Hero No 1: Charles Darwin (1809-1882): the inventor of "the most revolutionary idea of all time" - evolution by natural selection. He lived at Down House (below) in Kent.Hero No 1: Charles Darwin (1809-1882): the inventor of "the most revolutionary idea of all time" - evolution by natural selection. He lived at Down House (below) in Kent.
Darwin first realised that the Earth must be a lot older than the commonly accepted 4000 years because he found remains of sea creatures even at the top of the Andes. He didn't know about plate tectonics, but he observed that when earthquakes occur the land often rises, and that many individual events like this can raise great mountain chains, but that this would take many millions of years...
His second great idea was that all living things are related in a great 'tree of life', with a common ancestor. He didn't know about DNA, and so couldn't use this tool to work out the relative closeness of different species, but Darwin worked this out by studying different types of finches in the Galapagos Islands which had evolved differences in beak lengths, shapes and sizes. He therefore realised that many new species had been created throughout history and that new life forms were still being created today.
His third great idea was that the propensity of any species is to breed and that, without checks, populations of any species would multiply many times in a short period. However, natural selection kills off the weaker members (those not so well adapted to their environment) leaving only those that are best fitted to survive.
His fourth great idea was that new adaptations are constantly being created in any species (many per day in the case of viruses but he didn't know about these), but that most of these adaptations do not give any benefit to the life form and so do not reproduce. Only those adaptations that give positive benefit would allow the individual to live long enough to reproduce.
Darwin was a remarkable man but worried deeply about the impact of his discoveries. He kept the blueprint for evolution by natural selection in the cupboard under the stairs for many years, not wanting to publish it. His wife Emma, whom he loved dearly, was a devout Christian and worried that Darwin, as an atheist, would not go to heaven and that they would not be able to spend eternity together. It was only when Alfred Russel Wallace wrote to him and it became clear to Darwin that his ideas would by published by someone else that he acted.
The establishment of the Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London was a direct result of Darwin's publications.
Hero No 2: Tim Berners Lee - the inventor of the World Wide Web - the invention that sets publishing free. Probably as important an invention as Gutenberg's printing press, but each must be set within its own historical context. We haven't seen half of the changes the web will bring about yet because for these to come about we must first have much higher communications rates ubiquitously available and take these for granted. See also www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/
Hero No 3: Tim Smit - the creator of the Eden project in Cornwall, England. An amazing series of geodesic domes containing tropical forests and other habitats.
Hero No 4: Peter Jackson - the Director, Co-writer and Producer of the movie Lord of the Rings for his amazing attention to detail and his devotion to getting it right.
Hero No 5: Fiona Reynolds - the current Director General of the National Trust. Talks a lot of sense, runs an organisation that is immensely importante to the future of Britain, and I fancy her like mad! - see director-general's agm speech
Hero No 6: Viggo Mortensen - plays Aragorn in Lord of the Rings. He seems to live the part totally on and off set.
Hero No 7: The inventor of the digital camera - the invention that sets photography free. Unfortunately I don't know who it was!
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