North West

The last in the series about pioneering scientists and inventors comes from the north west of England. Host Adam Hart-Davis discovers the connection between botany and Wordsworth the poet when he learns about his friend, John Gough, a local botanist who identified many rare plants despite being blind. A bicycle pump and a disgusting jelly help unearth the history of Lake Windermere. Adam climbs to the snowy summit of Helvellyn to try to reproduce John Dalton's weather forecasts. Finally, in Manchester, he learns about Joseph Whitworth, whose move to standardise the nuts and bolts of the engineering industry has endured to the present day.