Adam Hart-Davis

Adam John Hart-Davis (born 4 July 1943) is an English polymath, comprising scientist, author, photographer, historian and broadcaster, well known in the UK for presenting 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 Stuarts, and the Ancients. He was also a co-presenter of Tomorrow's World, and presented Science Shack. Currently he presents How London Was Built and Just Another Day on History UK.

Personal life

He was born and brought up in Henley-on-Thames, the youngest child of the publisher Sir Rupert Hart-Davis^[1] (1907–1999) and his second wife Catherine Comfort Borden-Turner.

He attended Eton College and studied chemistry at Merton College, Oxford. He then took a DPhil degree in organometallic chemistry at the University of York and spent three years as a post-doctoral scholar at the University of Alberta in Canada. Subsequently, he worked at the Oxford University Press, editing science texts and chess manuals.

In 2004 he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Letters) from the University of Bath.

He was married (1965–1995) to Adrienne Alpin, with whom he had two sons Damon Hart-Davis and Jason Hart-Davis, and now lives with psychologist Dr. Susan Blackmore, whom he married on 19 June 2010. His siblings are the journalist Duff Hart-Davis and Bridget, the dowager Lady Silsoe. He is an uncle of the journalist Alice Hart-Davis and IT author Guy Hart-Davis.

He is a direct descendant of King William IV and his mistress Dorothea Jordan and is therefore fifth cousin once removed of Elizabeth II, second cousin once removed of the British Prime Minister David Cameron and first cousin once removed of the historian John Julius Norwich.

In June 2009 he reported that he and his family contracted Swine flu earlier in the year.^[2]

Career in broadcasting

Hart-Davis's work in broadcasting began in 1977 when he joined Yorkshire Television (YTV) as a researcher, working on material for Magnus Pyke, David Bellamy, 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 involved 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: 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 subsequently transferred to BBC2, where its scope became national, a different region being the subject of each episode. Big Questions [1], a five part Channel 4 science series for young people that he presented received a BAFTA nomination in 2002.

Since then, he has essentially become the face of the BBC's output on science and the history of science, but at the same time is heavily critical of the standard of science output on British television (including, to a certain extent, his own programmes), which he sees as dumbed down.

A new television series for the BBC 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. It was accompanied by a book of the same name.

He also appeared in TV advertisements for HM Revenue & Customs with the catchphrase "tax doesn't have to be taxing". Following a statement from Dr Hart-Davis, in which he mentions the level of complexities within the UK tax system, his contract with HM Revenue & Customs has ended.^[3][4]

Ambassador for science communication

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 galvanized iron or mud in order to prevent the deadly effects of smoke inhalation from cooking fires inside houses in the developing world.^[5]

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 (Nov 1985), (ISBN 0-7135-2584-3)
• Mathematical Eye, Collins Educational (Sep 1989), (ISBN 0-04-448043-1)
• Scientific Eye: Exploring the Marvels of Science, Sterling Pub Co Inc (Mar 1990), (ISBN 0-8069-5758-1)
• Amazing Math Puzzles, Sterling Publishing; Reprint edition (May 1997), (ISBN 0-8069-9669-2)
• Thunder, Flush and Thomas Crapper: An Encycloopedia, Michael O'Mara Books; New Ed edition (10 Oct 1997), (ISBN 1-85479-250-4)
• Chain Reactions: Pioneers of British Science and Technology, National Portrait Gallery Publications (24 Nov 2000), (ISBN 1-85514-291-0)
• What the Victorians Did for Us, Headline Book Publishing (5 Aug 2002), (ISBN 0-7553-1137-X)
• The World's Stupidest Inventions, Michael O'Mara Books (18 Aug 2003), (ISBN 1-84317-036-1)
• What the Tudors and Stuarts Did for Us, Boxtree Ltd (5 Sep 2003), (ISBN 0-7522-1556-6)
• What the Past Did for Us, Publisher: BBC Books (14 Oct 2004), (ISBN 0-563-52207-0)
• Why Does A Ball Bounce?: And 100 Other Questions From the Worlds of Science, Ebury Press (1 Sep 2005), (ISBN 0-09-190268-1)
• Just Another Day, Orion (21 Sep 2006), (ISBN 0-7528-7334-2)
• History: The Definitive Visual Guide – from the Dawn of Civilization to the Present Day, Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd (4 Oct 2007), (ISBN 1-4053-1809-0)
• Eurekaaargh!! A spectacular collection of inventions that nearly worked. Past Times edition published 1999.
• The Book of Time, 2010.

Collaborations

• Where There's Life, (with Hilary Lawson), Michael Joseph Ltd (10 May 1982), (ISBN 0-7181-2137-6)
• Test Your Psychic Powers, (with Susan Blackmore), Sterling Publishing; Reprint edition (May 1997), (ISBN 0-8069-9669-2)
• "Local Heroes" Book of British Ingenuity, (with Paul Bader), Sutton Publishing Ltd; (25 Sep 1997), (ISBN 0-7509-1473-4 )
• More "Local Heroes", (with Paul Bader), Sutton Publishing Ltd (20 Aug 1998), (ISBN 0-7509-1797-0)
• 100 Local Heroes, (with Paul Bader), Sutton Publishing Ltd; Rev Ed edition (22 Jul 1999), (ISBN 0-7509-2373-3)
• What the Romans Did for Us, (with Philip Wilkinson), Boxtree Ltd; New Ed edition (20 Jul 2001), (ISBN 0-7522-6172-X )
• The Book of Victorian Heroes, (with Paul Bader), Sutton Publishing Ltd (23 Aug 2001), (ISBN 0-7509-2820-4)
• Classic Mathemagic, (with Rraymond Blum and Bob Longe), MetroBooks (NY) (Aug 2002), (ISBN 1-58663-683-9)
• Catchphrase, Slogan and Cliché, (with Judy Parkinson), Michael O'Mara Books (1 Oct 2003), (ISBN 1-84317-063-9)
• Henry Winstanley and the Eddystone Lighthouse, (with Emily Troscianko), Sutton Publishing Ltd; New Ed edition (23 Oct 2003), (ISBN 0-7509-3379-8)
• Taking the Piss: A Potted History of Pee, (with Emily Troscianko), The Chalford Press (10 Oct 2006), (ISBN 1-84588-351-9)
• The Cosmos: A Beginner's Guide, (with Paul Bader), BBC Books (21 Jun 2007), (ISBN 1-84607-212-3)

References

External links

• Adam's website
• The Hart-Davis family website
• Adam's biography at "Speakers UK"
• "BBC – Press Office – Adam Hart Davis". web.archive.org. Archived from the original on 2008-04-04. http://web.archive.org/web/20080404015019/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/tvfactual/adamhartdavis.shtml. Retrieved 2010-02-18. 
• Adam Hart-Davis at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with the Journal of Unlikely Science
• Thunder, Flush and Thomas Crapper extracts
• Taking The Piss details
• "Taking The Piss" (book) and "How London Was Built" (TV series) joint party photos Oct 2006