Adam Hart-Davis
Adam Hart-Davis | |
|---|---|
 Hart-Davis, speaking at the Ratio Forum for Popular Science in 2013 | |
| Born | 4 July 1943 Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England |
| Alma mater | |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Rupert Hart-Davis (father) Duff Hart-Davis (brother) Deirdre Hart-Davis (aunt) Alice Hart-Davis (niece) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemistry |
| Institutions | |
Adam John Hart-Davis (born 4 July 1943) is an English scientist, author, photographer, historian and broadcaster. He presented the BBC television series
Hart-Davis was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society in 2007.
Personal life
Hart-Davis 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 was educated at St Andrew's Preparatory School, near Pangbourne, and then at Eton College, before reading chemistry at Merton College, Oxford.[2] He then took a PhD 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 to Adrienne Alpin (m. 1965–1995), with whom he had two sons, Damon and Jason Hart-Davis. His second wife is 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.
Career in broadcasting
Hart-Davis's work in broadcasting began in 1977 when he joined
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
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
Advocacy of the application and usefulness of science
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 galvanised iron or mud to prevent the deadly effects of smoke inhalation from cooking fires inside houses in the developing world.[5]
He is the Patron of the FatallyFlawed campaign against the use of plug-in socket covers.[6]
He is also Patron of Erasmus Darwin House in Lichfield, the eighteenth-century home of Charles Darwin's grandfather, now a museum open to the public.[citation needed]
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 (November 1985), (ISBN 0-7135-2584-3)
- Mathematical Eye, Collins Educational (September 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 October 1997), (ISBN 1-85479-250-4)
- Chain Reactions: Pioneers of British Science and Technology, National Portrait Gallery Publications (24 November 2000), (ISBN 1-85514-291-0)
- What the Victorians Did for Us, Headline Book Publishing (5 August 2002), (ISBN 0-7553-1137-X)
- The World's Stupidest Inventions, Michael O'Mara Books (18 August 2003), (ISBN 1-84317-036-1)
- What the Tudors and Stuarts Did for Us, Boxtree Ltd (5 September 2003), (ISBN 0-7522-1556-6)
- What the Past Did for Us, Publisher: BBC Books (14 October 2004), (ISBN 0-563-52207-0)
- Why Does A Ball Bounce?: And 100 Other Questions From the World of Science, Ebury Press (1 September 2005), (ISBN 0-09-190268-1)
- Just Another Day, Orion (21 September 2006), (ISBN 0-7528-7334-2)
- History: The Definitive Visual Guide – from the Dawn of Civilisation to the Present Day, Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd (4 October 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.
- Very Heath Robinson, Sheldrake Press (2017), (ISBN 1-873329-48-2)
Collaborations
- Where There's Life, (with ISBN 0-7181-2137-6)
- Test Your Psychic Powers, (with ISBN 0-8069-9669-2)
- "Local Heroes" Book of British Ingenuity, (with Paul Bader), ISBN 0-7509-1473-4)
- More "Local Heroes", (with Paul Bader), Sutton Publishing Ltd (20 August 1998), (ISBN 0-7509-1797-0)
- 100 Local Heroes, (with Paul Bader), Sutton Publishing Ltd; Rev Ed edition (22 July 1999), (ISBN 0-7509-2373-3)
- What the Romans Did for Us, (with ISBN 0-7522-6172-X)
- The Book of Victorian Heroes, (with Paul Bader), Sutton Publishing Ltd (23 August 2001), (ISBN 0-7509-2820-4)
- Classic Mathemagic, (with Raymond Blum and Bob Longe), MetroBooks (NY) (August 2002), (ISBN 1-58663-683-9)
- Catchphrase, Slogan and Cliché, (with Judy Parkinson), ISBN 1-84317-063-9)
- ISBN 0-7509-3379-8)
- Taking the Piss: A Potted History of Pee, (with Emily Troscianko), The Chalford Press (10 October 2006), (ISBN 1-84588-351-9)
- The Cosmos: A Beginner's Guide, (with Paul Bader), ISBN 1-84607-212-3)
- Science : the definitive visual guide, Dorling Kindersley Limited (ISBN 978-0-241-24047-2)
References
- ^ His father had previously been married to the actress Peggy Ashcroft.
- ^ Levens, R. G. C., ed. (1964). Merton College Register 1900–1964. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 541.
- ^ "Big Questions". eagletv.co.uk. 20 August 2017. Archived from the original on 20 August 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ "My tax return was going well..." Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2009.
- ^ Smoke and its impact on people's lives Practical Action
- ^ "FatallyFlawed website". Retrieved 16 September 2012.
External links
- Official website
- The Hart-Davis family website
- Adam's biography at "Speakers UK"
- "BBC – Press Office – Adam Hart Davis". Archived from the original on 4 April 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
- Adam Hart-Davis at IMDb
- Interview with The Journal of Unlikely Science
- Thunder, Flush and Thomas Crapper extracts
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