100 metres below the ground,
0:51:09 > 0:51:14is the Large Hadron Collider. It's 27km in circumference.
0:51:14 > 0:51:20Its job is to accelerate protons to 99.9999% the speed of light, at
0:51:20 > 0:51:25which speed they circumnavigate this 27km 11,000 times a second.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28The protons are collided together, and each of those collisions,
0:51:28 > 0:51:32the conditions that were present, less than a billionth of a second
0:51:32 > 0:51:35after the universe began, are recreated.
0:51:37 > 0:51:39By making particles collide
0:51:39 > 0:51:43and studying the products of those collisions, scientists can glean
0:51:43 > 0:51:47a new understanding of the structure of the subatomic world,
0:51:47 > 0:51:49and the laws of nature that rule it.
0:51:53 > 0:51:57The collider was designed to explore some of the biggest mysteries in the
0:51:57 > 0:52:01universe, including what happened immediately after the Big Bang.
0:52:03 > 0:52:04The sheer audacity of it,
0:52:04 > 0:52:09that human beings might be able to reach back 13.7 billion years
0:52:09 > 0:52:14to discover how the universe evolved, is breathtaking.
0:52:16 > 0:52:21And yet, that's what's being done here...on an epic scale.
0:52:26 > 0:52:30The Large Hadron Collider is the most complicated scientific
0:52:30 > 0:52:31experiment ever built.
0:52:34 > 0:52:38But it's still just an experiment like any other.
0:52:41 > 0:52:45At its heart, there is repeatable process.
0:52:45 > 0:52:49Teams of people dedicated to making detailed measurements,
0:52:49 > 0:52:53and comparing those measurements to theoretical predictions.
0:52:53 > 0:52:58These are simple principles, yet they hold great power.
0:53:04 > 0:53:08Half of the world's particle physicists, 10,000 of them,
0:53:08 > 0:53:12are gathered here because of the tantalising prospects of what
0:53:12 > 0:53:14they might discover.
0:53:15 > 0:53:19CERN is now the place to be, because everything is happening here.
0:53:19 > 0:53:23New physics, new stuff. Super-symmetry, dark matter.
0:53:23 > 0:53:28We're solving problems which are fundamental to all people.
0:53:28 > 0:53:30We don't really care where anyone comes from,
0:53:30 > 0:53:32we all want the same thing.
0:53:32 > 0:53:37And being part of this is just brilliant.
0:53:37 > 0:53:41What do I do? I'm going to have to think about that for a second.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44HE LAUGHS
0:53:44 > 0:53:47But while one or two of them can't remember what they're supposed to be
0:53:47 > 0:53:50doing individually, as a group, the scientists here have made
0:53:50 > 0:53:53one of the most important discoveries in physics.
0:53:55 > 0:53:58BBC NEWS THEME TUNE
0:53:58 > 0:54:01Researchers at the Centre for Nuclear Research near Geneva...
0:54:01 > 0:54:04..have just announced in the last few minutes that Higgs boson,
0:54:04 > 0:54:08the so-called God Particle, has been glimpsed.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12In July 2012, it was confirmed that a new particle,
0:54:12 > 0:54:14the Higgs boson, had been detected.
0:54:14 > 0:54:17This elusive piece of the subatomic jigsaw is
0:54:17 > 0:54:22responsible for the masses of the building blocks of the universe.
0:54:22 > 0:54:26The particle is named after British physicist Peter Higgs,
0:54:26 > 0:54:29who worked on the theory some 50 years earlier.
0:54:33 > 0:54:37The discovery is a vindication of the ideas behind CERN.
0:54:37 > 0:54:42But the reason that we can be confident in the discovery is
0:54:42 > 0:54:46the painstaking effort that has gone into the design of the experiments.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53Even to the point of funding two separate teams of researchers,
0:54:53 > 0:54:56analysing exactly the same things.
0:54:56 > 0:55:00A cross check so vital that the teams are not allowed to
0:55:00 > 0:55:02discuss their work, even with each other.
0:55:05 > 0:55:08My institute in Manchester is part of an experiment
0:55:08 > 0:55:11a few hundred metres in that direction called Atlas.
0:55:11 > 0:55:17It's a collaboration of over 160 institutes from 38 countries,
0:55:17 > 0:55:23and together we designed, we built and we operate that experiment.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26Now, if you go several miles, actually, in that direction,
0:55:26 > 0:55:30over to the other side of the LAC, there's another collaboration.
0:55:30 > 0:55:34It's called CMS. It's run by different physicists.
0:55:34 > 0:55:35It was designed, built
0:55:35 > 0:55:39and it is operated completely independently from Atlas.
0:55:39 > 0:55:43But they're both designed, essentially, to do the same
0:55:43 > 0:55:47thing, which is to search for new physics, like the Higgs boson.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53And because these two groups found exactly the same thing,
0:55:53 > 0:55:57everyone could be confident that the Higgs really had been discovered.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04All the basic principles of science are put into action
0:56:04 > 0:56:10here at CERN, and it's this, the scientific method, that gives CERN
0:56:10 > 0:56:14and all scientific investigation its power and validity.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22Science is one of this country's success stories.
0:56:24 > 0:56:28Many of its important characters are British,
0:56:28 > 0:56:32and Britain has always been a place where crucial discoveries are made.
0:56:34 > 0:56:36Newton's theory of gravity...
0:56:37 > 0:56:40The form of the DNA molecule...
0:56:40 > 0:56:44All courtesy of a few small islands in the North Atlantic.
0:56:47 > 0:56:52But these great discoveries haven't happened by accident.
0:56:54 > 0:56:58The existence of organisations like the Royal Institution
0:56:58 > 0:57:02demonstrates that here is a place where inquiring minds are valued.
0:57:04 > 0:57:08And the apparently unknowable is thought worthy of investigation.
0:57:12 > 0:57:16This is also a nation that celebrates curiosity,
0:57:16 > 0:57:20and combining this curiosity with a powerful method to
0:57:20 > 0:57:22investigate nature
0:57:22 > 0:57:26has always ensured that British science is among the world's best.
0:57:34 > 0:57:35Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd