Editing Adam Hart-Davis

{{Short description|British scientist, author (born 1943)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name              = Adam Hart-Davis
|image             = Adam Hart-Davis.jpg
|image_size        = 
|caption           = Hart-Davis, speaking at the Ratio Forum for Popular Science in 2013
|birth_date        = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1943|07|04}}
|birth_place       = [[Henley-on-Thames]], Oxfordshire, England
|death_date        = 
|death_place       = 
|field             = [[Chemistry]]
|work_institutions = {{Unbulleted list|[[Oxford University Press]]|[[University of Alberta]]}}
|alma_mater        = {{Unbulleted list|[[Merton College, Oxford]]|[[University of York]]}}
|doctoral_advisor  = 
|doctoral_students = 
|known_for         = 
|spouse            = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Adrienne Alpin<br>|1965|1995|end=div}}
* {{marriage|[[Susan Blackmore]]<br>|19 June 2010}}
}}
|children          = 2
|relatives         = [[Rupert Hart-Davis]] (father)<br/>[[Duff Hart-Davis]] (brother)<br/>[[Deirdre Hart-Davis]] (aunt)<br />[[Alice Hart-Davis]] (niece)
|author_abbrev_bot = 
|author_abbrev_zoo = 
|influences        = 
|influenced        = 
|prizes            = 
|footnotes         = 
}}

'''Adam John Hart-Davis''' (born 4 July 1943) is an English scientist, author, photographer, historian and broadcaster. He presented the BBC television series ''[[Local Heroes (UK TV series)|Local Heroes]]'' and ''[[What the Romans Did for Us]]'', the latter spawning several spin-off series involving the [[What the Victorians Did for Us|Victorians]], the [[What the Tudors Did for Us|Tudors]], the [[What the Stuarts Did for Us|Stuarts]] and the [[What the Ancients Did for Us|Ancients]]. He was also a co-presenter of ''[[Tomorrow's World]]'', and presented ''[[Science Shack]]''.

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 [[Rupert Hart-Davis|Sir Rupert Hart-Davis]]<ref>His father had previously been married to the actress [[Peggy Ashcroft]].</ref> (1907–1999) and his second wife, Catherine Comfort Borden-Turner. He was educated at [[St Andrew's School, Pangbourne|St Andrew's Preparatory School]], near [[Pangbourne]], and then at [[Eton College]], before reading [[chemistry]] at [[Merton College, Oxford]].<ref name="MCreg">{{cite book|editor1-last=Levens|editor1-first=R. G. C.|title=Merton College Register 1900–1964|date=1964|publisher=Basil Blackwell|location=Oxford|page=541}}</ref> 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]] [[Susan Blackmore|Dr. Susan Blackmore]], whom he married on 19 June 2010. His siblings are the journalist [[Duff Hart-Davis]] and Bridget, the [[dowager]] [[David Trustram Eve, 2nd Baron Silsoe|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 [[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 (presenter)|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 (UK TV series)|Local Heroes]]''. The latter programme featured 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, as he is a keen cyclist, owning an early [[Mike Burrows|Burrows]] Windcheetah as well as a mountain bike fitted with an early front monoblade. This series was transferred to [[BBC Two|BBC2]], where its scope became national, a different region being the subject of each episode. ''Big Questions'', a five-part Channel 4 science series for young people that he presented received a [[BAFTA]] nomination in 2002.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.eagletv.co.uk/home/big_questions.htm|title=Big Questions|date=20 August 2017|website=eagletv.co.uk|access-date=30 March 2021|archive-date=20 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820145932/http://www.eagletv.co.uk/home/big_questions.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

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".<ref name="Tax Doesn't need to be taxing claim.">{{cite web|url=http://www.adam-hart-davis.org/images/050128_tax-utley_telegraph.jpg |title=My tax return was going well... |accessdate=17 February 2009 |url-status = dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724224027/http://www.adam-hart-davis.org/images/050128_tax-utley_telegraph.jpg |archivedate=24 July 2011 }}</ref> Following a statement from Hart-Davis, in which he mentioned the level of complexities within the [[UK tax]] system, his contract with [[HM Revenue & Customs]] ended.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nagri |first1=Idris |title=No future for Hart-Davis as HMRC ad man |url=https://www.accountancyage.com/2008/02/04/no-future-for-hart-davis-as-hmrc-ad-man/ |website=Accountancy Age |access-date=15 January 2025 |date=4 February 2008}}</ref>

==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 [[Energy poverty and cooking|deadly effects of smoke inhalation]] from cooking fires inside houses in the developing world.<ref>[http://practicalaction.org/?id=smoke_ahd Smoke and its impact on people's lives] Practical Action</ref>

He is the Patron of the FatallyFlawed campaign against the use of plug-in socket covers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fatallyflawed.org.uk|title=FatallyFlawed website|accessdate=16 September 2012}}</ref>

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.{{cn|date=June 2023}}

==Filmography==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
*''[[Local Heroes (UK TV series)|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 TV series)|Just Another Day]]'' (2007)
*''How London Was Built'' (2008)
*''Beeching's Tracks'' (2008)
*''How Britain Was Built'' (2009)
{{div col end}}

== 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'').<br>
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 [[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 September 1997), ({{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 [[Philip Wilkinson (author)|Philip Wilkinson]]), [[Boxtree Ltd]]; New Ed edition (20 July 2001), ({{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), [[Michael O'Mara Books]] (1 October 2003), ({{ISBN|1-84317-063-9}})
* ''[[Henry Winstanley]] and the Eddystone Lighthouse'', (with Emily Troscianko), Sutton Publishing Ltd; New Ed edition (23 October 2003), ({{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), [[BBC Books]] (21 June 2007), ({{ISBN|1-84607-212-3}})
* ''Science : the definitive visual guide'', Dorling Kindersley Limited ({{ISBN|978-0-241-24047-2}})

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.adamhd.co.uk/}}
* [http://hd.org/ The Hart-Davis family website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020726055640/http://www.speakers-uk.com/profile.phtml?id=138&act_id=5&sid=73 Adam's biography at "Speakers UK"]
* {{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/tvfactual/adamhartdavis.shtml |title=BBC – Press Office – Adam Hart Davis |accessdate=18 February 2010 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080404015019/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/tvfactual/adamhartdavis.shtml |archivedate = 4 April 2008}}
*{{IMDb name|1007181|Adam Hart-Davis}}
*[http://www.null-hypothesis.co.uk/science/straight-talking/interviews/adam_hart_davies_lovely_man Interview] with ''The Journal of Unlikely Science''
* [http://aj.hd.org/TFTC/ Thunder, Flush and Thomas Crapper] extracts

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart-Davis, Adam}}
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Alumni of Merton College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of York]]
[[Category:English broadcasters]]
[[Category:English historians]]
[[Category:English people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:English photographers]]
[[Category:English television presenters]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:People educated at St Andrew's School, Pangbourne]]
[[Category:People from Henley-on-Thames]]
[[Category:English science writers]]
[[Category:BBC television presenters]]
[[Category:Fellows of Merton College, Oxford]]