What the Stuarts Did for Us

Among many enduring Tudor inventions were the pencil, enabled by the discovery in Wales of what for the long time would be the only graphite pit in Britain, the telescope, perspective and oil paints, applied to create pictures of unprecedented realism using the camera obscura. (What the Tudors Did for Us Episode 1)

During this era there were the most striking transformations of our understanding of our place in the Universe. Adam explains how Tudor ides of astronomy were revolutionsed by the discovery of a "new star" or "nova" in 1572, and how the dubious practice of alchemy gradually gave place to chemistry, alongside the discovery of many new substances. (What the Tudors Did for Us Episode 2)

The Wars of the Roses concluded, Britain could finally afford to reap some of the rewards of civilization. In this programme we see the vast opulence of the most richest woman in Britian, Bess of Hardwicke, as well as the invention of tennis (originally played with kitchen sieves), horceracing, the theatre, and knitting. And of course what programme would be complete without an investigation of that perennial Hart-Davis obsession, the Water Closet. (What the Tudors Did for Us Episode 3)

Adam looks at the development of Tudor weapons of war, taking in unpleasant implements of torture, cryptography, and casts his own cannon out of pure iron and test fires it! (What the Tudors Did for Us Episode 4)

Adam Hart-Davis examines innovations from the Stuart period that had a lasting impact on British society. The great fire of 1666 devastated the capital, giving Christopher Wren the opportunity to try out exciting new construction techniques. Coffee houses were opening up as venues for business and leisure. And Charles II introduced one of the most enduring items of menswear in the 1660s - the three-piece suit. (What the Stuarts Did for Us Episode 1)

Adam Hart-Davis examines interesting innovations from the Stuart period that shaped the world we live in today. He describes how Britain became one of the world's leading scientific nations, thanks to the celebrated polymath Francis Bacon's introduction of the experiment. (What the Stuarts Did for Us Episode 2)

Adam Hart-Davis examines innovations from the Stuart period that had a lasting impact on British society. This programme looks at how, under the Stuarts, life became much more organised. There was the first public transport, street lighting, fire brigade and high street banks. But the biggest re-organisation was in politics, as England and Scotland came under the rule of one king. (What the Stuarts Did for Us Episode 3)

Adam Hart-Davis examines innovations from the Stuart period that had a lasting impact on British society. In this programme, he journeys to the new worlds that Stuart scientists were able to explore for the first time. The microscope revealed a world of tiny, wriggling monsters, and the telescope opened up the study of the stars and planets. (What the Stuarts Did for Us Episode 4)