In BBC Two ’s Modern series , The underground Genius Of Modern Life , mathematicianProfessor Hannah Fryuncovers the innovative technology and inventions veil inside seemingly mundane things . From the food delivery apps created using tech design fornuclearmissiles , to the way in which go - stag websites revolutionized the agency we pay for things online , the series will make you reckon at modern life in a whole new light .
“ The technology that ring us undeniably shapes our living , but how much do we really cognise about where it total from , or how it operate , and where it ’s all drop dead , ” enjoin Fry in a statement seen by IFLScience .
“ Things like delivery apps , bank cards , trainers - take substantial innovation and ingeniousness to produce , and in this serial , I ’ll get to unlock the secrets and match the amazing brains behind some of this unbelievable tech , and the things we ’ll come to calculate on in the hereafter ”
One specially memorable shot from the show sees Fry melt down a money box board to break the flimsy Cold War conception inside that makes contactless requital possible . you could see a sneak prevue of it below .
We get up with Fry to find out more about the show ’s revelations , and why science communication is the perfect life history for people who love spilling the tea .
Can you tell me about a favorite conception from the serial publication ?
At the risk of sound like a big swot , it was the pedometer . It seems so unassumingly simple , but as soon as you start to look into it you realise just how amazingly complex that bit of kit want to be . It needs to be able to differentiate between all sort of crazy movements and hone in on something as vague as " a step " and then accurately number it . The ability to take that wonky irregular 3D data and interpret it into a footstep count is just wild .
How did you come to be need with it ?
I feel very powerfully about hold scientific discipline the centre microscope stage it deserves . It has this massive , fascinating impact on our lives but is then too often limn as something stuffy and stiff and overcomplicated . I lie with James Burke’sConnectionsand I wanted to do something interchangeable but freshened up to reflect the awe-inspiring and exciting times we live in .
What do you hope the great unwashed will take away from the serial ?
I really hope that it sparks a refreshed gratitude for everything we have available to us in our life . We are living in an dead epic time of human design and yet it ’s so easy to just be blasé about it all . Every single petite thing that we take for granted was once just a thinking in someone ’s headspring . The story of the the great unwashed who contend to bring these thoughts to living just to make our day to daylight that little bit better deserve to be fete and their accomplishments joyously appreciated .
What do you savor most about science communicating ?
It constantly feel like I ’ve got this perfectly mythological number of spicy gossip to deal that I just know is full of joy and humour and surprise and machination and I just ca n’t hold back to tell someone all about it . What ’s not to wish about being the one with an exciting account to evidence ? !
The Secret Genius Of Modern Lifeairs weekly in the UK on BBC Two , with episodes usable to check now oniPlayer .
