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

Tudors The House of Tudor ( ) was an English and Welsh dynasty that held the throne of England from 1485 to 1603. They descended from the Tudors of Penmynydd, a Welsh noble family, and Catherine of Valois. The Tudor monarchs ruled the Kingdom of Engl ...

, the Stuarts and the Ancients. He was also a co-presenter of '' Tomorrow's World'', and presented '' Science Shack''. 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 the world's oldest photographic society having been in continuous existence since 1853. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as th ...

in 2007.

Personal life

Hart-Davis was born and brought up in

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Thames, in the South Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, west of M ...

, 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 village and civil parish on the River Thames in the West Berkshire unitary area of the county of Berkshire, England. Pangbourne has shops, churches, schools and a village hall. Outside its nucleated village, grouped developed are ...

, and then at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, before reading

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

. 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 The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

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, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

in Canada. Subsequently, he worked at the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, editing science texts and

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

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

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

. 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 explanation, interpretatio ...

Dr. Susan Blackmore, whom he married on 19 June 2010. His siblings are the journalist Duff Hart-Davis and Bridget, the

dowager A dowager is a widow or widower who holds a title or property – a "dower" – derived from her or his deceased spouse. As an adjective, ''dowager'' usually appears in association with monarchical and aristocratic titles. In popular usage, the n ...

Lady Silsoe. He is an uncle of the journalist Alice Hart-Davis.

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 di ...

David Bellamy David James Bellamy (18 January 1933 – 11 December 2019) was an English academic, botanist, television presenter, author and prominent environmental campaigner in the UK and globally. His distinctive, energetic style of presenting became wel ...

, Miriam Stoppard as well as '' Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World''. In 1985 he was promoted to production work, producing the Fred Harris-fronted TV show ''Me & My Micro'' and the Johnny Ball-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 channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

, 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 The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

nomination in 2002. A new television series for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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 cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...

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

HM Revenue & Customs His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC, and formerly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) is a Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the UK government responsible for the tax collectio ...

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.

Advocacy of the application and usefulness of science

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 in

Lichfield Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...

, the eighteenth-century home of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

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

Filmography

*'' Local Heroes'' (1996–99) *'' What the Romans Did for Us'' (2000) *''Big Questions'' (2001) *''Live from Dinosaur Island'' (2001) *'' What the Victorians Did for Us'' (2001) *'' Science Shack'' (2001) *'' What the Tudors Did for Us'' (2002) *'' What the Stuarts Did for Us'' (2002) *'' Tomorrow's World'' (2002) *'' Meet the Ancestors'': '' Our Top Ten Treasures'' (2003) *''Stardate: Close Encounters'' (2004) *'' What the Ancients Did for Us'' (2005) *''How London Was Built'' (2005) *'' Just Another Day'' (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 World 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), 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 f ...

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 AA ...

; Reprint edition (May 1997), () * ''"Local Heroes" Book of British Ingenuity'', (with Paul Bader), Sutton Publishing 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 in the United Kingdom and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC in the United States) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be on ...

; 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 (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 dur ...

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 BBC Books (also formerly known as BBC Consumer Publishing and BBC Publishing) is an imprint majority-owned and managed by Penguin Random House through its Ebury Publishing division. The minority shareholder is BBC Studios, the commercial subsidia ...

(21 June 2007), () * ''Science : the definitive visual guide'', Dorling Kindersley Limited ()