1799 with Adam Hart-Davis [30min]

Adam Hart-Davis -- the BBC's primary presenter on the annals of science -- explores spectacular years in its long history, when brilliant ideas emerged from the maelstrom of mad, bad and dangerous thinking. A young Humphrey Davy wanders the streets of Bristol breathing laughing gas from a green silk bag, getting mildly hysterical, and encouraging his literary friends to do likewise. Meanwhile the gas lamp revolutionizes the length of the working day, Alessandro Volta invents his battery, income tax is introduced in Britain, and the Rosetta Stone is discovered in Egypt, inscribed with information -- on how to pay your taxes!