Order this publication online

Chain Reactions
Pioneers of British Science and Technology and the stories that link them
Adam Hart-Davis

What connects the inventor of the best lock in the world with the first tunnel built under the Thames? Wedgwood china with a famous American president? A comet with a philosopher? The 'Lady of the Lamp' with the discovery of penicillin? A cannon with a steam engine?

The answer lies in some of the greatest scientific discoveries of the last 500 years. In Chain Reactions, Adam Hart-Davis explores the links between different scientific pioneers and their discoveries, often across extraordinarily varied fields of human endeavour, and sometimes across centuries. Relationships intellectual, amicable and implacable are brought to light, as are the surprising roles played by happenstance, coincidence and sometimes downright error in many of the most fundamental scientific breakthroughs of our time.

Packed with anecdote and detail, this entertaining yet informative book is illustrated throughout with portraits taken from the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, including such major figures as Samuel Pepys and Christopher Wren, William and Caroline Herschel, Matthew Boulton and Josiah Wedgwood, Charles Lyell and Richard Owen, Marie Stopes and Dorothy Hodgkin. The book also includes a chronological Chain Reactions chart, a bibliography and a list of houses, landmarks and sites to visit.

Adam Hart-Davis is known to millions as the presenter of the Local Heroes television programmes, where his encyclopaedic knowledge of scientific endeavour has won him fans and admirers in many countries. As well as his parallel career as a writer and broadcaster, he has also worked as a television producer and science photographer. His publications include Scientific Eye, Science Tricks and The Local Heroes Book of British Ingenuity.

210 x 148mm, 192 pages
100 illustrations, 50 in colour
Chronological Chain Reactions chart
Houses, landmarks, and list of houses to visit
£9.50 (paperback)
ISBN 1 85514 291 0

Click on our other titles under NPG History and Biography - affordable, accessible guides to the lesser-known aspects of the National Portrait Gallery's huge collections!

Go to a large print, text-only version of this site

All images and text are subject to copyright protection. 22 November 2008