Science and technology in the United Kingdom
Science and technology in the United Kingdom has a long history, producing many important figures and achievements in the fields.
Great Britain was the leading centre of the Scientific Revolution and Industrial Revolution from the 17th century and the 18th century. It was James Watt (1736-1819) , a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose invention of steam engine 
in 1736 powered the Industrial Revolution in the UK and played a key role in transforming England into the world's first industrialized nation.
Since James Watt the UK has produced a lot of scientists and engineers credited with important advances. Some of the major theories, discoveries and applications advanced by people from the UK are given below.
Major theorists from the UK include Isaac Newton (1643-1727), physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, who was for more than 30 years a lecturer of mathematics at Cambridge. In 1665 he advanced an idea that light consisted of small particles, called today as photons. Later on he came to the conclusion that light had a dual nature and was a combination of photons and waves. When he got interested in the problem of the cause of the motion of the planets he came to the conclusion that the force that kept the planets in the orbits round the sun was the same force that caused objects to fall onto the ground, namely the force of gravity. A popular legend says that he made his discovery while observing the fall of an apple from a tree in his garden. In 1884 Newton published his famous book the “Principia” in which he explained the law of universal gravitation and motion that has been seen as a keystone of modern science.
Newton was elected a member of the Royal Scientific Society for the invention of mirror telescope which made a great impression on the contemporaries.
There is a monument to Newton in Trinity College at Cambridge with the inscription: “Newton Who Surpassed All Men of Science”.
Major scientific discoveries include hydrogen by Henry Cavendish (1731-1810) and Charles Darwin ‘s (1809–82) theory of evolution by natural selection, fundamental to the development of modern biology.
Major engineering projects and applications pursued by people from the UK include the steam locomotive developed by Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) and Andrew Vivian(1759-1842).
The electric motor was engineered by Michael Faraday (1771–1867), who largely made electricity viable for use in technology.
The theory of aerodynamics was discovered by Sir George Cayley (1773–1857).
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The first public steam railway as constructed by George Stephenson (1781–1848).
The first commercial electrical telegraph was co-invented by Sir William Fothergill Cooke (1806–79) and Charles Wheatstone (1802–75).
The first tunnel under a navigable river, the first all iron ship and the first railway to run express services were contributed to by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–59).
The invention of the incandescent light bulb (лампы накаливания), by Joseph Swan dates back 1826–1914.
The unification of electromagnetism belongs to James Clerk Maxwell (1831–79) who was born in Edinburgh in Scotland and worked both as a professor of experimental physics first at Kings College in London and in Cambridge University. He wrote a great number of works in the field of kinetic theory of gases and electricity.
The first practical telephone was patented by Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922) who also was born in Scotland. Both his grandfather and his father studied the mechanics of a sound and became the pioneer teachers of speech to the deaf people. In 1871 Alexander Bell moved to the USA where he became the professor of Boston University. There he became interested in the conversion of sound wave vibrations into a fluctuating electric current. That work led him to the invention of the telephone in 1876. The first transcontinental telephone was opened in 1915.
Later on the UK continued to play a major role in the development of science and technology. Major technological advances in this country include the aerospace, motor and pharmaceutical industries.
· The discovery of penicillin, by biologist and pharmacologist, Sir Alexander Fleming (1881–1955).
· The world's first working television system, and colour television, by John Logie Baird (1888–1946).
· The first synthesis of quantum mechanics with special relativity by Paul Dirac (1902–84) in the equation named after him, and his subsequent prediction of antimatter.
· The invention of the jet engine, by Frank Whittle (1907–96).
· The invention of the hovercraft (судно на воздушной подушке), by Christopher Cockerell (1910–99).
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· The structure of DNA by Francis Crick (1916–2004).
· The theoretical breakthrough of the Higgs mechanism to explain electroweak symmetry breaking and why some particles have mass, by Peter Higgs (1929-).
The UK has been playing a very great role in the field of computing. “A father of computer” Charles Babbage(1791-1871) was born in Great Britain. A mathematician, philosopher and mechanical engineer, Charles Babbage is credited with inventing the first mechanical computer. Although his computer was not completed it is considered the one which led to more complex designs. In 1991 his computer was constructed from the parts on display in the London Science Museum according to Babbage original plan and it was proved that Charles Babbage’s computer could have worked.
The invention of the first digital computer also belongs to the Englishman Alan Turing (1912–54). So-called Turing Machine became the foundation of the modern theory of computation. Besides during the Second World War Turing was a leading successful participant in the breaking of German ciphers.
Turing is widely considered to be the father of theoretical science and artificial intelligence. In 1950 he published a very impressive work “Computing machinery and intelligence”, foreseeing many questions of artificial intelligence. In this paper he proposed the Turing Test, which is still applied in attempting to answer whether a computer can be intelligent
Scientists are continuing to play a very important role in the UK Tim-Berners Lee (1989) took a great part in the creation of the World Wide Web.
Some words about a very important British scientist Stephen Hawking (1942). In spite of his terrible physical state (he is paralyzed and can work only on computer with eyes) Hawking made outstanding discoveries and theories in cosmology, quantum gravity and black holes.
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The UK remains a leading centre of auto design and production, particularly of engines, and has around 2,600 component manufacturers.The UK plays a leading part in the aerospace industry, with companies including Rolls-Royce playing a leading role in the aero-engine market;
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BAE Systems defense company, developing armory and information security acting as Britain's largest and the Pentagon's sixth largest defense supplier of military weapons.
GKN (концерн, производящий компоненты автомобилей, вертолетов, сельхоз техники и др.) acting as major suppliers to the Airbus project. The Airbus A380 has wings and engines manufactured in the UK. 
Two British-based companies, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, ranked in the top five pharmaceutical companies in the world by sales in 2009 and UK companies have discovered and developed more leading medicines than any other country apart from the US.
Suggested projects(compositions) on the UK life ( 5-12 pp).
1.Important scientific and technological advances made by people from the UK2.Scientific research3.Cultural life. 4. Music.5. Literature and writers 6. Museums and interesting sights7. National life and characters 8. Personalities
| LECTURE № 5 |
British Media
The term “media” generally refers to the print industries (the press or newspapers and magazines) and broadcasting (cable and satellite television, radio and video). These systems overlap with each other and with books, films and the Internet. They cover homes, places of business and leisure activities and their influence is very powerful.
The first British newspapers appeared in the early eighteenth century, such as “The Times” (1785), “The Observer” (1791) and “The Sunday Times” (1822).
The circulation of the newspapers at that time was hindered by transportation and distribution problems, illiteracy and government licensing or censorship restrictions. The growth of literacy after 1870 provided the owners of the print media with an increased market. Newspapers and magazines, which had previously been limited by the middle and upper classes, were popularized. Over the last two hundred years, an expanded educational system, new print inventions and Britain’s small area have eliminated these difficulties.
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At first the newspapers were used for news and information. Later new types of print media used for entertainment appeared. The first popular national papers were printed on Sundays, such as “The News of the World “(1843) and “The People” (1881). They were inexpensive and aimed at the expanding and increasingly literate working class. In 1896, “The Daily Mail” was produced, which was targeted at the lower-middle class. In 1903 it was added by “The Daily Mirror” for the working-class popular market. Both “The Mail” and “The Mirror” were soon selling more than a million copies a day.
The early twentieth century was the era of mass-circulation papers. “The Morning Herald” (later “the Daily Express”) was created in 1900. The newspaper-ownership was concentrated in a few large publishing groups, such as Rupert Murdoch’s News International (which had and has large media holdings in Britain, Australia and the USA), causing fierce competition.
National newspapers are those which are mostly published from London and are available in all parts of Britain on the same day, including Sundays. Many are delivered directly to homes from local newsagents by newsboys and girls. The good internal distribution systems enable national press to develop and Internet online copies now offer updated and immediate availability.
The national press in Britain today consists of 10 daily morning papers and 9 Sunday papers. Most national newspapers have their bases and printing facilities in London, although now editions of some nationals are published in Europe and the USA. Most of them used to be located in Fleet Street in central London . But many of them have now left this street and moved to other parts of the capital because of very high property rents, competition and opposition from trade unions to the introduction of new printing technology.
New technology meant that newspapers could be printed directly through computers and that resulted in job reductions and cuts in labour. New technology and improved distribution methods have increased the profits of print industries. Although sales are declining they still have a considerable presence on the market. Britons still buy more papers than any other Europeans. Some 50 per cent of people over fifteen years old read a national daily paper and 70 per cent read a national Sunday newspaper.
National papers are usually termed ‘quality’ or ‘popular’ depending on their differences in content and format (broadsheet or tabloid). Others are called ‘mid-market’ (e.g. The Mail Express”). They are between these two extremes.
The ‘qualities’ (such as “The Times”) are broadsheets (large-sheet). They report national and international news in depth and analyse current events and the arts in editorials and articles.
The populars (such as “The Sun”) are mostly tabloid (small-sheet). They deal with relatively few news stories and tend to be simpler in presenting materials. “Qualities’ are more expensive than populars but both carry up-market advertising that generates essential revenue.
There is no legal state control or censorship of the British press, although it is subject to laws of publication and expression. Papers may have a political bias and support a specific party, particularly at election times. For example, the largest selling national dailies “The Daily Mirror” and “The Daily Herald “(1911) have always supported the Labour Party. The press is dependent for its survival on circulation figures, on the advertising and on financial help of its owners. A number of newspapers in the 20th century ceased publication because of reduced circulation, loss of advertising revenue or refusals of further financial aid. Most national newspapers now have online Internet publication. Although some of them have survived, since the 1970s there has been a decline in sales and in the number of national and other newspapers and magazines.
Some 1,300 regional newspapers are published in towns and cities throughout Britain. They contain a mixture of local and national news and are supported by regional advertising. They may be daily morning or evening papers, Sundays or weekly. 75 per cent of local and regional newspapers also operate an Internet website.
Britain’s ethnic communities also produce their own newspapers and magazines, which are increasing in numbers, are available nationally in the larger cities and are improving in quality. There is a wide range of publications for Jewish, Asian, Afro-Caribbean, Chinese and Arabic readers, published on a daily or (more commonly) periodic basis.
Periodicals and magazines
There are 9,000 different periodicals and magazines in Britain, which are of a weekly, monthly or quarterly nature. They are aimed at different markets and levels of professions and business or are dealing with sports, hobbies and interests.
Among serious weekly journals are The New Statesman and Society, the Economist, the Spectator and The New Scientist. “The Times” publishes influential weekly magazines, such as the Educational Supplement, the Higher Education Supplement and the Literary Supplement.
The Broadcasting Media
In spite of Englishmen’s love for newspapers and magazines they have to compete with radio, television and internet. The broadcasting media consist of radio and television. Three authorities oversee these services: the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the Independent Television Commission (ITC) and satellite broadcasting BSkyB.
The BBC is based mainly in Broadcasting House in London, but has stations throughout the country, which provide regional networks for radio and television. It was created by Royal Charter and has a board of governors who are responsible for supervising its programmes. They are appointed by the Crown on the advice of government ministers and are financed by a grant from Parliament, which comes from the sale of television licensees. These are payable by anyone who owns a television set. The BBC also generates considerable income from selling its programmes abroad and from the sale of a program guide (Radio Times), books, magazines and videos.
The BBC’s external services, the World Service in English and 42 other languages abroad, were founded in 1932 and are funded by the Foreign Office. These have a reputation for objective news reporting and programmes. News reports, documentaries and current-affairs analyses, animal films are generally of a high standard.
The BBC also began commercially funded television programmes in 1991 by cable to Europe and by satellite links to Africa and Asia. BBC World news has now merged with the World Service.
The BBC is not a state organization, but it is not as independent on political pressures as many in Britain and overseas assume. Its charter has to be renewed by Parliament and by its terms government can, and does, intervene in the showing of programs. The BBC governors are in fact government appointees. Governments can also exert pressure upon the BBC when the license fee comes up for renewal by Parliament.
There are 5 national radio channels and 39 local stations serving many districts in England and regional and community services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The national channels specialize in different tastes. Radio 1 caters for pop music; Radio 2 has light music, news, and comedy; Radio 3 provides classical and modern serious music, talks, discussions and plays; Radio 4 concentrates on news reports, analysis, talks and plays; and Radio 5 Live (established in 1990) has sport and news programs.
The BBC was certainly affected by the invention of television and the Internet, which changed British entertainment and news habits. The BBC now has two television channels (BBC1 and BBC2). BBC1 is a mass-appeal channel with an audience share of 28 per cent. Its programmes consist of news, plays and drama series, comedy, quiz shows, variety performances, sport and documentaries. BBC2, with an audience share of 11 per cent, tends to show more serious items such as news analysis and discussion, documentaries, adaptations of novels into plays and series, operas, concerts and some sports. The Labour government approved the expansion of BBC television services by the creation of a BBC4 channel (culture and the arts) and two channels for children.
A large number of the programmes shown on television are made in Britain, although there are also many imported American series. A few programmes come from other English-speaking countries, such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
Although British television has a high reputation abroad, lately the bias of some programs is changing. At the moment there is a lot of criticism about sex, violence and bad language on British television. A Broadcasting Standards Complaints Commission monitors programmes, examines complaints, establishes codes of conduct for the broadcasting organizations.
Reuters News Agency is an international news agency headqutered in London. It operates in more than 200 cities and offers quick and easy access to hot news in about 200 languages.
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