If Wonders of the Universe was the Star Trek of the TV science world, Scientific Britannica is the equivalent of BBC’s Sherlock as Brian Cox pours through the annals of history to show us the strange and wonderful ways in which scientists have managed to unlock the wonders of physics, biology, chemistry and medicine for the good of human kind. While it’s a little less impressive visually to his Wonders of the Solar System and Wonders of the Universe series, it is a fascinating study of some of the great scientific British breakthroughs that we take for granted today.
The opening episode of the three part BBC 2 series, Frankenstein’s Monster, aired on Wednesday 18th September, looking at the darker side of science and how it has benefitted us all. It’ll be followed up by the second episode tomorrow night (Wednesday 25th September 2013) called Method and Madness, and we’re fairly confident that the final episode, which hasn’t yet been fully announced, will follow the same number sequence to air on the 2nd October 2013.
Having watched the first episode, it’s clear that the physicist takes a lot of pride in the heroes of British science, but his heroes of choice aren’t always the friendly, easily approachable faces of science that you might have expected. As the name of the first episode suggests, Cox looks at some of the darker and more controversial scientific studies to look at them on their merits and review their contribution to society. This includes the work of Ernest Rutherford to split the atom, grave robbing doctors, like John Hunter, who needed cadavers to conduct experiments to improve medicine and Aldini’s galvanism that shocked the recently deceased to show the impact of electricity on bodies.
However, it’s not all one sided in favour of unfettered scientific study as Cox tries to look deeper into the debate that surrounds controversial scientific experimentation. He quizzes a lady that worked on atomic technology for the war effort, as well as interviewing modern scientists working with animal testing and genetically modified crops to get their take on what they do. The only real missing ingredient would have been interviews from the other side of the fence to add to his intros on protest groups.
That aside, Science Britannica makes for a pretty interesting and entertaining programme for science geeks like us. It’s sort of bemusing watching all of the science unfold, whether he’s setting light to a diamond to recreate the demonstration that proves they’re made solely of carbon, or he’s talking through Crick and Watson’s discovery of the DNA double helix and resulting trip to their local pub, The Eagle.
It’s a great new show and if anything, a bit of a shame there’s only three episodes. It could do with a little more counter argument at times, but other than that it’s a pretty enthralling watch, with captivating music and narrative.
Brian Cox, Science Britannica review: 4/5
