Documentary Description
This episode examines how war can bring with it innovation as well as horror. It
tells the story of some of the scientists and engineers who helped
Britain win the Second World War, and how we have enjoyed the benefits
of their discoveries to this day. Richard Dawkins reveals his
admiration for Alan Turing, the man who pioneered modern computing
science as a by-product of his work deciphering the German Enigma Code
at Bletchley Park. James Dyson celebrates the work of engineer
Frank Whittle, who came from nowhere to invent the jet engine, and
experiences the incredible power of Whittle's invention for himself in
an RAF jet. Jim Al-Khalili reveals how, without the discovery of
radar by Robert Watson-Watt, the Battle of Britain would certainly have
been lost. Kathy Sykes explains how Paul Dirac tried to combine
the seemingly incompatible worlds of relativity and quantum mechanics,
and helped to pave the way for modern electronics. And Paul Nurse
tells the true story of Alexander Fleming, whose discovery of
penicillin went on to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of
fighting men, as well as millions more people since.
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