Great inventors
Who invented the light bulb, or the wheel, or even the pizza? There have been many great discoveries in science history, but likewise, without all the marvellous inventions that turn the cogs or fire the reactions, we're often left wondering what to do with all this knowledge. There are many famous inventors, living or dead, male or female, British, American and beyond, their remarkable achievements are all here.
Who really invented the Internet?
Inside the remarkable story behind the revolutionary invention.
Who really invented the telephone?
Scottish-born inventor Alexander Graham-Bell usually gets all the credit, but there are a few more names that might ring a bell.
Steve Jobs: The childhood of a great inventor
How did one curious child became the co-creator of one of the biggest tech companies in the world?
10 cool projects created by kids addressing real-world problems
The children of today are the great inventors of the future, and these kids are the ones proving it.
Great inventors | 5 women who are inventing our world and why we should celebrate their achievements
In these edited extracts from The Life Scientific: Inventors, the BBC Radio 4 show's producer Anna Buckley tells the stories of five modern inventors who are changing the world we live in.
John Bardeen | The two-time Nobel Prize-winning physicist you (probably) never heard of
He might have won the Nobel Prize in physics in 1956 and 1972, but the man who invented the transistor and solved superconductivity is far from a household name.
Nikola Tesla | A genius or a charlatan?
Nikola Tesla is remembered as a great inventor and flamboyant performer. But was there substance to his genius?
Leonardo da Vinci's forgotten legacy
Leonardo Da Vinci survives in our minds as a great artist, but his drawings show that he was also one of the great renaissance scientists. Martin Clayton, Head of Prints and Drawings at Royal Collection Trust, talks to us about Leonardo’s legacy.
Martin Clayton | Why is Leonardo Da Vinci’s scientific legacy so often overlooked?
Da Vinci is remembered five hundred years after his death for his artworks, but he was also a scientist, working across anatomy, engineering, and architecture, to name a few.
Who really discovered oxygen?
Although Joseph Priestley was the first to publish his findings on the important element, was he the first to discover the gas?
Who really invented the movie camera?
An invention and an unsolved disappearance...you lucky people.
Who really invented the flushing toilet?
This question always raises a smile among those who know the answer – or at least, think they do.
This is how to invent everything – Ryan North
How helpful would you be if you were stranded in the past? Ryan North imagined telling people how cool computers are, but if they asked him how to make one, he'd be stumped. So he did some research, and in his hilarious new book he's teaching us how to invent everything.
Who really invented the MRI machine?
Several scientific pioneers were involved in the development of this magnetic medical breakthrough.
Who really invented the mechanical television?
There are many TV pioneers, but John Logie Baird and Philo Farnsworth are the stars of television history.
Who really invented the jet engine?
Flying high, Frank Whittle and Hans von Ohain dreamt of the skies.
Who really discovered penicillin?
The discovery of antibiotics was a huge advance in modern medicine; scientists Alexander Fleming (left), Howard Florey (centre) and Ernst Chain (right) were all involved in the breakthrough.
Who really discovered radio?
Can you hear me? During the Victorian era Oliver Lodge (left) and Guglielmo Marconi (right) worked towards inventing radio communication.
Who is the greatest genius?
In the Summer issue of BBC Focus Magazine, we're asking you to choose your top genius of all time. But before you vote, read more about the 15 nominees.
The next big invention
Discover what determines whether your invention will make millions or just sit in your garden gathering dust.