Science Britannica. Part 2 Methods and madness.

Professor Brian Cox presents the second of this three part documentary series; he explores Britain’s pivotal role in scientific discoveries. Cox begins at the Royal Society, looking at the death mask of Isaac Newton whilst discussing his scientific achievements and his use of the scientific method. Cox then replicates one of Newton’s experiments. Cox then looks at the first manuscript outlining Newton’s theories - Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica and discusses how it came to be published. Cox visits Bletchley Park and discusses how important it was to break German coded messages during World War II. Cox explains how the enigma code was cracked by a combination of mathematical work from Alan Turing and the discovery of a working enigma machine. Captain Jerry Roberts who worked on code breaking at Bletchley is interviewed - he discusses the Lorenz Cipher a code used by the Germans for high security messages. Cox looks at the life of Bill Tutte who cracked the code without ever seeing the machine. Cox discusses Richard Borcherds, Professor of mathematics at Berkley, University of California. Borcherds is currently working on a code deemed to be unbreakable – the problem that is at the heart of quantum field. Footage is shown of Borcherds at work as he discusses how he approaches trying to understand the abstract mathematics that under pins the universe. Cox concludes that obsessiveness is something found in many scientists. Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, who studies the psychology of scientists, is interviewed by Cox; he discusses the specific characteristics that many scientists share. He explains that in their extreme forms these characteristics can also be found in people with autism. Cox looks at a sketch of Henry Cavendish who wanted to weigh, measure and classify as many objects in the universe as he could. Cox recreates one of Cavendish’s experiments. Although many of Cavendish’s findings were incorrect his measurements were correct facilitating later discoveries. Cox visits the Royal Institution, created by Cavendish, Count Rumford of Bavaria and Joseph Banks to allow scientists to engage with the public – archive footage of scientists giving lectures at the Royal Institute through the years is shown. Cox looks at the first edition of the philosophical transactions of the Royal Society from 1665 – the first scientific journal. Aside from the scientific method, Cox credits the writing down and sharing of ideas for having the greatest impact on science. Cox visits the Wellcome library and interviews Dr Philip Campbell, the editor in chief of the journal Nature – he describes the process and importance of peer review. Cox goes on to visit the large Hadron Collider; he explains that it uses the same scientific method as the scientists throughout the programme. People who work with the Hadron Collider then speak of what they do and how they feel about working there. Cox discusses the discovery of the Higgs Boson particle and how the process, such as using two teams to examine the same information and use of the scientific method is so important. Cox concludes that Britain’s disproportionate role in scientific development isn’t a coincidence – he believes the celebration of curiosity and public involvement in Britain are the reasons for its scientific successes.