Professor Brian Cox puts three and a half centuries of British science under the microscope to reveal what science really is, who the people are who practise it and how it is inextricably linked to the past, present and future of us all.

In episode two, Method And Madness, Brian celebrates Britain’s pivotal role in creating modern science. From performing Isaac Newton’s iconic light experiment, to meeting a wartime code breaker and making hydrogen explosions, Brian introduces the obsessive, eccentric, visionary characters who dragged Britain into the modern world by developing a powerful new way to investigate nature. 

Brian discovers that there seems to be a ‘scientific mind’ when he meets psychologist Professor Simon Baron-Cohen. Professor Baron-Cohen has found that as a group, scientists display powers of concentration and minute focus associated with autism - qualities which are a huge advantage when undertaking genuinely novel research. 

The downside of extreme focus is that scientists - even such luminaries as Newton and Cavendish - are sometimes only interested in research for its own sake. Spreading the word isn’t really part of their agenda. But thanks to the oldest scientific journal in the country - the Royal Society’s Philosophical Transactions - a tradition of sharing ideas with other scientists was born. Peer review became an integral part of science both past and present, resulting in research that is as transparent and trustworthy as possible. 

Brian concludes that it is this scientific method, including publishing and peer review, which ensures accuracy during investigations.